HELLO FROM GERALD VEASLEY'S BASSBOOTCAMP

[Willie L. Terry Jr]

To all my LGM fam...shot out!

Myself and DJGROOVIN came up here to check this thing out and it's off the chain.  I highly recommend it for anyone that's serious.  What's refreshing is that Gerald does motivational sessions where he speaks on character issues from a bassist perspective.  Truly he is a Christian and after having spent a whole weekend with him I would recommend this camp to all believers who wonder about coming to these type of camps.  His staff is made up of mostly believers and they are like family.  I've met and spent quality time with Gerald and he has an sweet spirit.  Adam Nitti, Doug Wimbish, Gary Willis, Bakitia Kabala are all great.  Met them all and they are very humble.  My most pleasant surprise was meeting Gerald's music director; a man by the name of Chris Farr who also plays sax for Gerald.  This guy is not only a wonderful personality but he's great and gave the period of instruction that had the most impact on my music.  Gerald also has a host of volunteer staff who teach teach midnight classes such as; GROOVE, SLAP, SOLOING, SIGHT READING.  These instructors are all professional musicians who volunteer because they love Gerald.  This is because Gerald loves people.  All in all, Gerald was robbed...We are gaining so much that he could easiley charge more.  I'm coming back next year.  Registration for next year is starting now...if you need to register for next year feel free to contact me or you can go to geraldveasley.com and stay tuned for information.  If you want to register right away I can put you into contact with the right folk.

I love you all keep bassin...

You know my scripture PSALMS 144:1  Blessed be the Lord my rock who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight.

Your Boy,
Willie L. Terry Jr.
a.k.a
Spiritfingers

[sixstringpoet]

aww man , you met gary willis !!!! he is awesome. you all back east are so lucky. i wish they brought some of that stuff to the west coast.

[Mysteryman]

West Coast has NAMM so we are even. 

[sixstringpoet]

no way man, we have to sneak into namm and pose as retailers. i'll trade anyday.

[ladybass]

Wow man .. that's an awesome report Willie .... Thanks for the insight.  I'm glad this is a yearly camp.

[djgroovin]

MAN...words cannot discribe the benifits of this camp.  It was truly a blessing.  This is easily the most rewarding experience that I have EVER had in my life thus far.  If you are serious about playing bass.  Don't even think about NOT attending the next camp.  There is such a sense of freedom and fellowship.  This camp will change the bass world forever.  Several people I met will be attending Victor's "Bass at the Beach" and Berklee's "Bass Lines" this year.  I plan on being at one of them.

no way man, we have to sneak into namm and pose as retailers. i'll trade anyday.

Hey Six, there were several people from the West Coast that flew in.  Some came from Europe.  Willie flew in from Japan.  If you want it bad enough you should do it.  It will cut your learning curve by years.

Holla!

[Willie L. Terry Jr]

NAMM...NAMM...NAMM   Dude...NAMM  we talking about NAMM.

Shot out to DJ who was my roommate and is a dynamic bassist.  Let them hands go free man.

Got mad love for you dude,

T.J.

[ptidwell]

no way man, we have to sneak into namm and pose as retailers. i'll trade anyday.

+1
It seems that we get neglected here in the west when it comes to these type of events.
I just missed a Todd Johnson and Norm Stockton workshop due to my heavy schedule and oversight.
More of these events need to happen within the Christian community.
I was at NAMM cool event when it comes to GASIN" for gear, but I would rather perfect my chops
that to spend more money on gear.

[Q]

WASSUP,

This is "Q".  As Willie T mentioned already, the Gerald Veasley Bass Bootcamp was more than awesome, it not only laid a solid foundation for any level of bass player, but on a personal note it was a great opportunity for us to connect with other folks on a spiritual level.  I am from the west coast and I attended the first Bass Alliance event out here in San Diego last September. We had Norm Stockton, Alex Al, Tony Franklin "The Fretless Monster" just to name a few. 

Big shout outs to my new brothers, Willie T and DJ, the events will never be forgotten.  I posted a few pictures at:

http://www.bhwproductions.com/gvbbc

for anyone who wanted to check out a few of the pictures.

Much Love

Q

[Willie L. Terry Jr]

No doubt that gear is a part of bass but once you get the gear the skill has to be there.  What I've experience has me trippin.  I was like in the middle of the pack in terms of skills chops.  Theory wise I with the advanced group which I was proud of because I work hard to understand the little that I did.  I'm taking things to the next level and preparing to study my instrument all out reading, chords, upright.  Reading and theory first though because chops will come over time.  I'm still trippin inside like what do I do now.


T.J.

[Dtuned]

what all were they teaching i mean how did it go?? was it mere discussion?? i remember dj groovin has only been playin like 2 years right? its been a while for me as i havn't been onboard for over 1/2yr, but i remember dj seemed very knowledgable on bass in that short time, that alone was motivation for me, as i've been playing (noodling) with the bass for years and cant put together jack thats worth while..
i guess theory is the key to improvising.

did they have you all get up and jam? if so with who? and what did you play, follow along?
i dont get the whole camp thing,, pls further detail as im interested and where was it..? etc. etc.,

most of all, how good do you have to be? sight read?
rob

[djgroovin]

Rob,

Wew...I hope I can answer all your questions.  Here is the info for the bootcamp http://www.geraldveasley.com/bassbootcamp/index.htm

The camp was great.  There were pleople there from across the country, overseas, beginners and seasoned players alike...There was a lot of discussion and teaching, but also a lot of playing.  We carried our basses everywhere so that every technical thing we were taught we had a chance to apply it right on the spot.  This is the number one thing...EVERYONE PLAYED in front of the class.  Let me tell you, I was afraid to play in front of people, but the whole point of the camp was not only to educate us but to have every single person overcome their fear of playing in front of people.  I grew so much in that one weekend.  My confidence, knowledge and skill grew.

Each of the instuctors taught a session and put on a mini concert or demonstration.  Afterwards they took questions and explained some of their techniques.  The guys were incredible.  Micheal Manring was in concert one night.  Spiro Gyra had a concert.  We had a great time. 

They had an optional midnight session that we were able to breakdown stuff even further(of course almost everyone went).  There was a sight reading class.  Play with the drummer class.  Slap class.  Reading class.  Solo/Improv class.  I know I averaged about 4hrs of sleep a night but I said that I would sleep after the camp.  I was gaining so much knowledge the adreneline kept me going for the whole weekend.

Oh yeah,  the last night everyone had the opportunity to get up on stage and play with Geralds band.  Everyone just took turns playing whatever.  It was great.  By then most of the fear of playing was gone.

I've been playing for two years now as of April and I've buried my face in music theory over that time.  What this camp did for me was to help me understand how to use that knowledge to play better and more free.  I'm not the most skilled bassist yet but I understand what's going on and I have good hand speed.  Now I have to get my playing to sound more melodic and in time.

[Willie L. Terry Jr]

D,

Everything DJ told you was on point cause we were roommates.  Especially the part about getting about 4 hours of sleep.  It was that serious.  To add to his point not only do you walk away more confident but you walk away more hungry too.  I can't speak for DJ but it'll be next year before I can really incorporate all the things that I learned into my playing, that's why I'm going back.  One the benefits of a camp like this is, it makes learning to grooves and licks easier especially if you've done your theory home work because you begin to hear the different scales and modes when people play.  Also if you've talking to somebody and having them teaching you they can be like, "start your run using a minor pentatonic starting with key of a going up the scale and come dowing the scale using a variation of the blues scale."  I mean you learn the language of music. 


Definitely check out the website, I'll be posting some of my pictures whenever I can take a break from practicing.

DJ,

Love you roomy...I'll see you in December/January time frame when we get back.  Maybe we can go see a football game or something.

Later,
T.J.

[Dtuned]

perhaps if i attack the bass hard enough this year i'll feel confident enough to go next year.. (but i need surgery on my broken finger first and foremost)

for the mean time:
i've been playing for like 10 yrs off and on, one year hear another there.. never learning modes,scales, theory and such.. i have an idea of stuff, and know other stuff.. my delima is i played alot of rock and made up my own fills,(they sounded good) but never knew what i was playing..

can you lead me in the right direction for modes, theory learning books, dvd's?

thx,
rob

[djgroovin]

Learning scales and modes is not that hard of a concept.  You can find a lot of info online.  In my opinion using a book isn't as helpful unless you learn how to read the music.  Learning the patterns is one thing but applying them to rythms is what makes music. 

My favorite book for learning modes and scales is "Serious Electric Bass" by Joel Di Bartolo.  It was a little overwhelming at first, but it diagrams the patterns and does a great breakdown of scale, modes and chords.  The only DVD's I've used was the Norm Stockton stuff.  He does a quick run through of modes (I did a breakdown of the DVD's a while back.  You can do a search for it.).

I know you didn't ask about this but...Gary Willis has 2 great books out.  One for ear training and one for learning the fretboard.  These helped me out tremendously.  Lastly, for walking basslines I used Ed Friedland's "Building Walking Bass Lines" and Todd Johnson has a great DVD "Walking Bass Line Module system".

[Robert Neville]

Wow, after reading everything I feel like a kid again, Im going to check out your Bootcamp site, for me I need to find somthing or someone to jump start my bass playing. I was told by my last instructor that I need to find a band to play with, well thats easier said then done especially when you work 10 hrs a day and have a family. Its rough....Rob

[Torch7]

Again, I can't emphasize the "Bass for Dummies" book, it is an invaluable resource for a newbie bassist.