Victor Wooten “Webinar”
I hate that word.
Anyway, I sat down Tuesday night for a one-hour Internet-based ‘cast of a Victor Wooten bass lesson entitled “Slap Fundamentals and Fundamental Groove Concepts.” The overly-scholarly title may imply more than could be communicated in an hour, but overall it was an enlightening time. He tackled a few examples (supplied previously to the session via downloadable PDF) and illustrated his lessons with some playing and explanations to questions submitted via text chat (I’m assuming voice chat would have been overwhelming, really). It was fascinating in a few ways:
- It was comforting to see Wooten have some technical difficulties with the electronic gear and know it doesn’t just happen to me
- It was live, so we got to see him as he rushed a beat or two, explain what happened, and how he adjusts to it - strategies like this can be just as helpful as showing somebody how to play perfectly
- It got me to break a couple rules - I’ve been used to slapping only the E and A strings and popping only the D and G strings, and his examples forced me out of that to learn another way of playing the written examples
It was also nice to have this kind of experience at home - it’s not the same as working with any artist in person, but it makes information like this accessible in remote places that wouldn’t always get such visits (my house being a prime example). Obviously distance learning is nothing new - this type of video broadcast with a chat option is the set-up they used for classes in my master’s program 5 years ago. I signed up basically to see how Wooten and Bass Player magazine (the folks putting this on) would handle a session like this, and overall I was pleased. My only complaint is that you can’t download the final product, but you do get a series of replays that expires after a certain date. I’ll be interested to see who comes up next on the schedule.
One quote that sticks with me is “Bass isn’t an instrument, it’s a role.” It’s a good concept to remember - it’s not all about the specific bass guitar or upright or keyboard or tuba or whatever. Still, that role has to be there and shouldn’t be ignored - White Stripes, I’m looking at you.