Lessons
One-to-one bass lessons, online or in person in Southend-on-Sea. Beginners welcome. The players who get the most from it are usually the ones already gigging who want to stop guessing — timing, reading, and knowing what the song actually needs from the bass.
Taught by someone doing the job the rest of the week — gigs and sessions since 2018, and a first-class degree in how to explain why any of it works.
How it works
Start with a trial
Half an hour, no commitment. We work out where you are and what is actually getting in the way, which is usually not what you think it is.
Agree a direction
Grades, reading, function playing, or simply getting through a set without your hand cramping. All valid.
Take a weekly slot
Same time each week is how progress actually happens. One-offs are available, but the regulars get further.
What's on offer
Foundations
New players, or anyone returning after a long gap. We start with a right hand that will not let you down later, and a sense of time you can actually rely on.
- Right-hand technique and tone
- Reading rhythm
- Playing to a click without fighting it
- Grades if you want them
Reading
Players who want the work that reading opens up — pit bands, deps, sessions where the chart arrives that morning.
- Notation and chord symbols
- Sight-reading under pressure
- Charting a song quickly
- Pit band conventions
Function and feel
Players who can get round the neck but keep getting told they are rushing. Mostly this is a course about where the beat is.
- Sitting ahead, behind and on
- Playing with a drummer rather than near one
- Learning long sets fast
- Knowing when to stay out of the way
Lesson rates
Blocks work out cheaper than paying lesson by lesson, and they make it far likelier you'll actually keep going.
Single lesson
£40
Pay as you go
Buy a lesson — Single lesson5 lessons
£180£200
Valid for six months
Buy this pack — 5 lessons10 lessons
£340£400
Valid for twelve months
Buy this pack — 10 lessons
What you'll need
- Your bass
- A lead and somewhere to plug in
- For online: a laptop or tablet, and headphones
- A notebook — phone notes do not stick the same way
Request a lesson
Tell me where you are and what you want out of it, and I’ll come back with some times. Nothing is committed at this stage.
Cancellations and lesson packs
Twenty-four hours notice and the lesson moves, no charge. Less than that and it counts against the pack — with the obvious exceptions for illness and things going wrong.
Lesson packs are valid from the date of purchase — six months for a 5-lesson pack, and twelve months for a 10-lesson pack. Any lessons not booked and taken by the expiry date can't be carried over, booked or refunded.
If you change your mind, you can cancel within 14 days of buying a pack for a refund, less the single-lesson rate for any lessons you've already had.
Questions
Do I need to read music?
No. Plenty of very good players do not. If you want to learn, we will — and if you do not, we will work by ear and chord symbols.
How long before I sound better?
Tone usually shifts within a few weeks, because it is mostly right-hand technique. Timing takes longer and is worth more.
Online or in person?
Both work. In person is slightly better for technique; online is better for consistency, because nobody cancels on account of the A127.