A musician’s playing will always benefit from increasing their knowledge base.  Great playing is not about access to notes—it’s about knowledge.  When you buy a Fender electric bass guitar, you get a 20 fret bass with 4 strings for a total of 84 notes and a range of 36 notes.  That’s the exact same quantity of notes that Jaco, James Jamerson, Larry Graham, Marcus Miller and many of our heroes created great music with.  So it’s not the instrument or the notes available on it that make these guys great players—it’s their knowledge base!

It’s always interesting to me that musicians can be so defiant about learning music theory.  The best way to be “defiant” is to be prepared— to be well armed with knowledge. Music is the only profession where people will actually brag about not knowing something. Lord knows I wouldn’t hire a doctor or lawyer who brags about not knowing something in their profession!  I don’t want to have to convince somebody that being better prepared or more knowledgeable is better—a Bassology student will get that intuitively!  Music is both an art and a science. You can’t dismiss either part of it. If you want to be truly great you have to be good at both.

No.  Bassology Around the World events and programs are open to all bass players from any level whether they currently study with me or not, and even whether they are a bass player or not.  I focus my curriculum on music theory and that is applicable to any instrument.  In fact, I would love having musicians on any instrument participate in my events!

Some programs, like Bassology at Sea, will include two lessons before the event to prepare students to get the most out of the program curriculum. 

The most important qualification for Bassology Around the World is to be a serious student.  Bassology is dedicated to the dedicated.

I make sure I cover topics in a way that will benefit people who are just learning how to play music and the bass guitar and people who have been playing a long time.  I’m not so much concerned about the level of your playing as I am about discipline, because my curriculum is very disciplined.  So an advanced player who is not disciplined will have a hard time with the curriculum but a beginner player who is serious and disciplined will have an easier time.  Bassology is not based on level— it’s based on seriousness and discipline.

I’ve decided that 22 students is the maximum number of students I will accept because I want any student who wants personal access to me, whether in a group or individually, to have that.  Also, we welcome students to bring a guest on the trips and we want everyone to feel welcome and an equal part of the group.  To me and Tamatha, my Bassology director, having the guests enjoy the trips & events and be a part of the Bassology family is equally as cool as having the students enjoy the trips & events!

The smartest thing you can do is schedule your first lesson as soon as you are enrolled!  So the answer is “right away” and I really encourage you to do that.  You want to be as prepared as possible to get the most out of the Bassology curriculum and my lessons are rich with content and take time and dedication to master.  Bassology—dedicated to the dedicated!

The sooner you get your lessons in, the longer you will have to work on the material before the cruise!  The absolute last date for your second lesson is one month before the trip.