Who taught ________________ to play?

[StrudelBass]

This question bothers me so here it goes:

Who taught the greats to play? Jaco, Victor, Jamerson, etc., who taught them how to play?

 

[Mike N]

I did.

Next question??

 

[XavierG]

I seriously doubt any of the above-mentioned would credit any one person for having taught them how to play. If you could have asked them, they probably would have said something to the effect that they learned from many people, not necessarily all bassists, and that they continue to learn new things from others. Of course, you won't be asking Jaco or Jamerson any time soon.

 

[Stanley Design]

right on XG, hows your daughter coming along with her bass?

 

[Woodchuck]

Oh wow, man. The first time Vic came to see me for his first lesson, he was as nervous as a pretty man in prison. So, I start off by showing him where all of the "E's" are on the bass, then I showed him..............

 

[StrudelBass]

Thanks for tainting my topic.

 

[Matt Till]

Originally posted by StrudelBass
Thanks for tainting my topic.

It's very taintable. And like addressed above, it's hard to link a single person to all those bass greats as teachers. And teachers are usually just the beginning, especially for bassists as phenomenal as them.

 

[cassanova]

If my memory serves me correctly I think Jamerson learned to play the bass in school. I think I read that in Standing In The Shadows of Motown.

 

[luisnovelo]

Oooooooooookay..


I don't know who taught Jamerson but If I'm not wrong, Jaco learned a lot of theory from a jazz guitarist he knew, dont know his name. Victor was taught initially by his older brother Reggie Wooten.

 

[Marty Forrer]

According to Bill Milkowski, Jaco learnt a lot of his theory from ****** Brent, who was the MD for Wayne Cochrane and the CC Riders, in the back of their tour bus.

 

[CS]

Apparently Michael Manring studied with Jaco.

Cass Lewis although not a great but played with Skunk Anansie and now Gary Moore was taught by Mikey from Culture Club!

John Pattatuci (sp) stated in an interview that he studied with Abe Laboriell (again sp).

 

[DaveBeny]

Jaco picked up a lot of stuff through his friend Bob Bobbing - I believe it was Bobbing who first showed him the 16th-note muted style and artificial harmonics (it's all in the Milkowski book).

Stanley Clarke was shown a few things on the electric by Colin Hodgkinson in 1972 when Return to Forever and Back Door were on together for a fortnight at Ronnie Scotts in London. Stanley mostly stuck to upright at the time, but did play a Gibson EB0 on a couple of tunes. Colin was already playing chords/melodies/soloing and slapping/tapping on a Precision. Apparently, Stanley asked Colin backstage to show him a few of these new techniques. The rest is history...

 

[Woodchuck]

Jaco's dad also showed him a lot about music itself.

 

[Secksay]

Originally posted by David Benyahia
Jaco picked up a lot of stuff through his friend Bob Bobbing -

now thats a name. (way to go parents)

 

[Smithplayer]

I come from a musical family and I know of many people who have influenced me since I got my first Bass. It was never only one person that did it all. I think this is like the greats you speak of. A person does not learn from only one player/teacher. That's how I would think people get there style. If you learn from more and more people you develope your own taste and style.

 

[DaveBeny]

Originally posted by Woodchuck
Jaco's dad also showed him a lot about music itself.

Very true. I should have mentioned that.

 

[Dave Irwin]

I can tell you Victor, like his brothers have incredible ears. He said he learned Jaco's Donna Lee by ear.

The question suggests the teachers in these cases were significant in making the players these guys became. I doubt it. I don't think much could have kept these guys from becoming monster players.

Dave

 

[Brad Johnson]

Originally posted by Woodchuck
Oh wow, man. The first time Vic came to see me for his first lesson, he was as nervous as a pretty man in prison. So, I start off by showing him where all of the "E's" are on the bass, then I showed him..............

Being a pretty ex-con, I can empathize.

BTW are you sure you showed him "all" of the E's? Two this day I still see him hit that E on the A string (third fret) and it just doesn't sound right.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally posted by StrudelBass
This question bothers me so here it goes:

Who taught the greats to play? Jaco, Victor, Jamerson, etc., who taught them how to play?

Everybody they ever heard and a lot of people they talked to and met.

 

[Woodchuck]

Bruce: Your post is the very reason why I say that NOBODY is truly self taught.