Jump to content
Why become a member? ×

Scott’s Gary Willis course


lownote

Recommended Posts

Scott Devine is launching a Gary Willis masterclass. I’m tempted. But given that Scott himself is so heavily influenced by yer man, surely anyone who’s studied with Scott down the years will already have much of what will be in the masterclass.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I signed up for it yesterday, invested the money I made from selling a bass 😲, hardest bit will be finding the time over the next 2 months but I'll be able to keep going back over it till it sinks in, I find at my age learning is hard, I wish all this had been around 45+ years ago instead of the recorder or triangle at infants and the classical based musical education for other instruments that was on offer then. I hope the youngsters are aware of the musical educational opportunities that are available to them now and take advantage of that and the relatively low cost of instruments and recording tech to make great music for the future 

where is high six country ? Google didn't know 

 

Edited by Aidan63
additional q to op
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On ‎26‎/‎03‎/‎2019 at 07:57, Aidan63 said:

I signed up for it yesterday, invested the money I made from selling a bass 😲, hardest bit will be finding the time over the next 2 months but I'll be able to keep going back over it till it sinks in, I find at my age learning is hard, I wish all this had been around 45+ years ago instead of the recorder or triangle at infants and the classical based musical education for other instruments that was on offer then. I hope the youngsters are aware of the musical educational opportunities that are available to them now and take advantage of that and the relatively low cost of instruments and recording tech to make great music for the future 

where is high six country ? Google didn't know 

 

Lol I remember them music lessons our tutor was a horrible man I got chucked out of the music class because I refused to learn some silly nursery rhyme on recorder and disrupted the class trying to bang out the drum beat to Alice Coopers Black Juju with 2 pencils on the table...Rock n Roll lol.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've no plans to purchase it, but I fully understand the value it would have to alot of players out there.  It will be of extremely high quality, based on Scott's other stuff and I've watched the clip of Gary and drummer playing to some laptop synthy stuff. Worth it for the drummer alone! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe that anybody who takes part in the course is bound to benefit from this.

In the bigger scheme of things £120(ish) isn't a great deal of money for 10 hours of tuition from somebody of Scott and Gary Willis's stature. If you think you'll get VFM then dive in, if you can't justify the spend at the moment, then don't. 

Personally I'd love to participate, however cash flow at the moment prevents me from doing so.

Good luck to anybody who takes part.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would totally do it but I don’t have time at the moment... Gutted really, but maybe next time.

Good luck for everyone who enrolled, I’m sure it’ll be fantastic!

Clearly, Gary Willis is from another planet (and so is the drummer).

 

Edited by PawelG
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am expecting it to be more generic, lesson one is his mastering the fingerboard technique which I believe is in one of his early books. It's not a fretless course, I think he's using a fretted bass in the first lesson

Edited by Aidan63
clarity
Link to comment
Share on other sites

His technique is very much an individual choice; I gave it a shot for 6 months solidly and got nowhere with it - the third finger to me just doesn’t have the independence (at least on my hand). As I understand it he played like that from day one, so it probably came naturally. I’d expect plenty about articulation and dynamics, and damping with the plucking hand, as it goes a long way to explaining his super-clean technique, plus his fingerboard harmony approach (which is largely based around the 4+2 fret “box” and viewing harmony as shapes on the fretboard).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FYI I have pulled out after one lesson.  I have a strong feeling if I had nothing else in my life and was laser focused it would be extraordinary.  But I don't and I'm not. 

Any road, I 'm out while I can still get my money back. I expect I'm missing something great but its too much for me at this stage.   

Edited by lownote12
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can see what you mean, I had difficulty, but then maybe I don’t know as much as I should!

i must admit that I am not sure why Scott is there, as it’s more like an interview than lesson. There is a lot of info there and I can see it might be difficult to translate into something useable.

but I shall keep going for a bit to see if it sinks in!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 26/03/2019 at 07:57, Aidan63 said:

I hope the youngsters are aware of the musical educational opportunities that are available to them now

Youtube is an amazing mine of rich guidance and insight - at the moment i'm really keen on Joe Hubbard's vids. There is so much out there, but just now I am enjoying his insights and approach to some things. Scott is great but he does his thing and I sometimes just hear a lot of notes like wallpaper with too many flowers on it.
But the resources available to players on tight budgets are really enormous - video obviously totally destroys all the old books, as a medium. I know these guys are selling us up to the subscription deals, but what they pass on for free is rediculously good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

FYI I quit the course as it was beyond my understanding and it's not framed in a 'from known to unknown' manner and the conversational format whilst occasionally insightful and interesting doesn't work for me as a teaching method. Gary has spent a lifetime getting to where he is musically and there will be plenty of musicians who could take something from the course but I think Scott sold it too heavily as been good for everyone. If it was a real face to face course at a college you'd have to prove that you had the chops and basic knowledge and understanding to be able to enrol, in order to not waste the tutors time or set you the student up for failure, but in the internet educational model it is open to all who can afford without regard to ability/motivation/time/outcomes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I quit the course yesterday. The guy can do amazing things but I couldn't really understand where he was coming from and TBH, if I had, it might be interesting that I could use a cm7 pentatonic when someone asked me to solo over a VI-II-V key-change but that is absolutely never going to happen.

I don't have the knowledge to get much out of it, or the desire to get the things that it is going to give me.  I suppose in hindsight it is a bit of a silly course for me to take, as there is no way I would be interested in listening to a track that he was playing on anyway.

But props to SBL for having a cancellation thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

as there is no way I would be interested in listening to a track that he was playing on anyway.

me too. respect for his tech knowledge and dexterity but dare I mark him down for application? The space between notes is really very important, and one grand idea beats 19 OK ones all at the same time...

I'll be in bother for this :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

So what's the difference between persistence and stupidity?  I just signed up for GW mk 2 AGAIN to see if it was me.  I understand it even less this time round.  Watched the first video 10 times now and still no idea what I’m supposed to be doing, why or how.  Now this could be because I'm a nitwit. But the trouble is the first video isn’t a lesson, it’s a garbled talk between two experts. Gary can barely string two words together and Scott keeps interrupting. It's not that its super brainy, beyond my ken, etc. It's just... meh teaching.  It sounds amazing, if you believe Scott's BS it is the Holy Grail.  But...

Interested to see if anyone takes wing on this.   

This time I lasted three weeks.

Edited by lownote12
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok... I had already decided to spend some money. I sort of fancied a shimmer reverb. Anyway after deliberation, it was this or a HOF2 .

Yes I think I fell for the hard sell and email bombardment, but hopefully in the long run this will benefit me EVERY time I play rather than occasionally.

We'll see.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

It’s now several weeks since I came off the course and surprisingly it has left a useful legacy. A central plank to Willis’s teaching is to play music. Just that. After 10 years of trying to learn the mechanics of music, this is a deep-ploughing idea to take on board. But it’s something I’m now doing and it’s refreshing. Just takes getting my head round that’s all. 

Edited by lownote12
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 05/11/2019 at 18:11, lownote12 said:

So what's the difference between persistence and stupidity?

I don't think stupidity comes into it. Seems to me you guys are A level students trying to come to terms with a Masters degree course.

You would probably get more out of this course if you had some prerequisite courses leading up to it.

I would love to play at this level of ability, but I just don't like the music that these guys play. A year spent playing and understanding what's behind Nate Watts, Roscoe Beck or Joe Dart bass lines, for instance, would be a much better project for me. Those  styles are more relevant to me and how I play.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...