Looking back, 2018 has been an incredible year for Discover Double Bass. We have added three new tutors to our faculty; Danny Ziemann, Adam Ben Ezra and David Allen Moore. We have published 33 lessons and 7 full length courses.
Here’s how 2018 unfolded. . .
There was no time for New Years Eve related hang overs as Danny Ziemann flew in to film his first course with us on New Year’s Day!
I first met Danny at the 2017 ISB Convention where he spoke about jazz bass education and the research he had done whilst writing his books “The Low Down Vol. 1 & 2”. His playing completely knocked me out, if you like hard-swinging, creative walking bass lines and melodic solos, you will love it. Plus, I’m a sucker for the tone of a double bass with a gut G string!
Danny has joined the DDB team as a jazz bass specialist. Check out this video from the course where the leads the band over the jazz standard ‘I’m Old Fashioned’.
Later in January we published a new course by Lauren Pierce on Left Hand Technique. Lauren has done fantastic job of presenting material which starts with the basics, but covers a lot of ground making this a really in-depth course.
Lauren’s lesson on finger spacing from the course has been one of our most popular lessons of 2018. We love Lauren’s videos and look forward to sharing more with you in 2019!
At Discover Double Bass we are committed to creating courses by the world’s best double bassists and as a true innovator Adam Ben Ezra was at the top of our list! We arranged for Adam to film the course in the U.K. at a recording studio on Dutch Barge owned by Pete Townsend of the Who! It’s rock and roll heritage made it the perfect setting!
Adam’s course was released in March. ‘The Signature Sounds of Adam Ben Ezra’. explores his innovative techniques and music. If you like Adam’s playing you will love this!
Adam’s lesson was another one of our most popular videos from 2018. I hope you enjoy it!
April saw the release of Danny Ziemann’s first course, The Bass Player’s Guide to the Trio. With a live band throughout, it was a lot of fun to film and really mirrors many of the settings we work in a double bassists.
Moving onto July, we published Lauren’s next new course, Practiceology. The topic of practice is such an important one for all musicians. Lauren worked really hard to make sure she covered everything you need to know to get the most from your routine….Time to think about setting those New Years practice resolutions!!!
July was also a special month for me as I proposed to my girlfriend and she said yes! We’re looking forward to getting married next summer and we are busy planning….I’ve got the tough job of choosing the music!
In August I headed out to the Bass Europe congress, BASS2018 in Lucca. It was an incredible and inspiring week of performances and masterclasses.
Lucca is a wonderful Italian city and I highly recommend it although it was insanely hot so you might want to pick a cooler season if you’re not a fan of the hot weather!
Dr Adam Booker who gave a superb masterclass on slap bass.
Whilst I was in Lucca, Jason Heath from Contrabass Conversations asked me to join a panel discussion about the future of music education and technology. You can listen to the show here:
Episode 525: Geoff Chalmers and the Future of Technology
Douglas Mapp, David Hayes, Geoff Chalmers, Jason Heath, Andres Martin and Martin Rosso.
In August we published our second course by Danny Ziemann ,Walk On which teaches new methods to create walking bass lines.
Danny’s lesson on Triad Pairs was another popular lesson of the year.
In October I relaunched a completely new version of my Beginner’s Double Bass course. It was fun looking back over this material and updating it. I’ve certainly learnt a lot over the years and this new version is a lot better, both in terms of the video production and lesson content.
For previous buyers of the original course it’s a free upgrade, just log in and your old course has been replaced.
November provided an opportunity for a vacation on the beautiful island of Malta. Whilst visiting, I caught up with the principle bassist of the Malta Philharmonic, Gjorgji Cincievski. He was one of my original teachers when I started playing classical music and I learnt a heck of a lot from him!
As an expert player and teacher, David Allen Moore was a favourite for our course on German Bow Technique. David’s first course was released in December and we’re looking forward to sharing his next course with you in early 2019. Here’s a few photos from behind the scenes to whet your appetite!
What’s Next?
In 2019 we will be getting off to a flying start with two new tutors flying into the U.K to join the Discover Double Bass team and film courses in January. We have been working really hard to prepare the lessons for you…..watch this space for further news!
We also have several more expert tutors due to join us for the first half of 2019 as well as new lessons and courses by our existing tutors. If you love the double bass we will be sure to have something for you!
It’s been great to look back over 2018 with you, thank you for all your support and for being part of our community.
I hope you have an amazing 2019.
Geoff Chalmers
Discover Double Bass Founder