I’m always amazed – and dismayed – at how often I fail to ask the above question in my life. I spend a whole lot of time on trivial, time-wasting things as a diversion from the important things I really ought to be doing. That’s not to say that ‘trivial fun’ isn’t valid – sometimes what’s most important is some rest n’ relaxation, or a good laugh, or some time playing a computer game to wind down – it’s just that so often trivia is the default because we don’t stop to think about what it is that really matters to us and what it will take to bring that about. (more…)
I have certain pre-arranged responses to some of the questions and comments I get about my music.
One of my favourites to throw out is to comments like “hey, Steve, you should do a whole ambient record” or “I really like the funky tunes, you should do more of that“, or any other ‘you should‘-type comments. My response is invariably “no, YOU should, cos it’s you that wants to hear it!” (more…)
As I’ve said before, the inspiration behind finally doing Beyond Bass Camp in London is the series of annual masterclasses that I’ve given in California every January for the last few years.
The fact that I only visit California once a year means I only get to teach there once a year, but would love to be able to go and do more. In London, that’s easy 🙂
Anyway, Lobelia found these photos that she’d taken of the January 2008 class, which, other than the room it’s in being a lot bigger than where the classes will be in London, is pretty much how the set-up will work here. Just in case you wanted some context.
Sign-ups are going well for B*B*C – at this rate, it looks like the 5 places on the first 5 will be taken by people wanting to attend all 5 classes… If that’s you, do get booked in ASAP, cos a few people are deliberating. (and worry not, I’ll be running it again, possibly alongside the current class on a different Saturday, if you miss the deadline…)
On the blog post announcing Beyond Bass Camp, Kevin posted a very pertinent question relating to syllabus/curriculum. So here’s an outline of the kind of approach I’ll be taking.
As with everything I teach, much of the content will remain fluid and be based on the needs and personalities of the musicians who attend… Having taught privately now for 20 years, and lead masterclasses of this type for about 6 years, I’ve found that the best format is to have an outline of the ‘approach’ and allow the detail of the content to form itself in response to those needs.
That said, each day long class will be split into 3 two hour sessions. (more…)
Posted by: Steve
I’m always amazed – and dismayed – at how often I fail to ask the above question in my life. I spend a whole lot of time on trivial, time-wasting things as a diversion from the important things I really ought to be doing. That’s not to say that ‘trivial fun’ isn’t valid – sometimes what’s most important is some rest n’ relaxation, or a good laugh, or some time playing a computer game to wind down – it’s just that so often trivia is the default because we don’t stop to think about what it is that really matters to us and what it will take to bring that about. (more…)
