Acoustic Bass

"Classical" and Jazz styles

The acoustic bass is not for everybody ... but if you study it, you will now open
the door to 300 more years of string bass playing, compared to approximately
50 years of electric bass (1951 - present).

When you study "classical" music, you are studying one period of music. Serious is the proper name for acoustic bass music. This includes Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic and 20th century. Learn about the great bassists of all time: Dragonetti, Bottossini, Koussevitsky and Karr.

Study of the Bow

Why is bowing important? To study the bow is a discipline that builds character and grace to your musical approach. It requires going beyond just playing "notes" but having the ability to listen intently and hear each piece of music you play.

The bow is taught using two methods books.
a.) Nanny - French, Books I and II
b.) Simandl - German, Books I and II
You will also learn many etudes and orchestral excerpts.

Jazz

The emphasis of jazz bass playing is "pizzicato", playing using your fingers by creating "walking" basslines. The study of "walking bass" wouldn't be complete without mentioning some of the"Old Guard" players like Ray Brown, Milt Hinton, Rufus Reid and the great Charles Mingus. Each one of these players added a unique flavor and style to Jazz Bass Playing.

By old and new standards, the player that has his/her act together is the player than can double on both string and electric bass. If you play acoustic bass it will certainly enhance your electric chops by creating smoother and fluent bass-lines while opening up your ears and getting your creative juices flowing.

Amplification.

A good amp set-up enhances the sound of the wood. Systems such as the Bass Blender are excellent for creating clear sounds. How you play is a true measuring stick of how your bass sounds. Your ear has to be in tune much more on the string than the electric bass because you are dealing with things like fingering, intonation and tamber. You are dealing with the pure sound of wood and acoustics.

I use these books for teaching the acoustic bass.
Many of the musical ideas contained within these books can be
played on electric bass as well.