I teach at a few colleges in Maine; the University of Maine Augusta, Bowdoin College, and Bates College. I also teach out of my home in Somerville, MA. In addition, I have 2 correspondence lesson programs, one for walking jazz basslines and one for beginning jazz soloing. Please feel free to contact me for more information about these programs, about private lessons, or any other teaching/learning questions/answers. I'm always up for talking a little bass!

Speaking of my students, the students at UMA have to do those "fill in the circle" reviews of their classes at the end of the semester. There's an optional comment section, from whence came these comments, presented to persuade you that, indeed, I am a good teacher, and that you should seriously consider studying with me. The names are withheld to protect the innocent.

"I've learned a considerable amount in terms of musicality, performing, and concepts thanks to Greg. Pay him more or give him a faculty parking space"

(Excellent student there, now a full time working bass player. Never got that parking space, though)

"Greg is the most organized bass teacher the school has had. [He] is an asset to the UMA music program."

(From an adult student who took lessons from a few different teachers at UMA including myself while he got his degree over the course of many years. He continues to gig regularly in Midcoast Maine)

"Greg is a very versatile & sensitive instructor. Sensitive to what works well for each individual student and shows great concern for their progress and understanding"

"I've learned more from [Greg] than I have from my [other] college professors"

(Sadly, both of these students dropped out not long after these statements. C'est la vie!)

"I'd take this course again!"

(Nice of him to say, and he got his wish, as unfortunately I had to flunk him (he had missed most of his lessons). Still, he came back and now has his Associates degree!)

Here are some of the materials I often use with my students. Please check back often, as I will hopefully be adding more material soon.:

TRANSCRIPTIONS:

Moritat (Mack the Knife):  page 1  page 2  page 3  page 4  page 5 

Pent-Up House:  page 1  page 2  page 3

For lots more great transcriptions, check out these sites:

http://www.lucaspickford.com/transbass.htm

http://freebasspart.pv24.pagesperso-orange.fr/index.htm

ARPEGGIOS:

      I’m in the process of creating a book of arpeggio and scale exercises in all 12 keys for my students, and thought I’d share a few of them with you. Here I have 2 octave major and minor triad arpeggios, major and minor 7^th arpeggios, and dominant 7^th and minor 7^th b5 arpeggios, with fingerings for upright and electric bass. Again, feel free to email me any comments/suggestions you might have concerning these fingerings, I’m always interested to hear how other people get around on the bass.

major and minor triad arpeggios:  page 1  page 2

major and minor 7^th  arpeggios:  page 1  page 2

dominant 7^th and minor 7^th b5 arpeggios:  page 1  page 2

PLAYALONG MP3's:

    I have created a series of playalongs inspired by the great series Jamey Abersold has put together. The difference is that they are much mellower, with very simple accompaniment, which I find works better for practicing walking basslines and bass solos, especially when one is first starting out. I have compiled a number of standard jazz songs; they're on their own page, you can get to them here.

VARIOUS OTHER MATERIALS:

    These are some materials I often use with my students, I share them with you in the hopes that you will find them useful as well.

walking bassline worksheet (all you need to get started walking basslines on any song)

arpeggios from the 3rd to the 9th (very useful for soloing)

common standard jazz songs (a list of common jazz songs every aspiring jazz bassist should memorize, many of these can be found in my playalong mp3's)