Nanci, I would suggest you start with the BBU (Boston Bluegrass Union) website. I know they have a list of teachers. There should be several bass specialists.
Some additional ideas:
Take a few classes with Tony Watt. He is a prominent player and teacher in the area, very well known, very friendly. He doesn't do anything for free, but he's a great guy and it'll be well worth it. I expect Tony can show you quite a bit about the bass even though it's not his primary instrument.
There are jam sessions all over the area. You have landed in Ground Zero for amateur bluegrass. If Alan Kaufman still runs his old-time jam at the Burren in Somerville, that would be a good one to try to get your feet wet. Old time is often easier than bluegrass to pick up on the fly as the tunes are repeated many many times. Getting to recognize by ear the I, IV, and V chords is the first big step in getting into this music.
As soon as you can do a certain minimum of playing, you're going to want to start adding all kinds of fills and fiddly bits. Resist the temptation. Keep playing on beats 1 and 3 with a big sound and perfect timing. Placing both the start and the end of each note is so important that you can make a oong term study out of just that.
There's a video series with Missy Raines who is a well known bluegrass bassist; I'd check that out too.
Key is learning proper right and left hand technique, and how to balance the thing and use correct playing posture. I strongly suggest you not try to teach yourself these things but take actual lessons from a qualified bass teacher. For a glimpse of how this works, check out Christian McBride's video called something like "one minute bass lesson".
Some additional ideas:
Take a few classes with Tony Watt. He is a prominent player and teacher in the area, very well known, very friendly. He doesn't do anything for free, but he's a great guy and it'll be well worth it. I expect Tony can show you quite a bit about the bass even though it's not his primary instrument.
There are jam sessions all over the area. You have landed in Ground Zero for amateur bluegrass. If Alan Kaufman still runs his old-time jam at the Burren in Somerville, that would be a good one to try to get your feet wet. Old time is often easier than bluegrass to pick up on the fly as the tunes are repeated many many times. Getting to recognize by ear the I, IV, and V chords is the first big step in getting into this music.
As soon as you can do a certain minimum of playing, you're going to want to start adding all kinds of fills and fiddly bits. Resist the temptation. Keep playing on beats 1 and 3 with a big sound and perfect timing. Placing both the start and the end of each note is so important that you can make a oong term study out of just that.
There's a video series with Missy Raines who is a well known bluegrass bassist; I'd check that out too.
Key is learning proper right and left hand technique, and how to balance the thing and use correct playing posture. I strongly suggest you not try to teach yourself these things but take actual lessons from a qualified bass teacher. For a glimpse of how this works, check out Christian McBride's video called something like "one minute bass lesson".
