Bass Lessons in Fairmount Park, WA

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

My name is Jeff Gray. I am an upright and electric bassist with over 30 years experience playing and 20 years teaching music. I am a highly distinct and diverse musician and teach from beginner to advanced levels. Main styles include rockabilly slap, jazz/gypsy jazz, Americana, country, western swing, classical, bluegrass, surf, jump blues and many others. I am extremely knowledgeable in music theory and teach sight-reading skills. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Bass Guitar Electric Guitar

Every student learns at their own pace, and in their own way. Discovering what type of learner your student is (kinesthetic, auditive, visual), is essential in providing examples and assignments for the student to work on. I do believe that with encouragement and patience, anyone can learn the noble art that is the language of music, you just have to find and fuel the student's interests, make that flame grow into a passion, and then lead with the example, 99% of the time the student will follow, the other 1% of the time you just need to get creative :) Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Voice Trumpet Trombone Bass Guitar Ukulele Recorder Orchestral Percussion Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

The dedication it takes to learn an instrument can help develop skills values that will benefit the student throughout life, regardless of profession. Therefore, I believe that the process of learning music is more important than any particular performance that we work toward, so I take a pragmatic approach to instruction. Of course, we look forward to recitals and concerts, because they give our rehearsals direction, but it should also be emphasized that our most rewarding musical experiences may happen in lessons or private practice. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Recorder Double Bass Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I am in my late 40's, married, and the father of a crazy 9-year-old daughter. I started studying music on piano at the age of five with my mother (also a musician). I move from piano to alto sax, and continued to play it through to college, later switching to tenor. At age twelve, I started playing electric bass and have continued up to the present day. I started on acoustic bass at fifteen, and guitar when I was 30 years old. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Trumpet Drums Bass Guitar Keyboard Electric Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I have a very laidback, low-pressure approach - if you didn't practice, it's not the end of the world! I think back to my own days of taking lessons and remember how much more I improved in this type of environment, and how much more I loved the process. The difference between these approaches can be night and day, both in results and morale out of the student (which, again, I know from experience as a teacher, but also from my experience as a student). Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Ukulele Mandolin

For adults, I always start off with the list of five: five songs and/or artists that inspire them. This gives me an idea of what they want to be learning in the coming months, and I create a path for them that leads that direction, from the very first step. We will spend a lot of time on the fundamentals (scales, chords, rhythm, sight-reading) but all in the interest of using these tools on the songs they love. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Bass Guitar Electric Guitar Classical Guitar Acoustic Guitar

I like working with students in a way where our love of music is the center of our attention, as such musicality is always the goal. For beginner students who’d like to sight-read, I like to start with the Alfred Modern Guitar Method 1 and supplement that with the Mel Bay Modern Guitar Method, Grade 1, or Frederick Noad’s Solo Guitar 1 if we’re learning classical guitar. Alternatively, if the student wishes to take a route in which he/she does not sight-read musical notation, I like to start with basic picking technique, proper guitar positioning, reading tabs and chord diagrams. Read More