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Double Bass Barry Green

Eli_Upright12

Eli_Upright12

Mar 19, 2007
1,191
8
Lexington, KY
#1
Hey everybody, I just got accepted at UC Santa Cruz and I found out that the bass professor there is known other than Barry Green, long time principle of the Cincinnati Symphony and professor at the likes of CCM and Indiana. I was wonder if there is anyone that has been a student of his or knows his style well info that they could inform me about his teachings. I've seen one video of his and he had a laborie endpin and plays french bow. Does anyone have any other sense of what techniques, methods and style of playing(both orchestral and solo) he teaches?




PS. if anyone thinks this should be moved to the Bassists Forum I will contact a moderator, but since I'm wondering about his teachings I thought it fit best here.
 
#4
Theo.Bass said:
Me thinks he was an early follower of Rabbath. He is also really nice and has mad teaching skills. He got me to play with a bucket load more emotion.
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Could you describe some of the things you worked on with him? Specifically how he had you approach solo pieces and also how he had you approach orchestral pieces? I'm not sure how much time you spent with him, whether it was at a summer camp or full-time lessons. Thanks for the reply.
 
#7
I had a masterclass type thing with him, maybe only fifteen minutes of work. It was all about musicianship and transferring the music and expressions you have inside of you out through the instrument. It was part of a larger lecture on his book "The mastery of Music". I played the Koussy and he made it sound oodles better. We worked on stuff like facial expressions and movement and feelings. It was very much a whole body almost holistic approach which I dig. Did also mention he is really nice?
 
#8
robgrow said:
I took a few lessons from Barry Green many years ago, and it was a real honor. He was into Rabbath as far back as I can remember (70's).
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It would be really interesting for me to study with a Rabbath teacher. I've never really gotten into the style, though I do apply some of the pivot/extension fingering approach. Maybe I would gain a different perspective on playing bass. Did you work on any orchestral techniques? That's something I feel I'm really lacking right now and its part of my playing that I really want to improve. So learning about the teacher in that regard is important to me.
 
#9
Eli_Upright12 said:
It would be really interesting for me to study with a Rabbath teacher. I've never really gotten into the style, though I do apply some of the pivot/extension fingering approach. Maybe I would gain a different perspective on playing bass. Did you work on any orchestral techniques? That's something I feel I'm really lacking right now and its part of my playing that I really want to improve. So learning about the teacher in that regard is important to me.
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I've only had an introduction to Rabbath with a couple of teachers. I'm anything but an expert and tend to revert to my Simandl background. I have found the basic stuff I've learned about Rabbath's method to be useful though.
 
#11
Eli_Upright12 said:
Hey everybody, I just got accepted at UC Santa Cruz and I found out that the bass professor there is known other than Barry Green, long time principle of the Cincinnati Symphony and professor at the likes of CCM and Indiana. I was wonder if there is anyone that has been a student of his or knows his style well info that they could inform me about his teachings. I've seen one video of his and he had a laborie endpin and plays french bow. Does anyone have any other sense of what techniques, methods and style of playing(both orchestral and solo) he teaches?




PS. if anyone thinks this should be moved to the Bassists Forum I will contact a moderator, but since I'm wondering about his teachings I thought it fit best here.
Click to expand...

I know this sounds silly, but have you asked him how he teaches? Have you asked him what he has to offer you and things of that nature?
 
#12
thedbassist said:
I know this sounds silly, but have you asked him how he teaches? Have you asked him what he has to offer you and things of that nature?
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Yes, I sent him an email yesterday and he responded quite helpfully, but he said that ever student is different and he approaches them with different ideas. Also I figure the views of students might give a different perspective, one that is maybe more objective.
 
#13
First of all, congratulations on being accepted to school.

I am a current UC Santa Cruz student working with Barry. I cannot recommend him highly enough. I have never had a bad lesson with Barry. Even if I'm having a bad day and can't play the simplest thing correctly, he has a way of finding something productive to take from it.

His teaching style is very open, in that he will help you with whatever it is you want to work on that week. His approach to solo work is very organic and helps you produce the music within your body. He encourages the bent style end pin, but I play straight and its not a problem. He is an excellent teacher of both French and German bow styles. As far as technique, we have used Rabbath book 2 and 3, and his Advanced Techniques book.

Hope that's been helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions.
 

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