I have a great teacher with 40 years of jazz bass playing experience on
the bandstand. I appreciate the fact that I may NEVER develop to his
level of ability, and the fact that what he does obviously has stood the
test of working in the real world (he has played with many major jazz
professionals over the years). But should I depart from his teachings
and find my own way?
Do not misunderstand me, I still want to contionue studying with him, but
my "gut" wants to follow a slightly different path. He is a chord tone
kind of guy with great time and tone. I am a chromatic kind of guy,
still working on my time and tone. I believe in GENERALLY trying to hit
a chord tone on the 1 and 3 (typically the root or third), but love the
sound of chromatic passages that connect these chord tones. Perhaps it
is just a matter of my walking (no pun intended) before I run. If you
can't play basic chord tones over changes you probably have no business
departing from that path until you can. I am able to do this, and really
want to go beyond it's limitations. I also realize that certain settings
(big bands for example) require a more spartan approach than other
settings (duos and trios). Any suggestions from the older and wiser
members of the list would be welcome. I also focus alot on bowed
melodies and solos which my teacher kind of discourages. I just think it
is a feature of jazz bass that is not used nearly as much as it could be.
Granted it is difficult to do well, that is why I am starting on that
skill early in my training.
Michael D. Temple
mdtemple@ix.netcom.com
Birmingham, Alabama USA