Bass Lessons in Somerville, MA

Instruments: Guitar Trumpet Bass Guitar Synthesizer Double Bass

My students take music at their own pace, and on their own terms. Whatever you want out of our lessons is what you will get, and though I expect regular improvement, I don't push students beyond their limits. Read More

Instruments: Piano Trumpet Trombone Drums Bass Guitar Organ Euphonium Tuba

Street Bombers where I performed all over New England playing trombone, piano, percussion and vocals from 1986 to 2005. In 2006 my wife and I moved to California where I was Music Director at the Rock Church from 2007 to 2014. After a brief stint in San Diego my wife and I recently moved back to Bradford, Mass which is the location of my teaching and recording studio. You can catch me playing locally with the B. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar

The teaching style that I use is to get to know my students and keep a fun and engaging atmosphere. I try to convey that the goal of learning an instrument is to play music, so I always save time for playing songs or jamming together. I always found that my best teachers were kind and lighthearted individuals that understood my needs. I try to be the same for my students. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass

"The art of teaching is the Art of assisting discovery" - Mark Van Doren My teaching method is always geared towards to my students goals. I know that the best teacher is able to identify what exactly needs to be paid attention to in your playing to take you to the next level. With these ideas in mind, the lesson are built from a combination of what the final goals are, and what needs to be developed to get there. Read More

Instruments: Guitar Bass Guitar Double Bass

I am a big proponent of a hands-on learning approach that relies heavily on musical interaction and performance preparation. The best way to improve as a musician is to play, so I try to pinpoint what the student is interested in playing and focus our attention toward that, all while developing foundational music skills such as rhythm, sight reading, theory, ear training, and harmony. I like to start my students on a series of warm-ups and technical exercises that I've found to be essential in developing good technique for students of all abilities and experience levels, and eventually work up to playing repertoire that will strengthen their fundamentals and fulfil their musical interests. Read More

Instruments: Bass Guitar Double Bass

Beginning students are taught to read bass clef and are given introductory exercises to familiarize them with the strings and fingerboard. From there, I begin to teach more advanced music theory to build off of the established foundation. Some of the books I use for theory study are the Real Books and Dover Music's Bach Keyboard Music for jazz and classical theory respectively. Additional materials for intermediate and advanced students include Oscar Stagnaro's Latin Bass Book, Jimmy Haslip's Melodic Bass Library, and the Charlie Parker Omnibook depending on the student's genre of interest. Read More

Instruments: Piano Guitar Drums Bass Guitar French Horn

My lessons are very structured, but within the structure is a lot of freedom. An hour long lesson might look something like this: First 10 min.: Warm-ups, discussion about posture, hand position and muscular/skeletal health while playing. Next 10 min.: Performance of previous weeks assignments, with discussion about whether preparation was adequate, what was missed (usually dynamics and other articulations) and what could be done to improve. Next 10 min.: Based half on performance and half on my own ideas, work on a number of techniques to strengthen the weaknesses the student is facing. Read More