Bassists

My post to the IAJEStrings list about the Guildhall Summer School'a strings class, led by Tanya Kalmanovitch, stated that "all instruments - violin, viola and cello" were represented on the course. Now a bassist has objected to this phrase, because it leaves out the double bass. Her objections are well worth reading, as they highlight some important discrepancies between classical and jazz bass teaching and technique:

Hello,

I'm sorry but I have to bring up a sore subject here. In David's posting Re: Guildhall Summer School, he points out that "All instruments - violin, viola and cello - were represented..." Hello? There is a fourth instrument in the string family. The double bass. Does anyone consider this a stringed instrument? At my experience at the ASTA convention in Dallas last March, I was astounded at the lack of bass presence. I just completed a master's degree in double bass performance, and the attitude seems pervasive there as well: we have the strings, and then there are the basses over there. Why is this, do you think (open question?)

I played cello for 6 years before beginning my study of double bass, and I taught strings in public schools for eleven years, and I feel proficient on the upper strings as well. Some even say I'm a decent fiddle player. My own thoughts on the subject are twofold: On one hand, bass players have been on the forefront of the jazz scene from day one (at least after the tuba), so perhaps the feeling is that they don't need additional attention or nurturing in the jazz idiom. For string players, I think the attitude of bassists being "othered" results from the string quartet tradition: "Lo! We don't need no frickin' bass players! Let 'em go play bass ensemble music! (We'll call one if we want to play Dvorak 77.)"

As a bassist, I always feel the odd one out. In jazz, I'm primarily a rhythm player, and when I do solo, everyone else has to all but stop playing to hear me. In classical music, I feel almost like a necessary evil in the orchestra sometimes, something to be tolerated, and again there are the string quartet people. In short, the bass as a soloist is still taken as a novelty, regardless of genre.

So, sorry to rant, but my point is this: More bassists should be brought into the realm of melodic playing. It doesn't sound bad (listen to some Jimmy Blanton arco work), and I think the other strings could benefit from the experience a bass player could bring to the table in terms of playing in jazz ensmebles. I have spent a lot of time developing my arco jazz technique, and I look forward to a time when I'll be accepted as an acutal string player. I know many of you don't intend to be exclusive toward bassists, and in fact at ASTA I felt very, very welcome. But when I read the phrase "All instruments - violin, viola and cello - were represented...", I just flew off the handle.

My two cents.

Maddie Dietrich, Loose Cannon & String Player


Tanya Kalmanovitch's intervention is also right on the mark, in my opinion:

Madeline's timely point should be well taken! Bassists trained exclusively in the western classical tradition fall through the cracks when it comes to jazz performance. They often lack the necessary tools and experience to participate in jazz performance, but have a limited presence in the "jazz string" community.

As Nina mentioned, there's a good reason for this -- bassists are well served in jazz education as it stands. A bassist at the Guildhall course last week (a course for jazz and rock instrumentalists and singers, not a string-specific course) could have taken daily instrumental instruction from bassists, learning approaches to rhythm section performance, harmony,instrumental technique, and approaches to soloing (arco as well as pizz).

Like classically trained string players, though, classically trained bass players wishing to learn jazz are often in an awkward position where there instrumental abilities far exceed their jazz vocabulary and experience.

Further complicating the picture, I'd argue that the bassist' is the most important role in the jazz ensemble. Bass students (and cellists wishing to function as bassists) therefore have different responsibilities to violinist and violists, and different education needs if they are to function effectively as jazz musicians. (Of course, I think all jazz musicians -- especially upper strings -- should know how to construct bass lines, but that's another post.)

All music students (even so-called "traditional" jazz instrumentalists) have special needs that are best served by the intelligent management of student educational plans on an individual basis. An awareness that some classical bass players might be slipping through the cracks is important and timely.

Tanya Kalmanovitch


P.S. My class at Guildhall was open to all string players, including bassists. David mentioned the arrangements I wrote for the string ensemble: I wrote those specifically for the students enrolled in my class at Guildhall, burning a bit of last-minute midnight oil in the process to be sure that late enrollers were accomodated. Had there been a non-improvising bassist involved, she would have been welcome to join us and I would have written another bass part. That player would have been welcome to solo as any of the other players did -- arco or pizz, as she pleased.

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