Steve Lawson

My fave version of the song is Petra Haden's - [url="http://www.myspace.com/petrahaden"]http://www.myspace.com/petrahaden[/url] - it's fab. Seth Horan covered it when he was in the UK recently, just bass and voice. Good stuff. Steve

Kevin, you're welcome to spend some more time playing mine next time I see you. I love it - I don't get to use it that much, but I still can't bring myself to part with it, as nothing else sounds like it, and there have been various tunes through the years where it really made the song... cheers Steve

silddx - that's great stuff there! Fine words. One of the things I try and impress on my students is that if they don't get it, it's my fault, not there's, as the onus is on me to explain what they need to know in a way they can understand it. It my job was just to rant, they might as well buy DVDs and at least be able to watch the rant again. What to teach? All depends on what the student already knows, what they want to know, what kind of music they want to play. I try and have them playing some kind of bass line to a song as quickly as possible, even if it's just a loop of a couple of chords - making actual music, not just playing exercises. At an early stage, the inspiration that comes from realising they can do way more than they thought they could can pay serious dividends in helping them focus at home. I guess it also depends on how long the lesson is... I don't teach for less than an hour at a time, so that gives me a little longer to develop ideas. Steve www.stevelawson.net

While I clearly don't think £30 would be a lot to pay for a lesson (I know a lot of teachers charging considerably more than that), I think you'll find, if you read it, that that's what I was charging for me to come to you for an hour... which is a steal. (assuming you actually wanted a lesson with me - if you don't, then £10 for 5 hours would still be a waste of money...) As it is, I'll still travel to student's houses sometimes, and charge £60 for a two hour lesson - I don't really do one hour visits to student's houses now, as it's just not a sensible use of my time. So, just to clarify, if you come to me, it's £25 an hour or £45 for a two hour lesson. If I come to you and you're in London, it's £60 for a two hour lesson. The principle though is as said before, a good teacher (and the right teacher for you) is worth whatever it costs. A crap teacher doesn't become a worthwhile teacher just because they cost less... If I was looking for a teacher, I'd find the one I wanted and have lessons less frequently if they were too expensive for me with that person, rather than just get any old teacher who happened to be cheap. £25 an hour is a lot less than I could charge, I just don't want to make music lessons into some kind of rich-person's privilege. I still need to pay the bills, so I find a happy medium that works for me. Some people will still think it's too much, others will feel like they've got the bargain of a lifetime. C'est la vie. Steve

A lot of people tune down for that reason - I love the feel of a drop-tuned E string. When I flip the hip-shot down to D, it's not just the note that shifts, the whole vibe changes in a way that doesn't happen when you play a low D on a 5 string... something to do with the bass resonates. Steve

With summer coming up, and some students heading off home from London for the holidays, I'll have a little more space for lessons, if anyone's interested. I'm in Herne Hill in South London - send me a pm or check my website at www.stevelawson.net for more info! Steve

[quote name='dood' post='196224' date='May 10 2008, 08:56 PM']Sounds about right Steve. First time I saw ya. Seem to remember you were wearing a fetching sarong type thang? ;o)[/quote] Ah yes, I probably was - across the space of about two years, I wore trousers for a total of about 3 weeks... Didn't raise an eyebrow in Brighton or Santa Cruz, but freaked people out a little in Muswell Hill Steve

[quote]i have been turned down over the phone by 2 other tutors for being a girl and for being too old (27!!!) apparently my small girls hands will mean its too hard to teach me[/quote] ...when you found these guys, did you see if they were affiliated with any kind of professional body? There ought to be a way of reporting people like that to the MU or the Registry of Guitar Tutors, if they're members... I've got students as young as 10, and who started in their mid 60s, men, women, boys, girls... Small hands makes no difference at all. If you found it a problem for you personally, there are short scale basses! As said, I'm in Herne Hill which is fairly easily accessible from Bromley, if you want to come down. If you're interested in finding out more, drop me a private message and you can come and meet me and have a chat for free before deciding if you want to have lessons with me. Coffee's complimentary too Really sorry to hear about your experience - Bass is such a young instrument that there's precious little in the way of established pedagogy for teaching it and understanding what's involved in teaching it. I get SO many students who've had previously dreadful experiences with teachers, there are clearly a lot of people being fleeced by teachers who don't have the technical knowledge and experience with the instrument to teach, and clearly have a terrible attitude that they're projecting onto the students... not good at all, cheers Steve

I remember them - funny looking things, but really well made. I think it was the year I was demoing the Yamaha MIDI system - 98? 99? Steve

You called? Not much to add other than that yes, Modulus have had a couple of basses with warped necks, but in every case I know about they replaced it, and had no more trouble. I've not had any trouble with mine - my string bass has been set up 4 times in 15 years - when I got it, when I changed string brand first time, when I had it completely remodelled by Martin Peterson and then the second string brand change. That's it. I've played status basses that I love the sound and feel of, and others that did nothing for me, same as with Modulus. I do think that for what I do, what I hear in my head, what I want from an instrument, there isn't a bass on the planet that I'd rather have than my 6 string fretless. That doesn't mean it's objectively 'the best' bass, as such a thing clearly doesn't exist, but getting this bass cured me of just about any gear lust I may ever have had, and removed any gear-related excuse I ever had for my music not sounding the way I want it to. So try both - different basses with a different vibe that it'd be fairly futile for me to try and describe... cheers Steve

Lovely to see those of you I met at the gig last night - hope y'all had a good time. I was amazed by Yolanda's set. She's without doubt one of the finest funk bassists I've ever heard anywhere. To groove like that with no drummer, and sing, is pretty amazing. I've seen Todd quite a few times, but I'm always amazed by his knowledge of jazz harmony and the beautiful way he employs it, particularly the stuff where he's playing bass, chords and melody at the same time! That hurts my brain... hope to see you all again soon somewhere in the country - Yolanda and I will be doing some more gigs together, the first one of which is in Milton Keynes on March 16th.... cheers Steve [url="http://www.stevelawson.net"]http://www.stevelawson.net[/url]

Yolanda hasn't cancelled - it's listed on her myspace page - [url="http://www.myspace.com/yolandacharles"]http://www.myspace.com/yolandacharles[/url] If you want to buy tickets ahead of time ( £6 ) you can do that here - [url="http://www.stevelawson.net/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=19"]http://www.stevelawson.net/zencart/index.p...;products_id=19[/url] or pay on the door ( £7 ). see you there! steve www.stevelawson.net

Bump! just giving this a bump as it's on Tuesday... Apparently Todd's masterclass weekend went really well. I'm looking forward to hearing him play on Tuesday too...! cheers Steve www.stevelawson.net

[quote name='bassbloke' post='149298' date='Mar 1 2008, 07:07 AM']In his blog he comes across as an intelligent thoughtful individual and, basically, an all round nice person.[/quote] I saw that as well - he's a good writer, and hugely prolific! I think it was Dave Pomeroy who described the basses as 'folk art', which is an interesting angle to take on them. The only one I've played was pretty much unusable as any kind of regular bass guitar, but was a fascinating lump of oddly shaped wood, and make some pretty unique noises... I guess if they vid is any indicator of what Mr Wish actually wants to hear, then the basses make a whole lot more sense than they did before. It's still one of the funniest things I've seen in years... there's something hugely uplifting about hearing music that genuinely seems to have come from a whole other planet, like there's a system to it that I'm not getting at all... Steve www.stevelawson.net

John's recorded output changed hugely in the mid 90s, starting with One More Angel, which is an incredible album. Everything he's put out since then has been worth owning, and his latest album, Line By Line, is outstanding. One of my favourite jazz albums of recent years. He's definitely grown a long way from his Electrik Band beginnings - seems working with Wayne Shorter and John Scofield has taken his compositional skills to a whole new level. Steve www.stevelawson.net

Love the Michael Manring one - brilliantly done (and indeed, Michael did find it hilarious) The Petrucci ones had me close to tears. Just great. Steve

[quote]What's everybody else's thoughts on LCM? Has anyone else studied there?[/quote] not been there, but it does have a good reputation, has done for years. I've done masterclasses at Salford Uni, which looks to be a pretty good place to study too - as a side point, here's the story of my audition there when I applied in my teens to study there... [url="http://steve.anthropiccollective.org/archives/2008/02/bluffing.html"]http://steve.anthropiccollective.org/archi...2/bluffing.html[/url] Steve

[quote name='nickcarey' post='144284' date='Feb 21 2008, 11:39 AM']Beedster is so right. Teaching is the complete opposite where the tutor should bring out the best in students. I am a firm believer in active learning (or 'Experiential Learning') where students go through self discovery guided by the tutor rather than being 'fed' information in a one way process like sitting in a lecture.[/quote] Very much so. Very well put, Steve www.stevelawson.net

A few thoughts - the information you get from a teacher will be held in the balance with the inspiration you get from a teacher. Someone can give you good information about the 'science' of music (diatonic theory and how it maps out on the fingerboard of a bass, the mechanics of reading music, some insight into playing a particular style) while providing nothing in the way of inspiration to find out what it is that you want from music. Or have to give to music. A good teaching environment, whether private or class, will provide both - teach the rules with an emphasis on breaking them to find your own voice. Classes have limitations and advantages - you can't expect a bespoke full time course from a university. If you're self-motivated, you could get that kind of information by having intense regular private lessons - I've had students that have had two two-hour lessons a week before now, but were playing pretty much full time in between. The intensity of a college course in a bespoke setting, but without any of the interaction with other students playing their instrument. Fortunately, the players in question were in bands and so were trying it out and finding their way in their own context. Which reminds me, context is everything. All the mechanics of music mean pretty much nothing without context - every area of music requires a degree of mechanized skill (even songwriting) but also a fair dose of fairy dust to make it work. Analyzing common song forms won't make you write great songs any more than learning how to mix 47 shades of yellow will make you Van Gough, but it does give you a framework and a context into which to pour your passions. Becoming a unique, creative and inspiring musician is really hard. No college course or teaching can MAKE that happen, however a good creative environment (be that a group of friends, or a band, or a college or a relationship with a teacher) will REMOVE obstacles to where you want to go to, and provide illumination on other possible places you hadn't even thought of. The same college course will be the perfect environment for one person and a disaster for another, based largely on what they choose to take from it. If you are the kind of person who is motivated by and feeds off interaction with a lot of other musicians in the same boat as you, then college will give you that in a way that private lessons never will. Arguably you could also get it from joining multiple bands and just playing as much as possible, though the 'lessons' will be less focused... I agree that education is in a pretty disastrous state in the UK. The shift that Beedster highlights, from teaching being an aspirational vocation to become 'what people do when they realise they can't get a job in their chosen field' is awful. It bodes so so badly for the future. However, I do think that musicians actually fair better than most in this way, precisely because the path to originality, inspiration and finding your voice aren't mechanised, and the inspiration can be found in a whole lot of different environments. I went to one of the first 'rock schools' in the country, in Perth in Scotland, and was deeply deeply inspired by being there. Yes, I had to play the bass parts to crappy 80s pop songs in a lame band with singers that were awful, drummers that couldn't groove, and with no concern given to 'having something to say' or 'playing it like you mean it', but I was still playing, and through that was formulating what it was I wanted to do as a player, what I wanted from music, and where I wanted to go (which at the time had nothing to do with playing solo bass - I was a professional bassist for almost 7 years before I ever did a solo gig)... I draw on what I learned at college every day, I draw on the inspiration to think, to play, to break rules, to mean something, to be as good as I can be at what I do. There were other people on my course who didn't get any of that from it, who thought it wasn't worth doing. And perhaps that comes back to the idea that if you're going to do it, you're going to do it whatever, and if you're not, you're not. What a good college/teacher/music study peer group will do is find, encourage and nurture that desire for creativity and excellence. One thing I will say is that if you are thinking of 'becoming a music student', you might be better of thinking of yourself as one already, and then looking for the best environment in which to work on the things that you care about. I'm a music student, have been since I picked up the instrument. I still look for places and people to inspire and teach me as I go along, look for ways to shape my outlook, give me a new perspective and an environment in which to learn and grow. I didn't start being a music student when I went to college, and didn't stop when I left. The situation you're in won't change how you think about the process of gleaning the information you require, or your quest for inspiration. Hopefully, it will provide you with stepping stones, and will inspire you to do more, and provide you with a process to get where you want to be if you're willing to do the work, rather than telling you not to bother. What I'll also say is that the two colleges I have experience with in the London area - the ACM and ICMP - have some really really great bass teachers at them. You can look at the course material, time-table and cost yourselves and decide if they work for you, but the bit that I can say I endorse wholeheartedly is the quality of the teachers that I know. It's also worth mentioning that I've had quite a few students who've come to me for more specific private lessons while studying at one or other of the London colleges or music universities - I don't think that reflects badly on the college, as to expect a class-based environment to provide what everyone needs is unrealistic in all but the most mechanistic of study areas (as Beedster so wisely highlighted). cheers Steve www.stevelawson.net

CDbaby is DEFINITELY the way to go with this - a one-stop shop for getting your stuff on so many different digital services. They take a relatively small percentage, and their set up fee is charged in USDollars which aren't worth anythign at the moment ...oh, and for calling the states cheap, get Skype-out. cheers Steve www.stevelawson.net

[quote name='Mike' post='136404' date='Feb 8 2008, 11:49 AM']ped, mp3fiesta seems incredibly cheap. Like, $0.50 for an entire Pat Metheny album. It's all legit, right?[/quote] depends on how you define 'legit' - it's 'legal' in Russia, though I'd think that technically it would be illegal to 'import' those tracks into the UK, as the 'licenses' that are paid are not recognised internationally. Russian law takes a very laissez-faire approach to copyright law. But if you're buying an entire album for 50c (25p) - the artist is clearly not getting more than that, probably a lot less, clearly less than their cut would be on one track downloaded from just about any other legit service. If you want cheap, ethical legal legit downloads, try www.emusic.com - for £11.99 a month I get 50 tracks... for jazzy stuff where there are often very long tracks on each album, that can amount to a heck of a lot of music for not much dough... Steve www.stevelawson.net

...I was planning on going, but I've got way too much on here that week now, sadly... Have fun those of you that are there! Steve

[quote name='NickThomas' post='142223' date='Feb 17 2008, 11:40 PM']Good grief!! Please tell me it wasnt your accugroove speakers Steve lol[/quote] No, thankfully it was the house piece of crap Peavey combo - was always problematic, but never previously fit the title 'incendiary device'... Steve

Just got in from a gig at Smollensky's on the Strand, where the bass amp literally burst into flames when I switched it on!!! Bits of burning speaker cone were being spat out onto the floor!! I'm just glad my legs weren't in front of it at the time, or I'd have got burned too... The rest of the gig went OK, despite the fact that the entire backline and PA for the show then consisted of one mackie powered monitor that the guitarist and I were both going through... Steve

Update - you can now order tickets online... [url="http://www.stevelawson.net/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=5&products_id=19"]just click here[/url] - it's through my online shop... cheers! Steve www.stevelawson.net