MIKE DAVIS MAKES MUSIC
Bassist, Educator, Composer, Producer
Private Lessons
I'm pleased to offer private instruction primarily in person in the Woodstock, NY area, but also via Zoom. I believe in focusing closely on my craft, and I would like to help you do the same.
Learning to play bass is much more than repeating what others have done exactly as they did it. It's developing intimacy and expertise with your instrument so that you are able to make music not only sound great but FEEL great, and so that you're able to interpret music and make it yours.
Writing within a style of music is much more than just parroting what others have done. It's analyzing a genre until it's a language as familiar to you as your first spoken language, and then speaking with eloquence in real time.
Learning to perform classical music is not just the development of technical skills so that you can perfectly play what is on the page. It's using your technical skill to give life to what is on the page.
As your teacher, I will help you make real progress as a player of your instrument, look at your own performance and composition with a keen critical eye, and relax and enjoy the experience of creating music. I will never tear you down or humiliate you. I will do my best to keep you motivated and making progress. The speed at which you do it is entirely up to you.
1
Double Bass Lessons
The bulk of my formal training is in double bass performance. My primary classical bass instruction was under Ed Rainbow and Jeff Bradetich, both artists of the highest caliber, and my approach to helping you become a better classical bassist is based on their approach. We will ensure that your technical foundation is strong, that you are building habits that will keep you safe from injury, and that you develop the tools necessary to play with consistency and expressiveness.
If you are seeking to focus on jazz performance, this is actually my first and most fluent musical language. We'll certainly include elements of classical training as they are necessary to performing on double bass in any capacity, but we'll also explore jazz theory and language, the roll of double bass in the music, and your taste and goals as an artist.
2
Electric Bass Lessons
As a sideman of many years performing in pretty much every genre I can think of, I can help you develop an approach to electric bass playing that will make you versatile and comfortable in any situation. We can start with basics including the right set up for you, how to get the tone you want, and more. Then we can explore styles of music and how to sound like each one is the only thing you are into. Most of us start by learning what other bass players played. There is certainly great value in that. However, when we do that, we'll also discuss and determine what is the essential bass part and what is the individual artist's choice. This will help you, both when you are playing live with others and also when you are developing your own material, play in a freer and more responsive way with others in the moment while on stage.
3
Songwriting, Composition and Theory Lessons
I would love to help you develop your own original material drawing from my formal education in jazz and classical theory, composition and arranging as well as from my experience collaborating with artists as songwriter, producer and sideman, arranging for many different types of ensembles, composing my own music, and co-writing for The Yagas. I can help you break down styles of music, understand theory more deeply, and be more prolific and generative (without the use of AI!!).
4
Band Coaching
What the heck is band coaching? It's just what it sounds like. In a sense, it's similar to what I did as a producer leading up to the actual recording, but we can start this at any stage of development. Often it is hard for a band of individuals, each with distinct ideas and tastes, to figure out how to blend together and create a unified voice. I can serve as a critical observer with only one goal - to help you sound like a BAND.