This made my day… (quoting)

by Ari • 15 Mar 2016 — 2 minute read

Quoting one of my readers

Theory for the Bass Player Book, InstructionOne of the greatest things that have happened for me since I wrote Music Theory for the Bass Player is that I get emails from bassists from all over the world. I love hearing about bass and life stories – some even tell about how music has saved a life- and many share their learning stories. Thank you for writing in,

This morning I got this, which expresses better than I ever could why I think Music Theory is worth learning:

I’m amazed at how theory gives ‘meaning’ to the music I’ve been playing all my life.
I sat down the other day and started playing a song I haven’t played in 20 years (Skin Tight, by the Ohio Players).
When I got to the bridge, which I’ve always had trouble remembering, I looked down at the fretboard and the path lit up for me and led me to the notes to play:
I walked from C to F then G to Bb, using the triad shapes as the basis of succession (C,D,E,F) (2,4,1,2 fingering) then G,A,Bb (4,1,2 fingering).That’s the part that lit up like a runway for me!
Then chromatic down from F to Eb and E,F,F#/Gb as the 10th to the D.
And the chords are C,F, Bb, Eb, D.
I heard it, saw it, felt it, anticipated it…cool beans!
I giggled like a little school girl!

Hilliard Scott, Bassist (from an email, used with permission

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Bassist, author, educator.

Groove enthusiast and learning nerd.

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Hi. I'm Ari.

As a bassist, I have toured/played/recorded with a variety of rock, Jazz, and funk bands, I have worked with some incredible producers (Keith Olsen) and musicians (Paul Hanson, Muriel Anderson) and I toured Brazil with Stu Hamm as a duo.

 

As a bass teacher, I have taught at London Bass Day, Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp, SBL, Truefire, notreble… I even ran my own music school for a few years before gigs took me back on the road.

 

One thing to know about me is that I teach because I am absolutely fascinated with the learning process. And I am obsessed with helping others realize their musical potential.

 

When I started playing bass, I excelled very quickly because I had an amazing teacher who taught me using a powerful method. This method transformed my playing so quickly that I passed a bunch of high-level university auditions and even tested out of entire classes at university even though I had been playing for only a very short time.

 

That’s what, many years later turned into one of my books, co-written with Wolf Wein, called “The Pattern System for the Bass Player”. I created entire systems of learning based on some of these ideas and wrote books and created courses together with Wolf. Our bass books have sold over 30,000 copies and garnered rave reviews.

 

I started teaching online in 2009 and have embraced technology as a powerful learning tool since then, never losing sight of the importance of providing feedback and personalized guidance to learners.

 

Read more…

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