Craig B
Instruments: Guitar, Drums, Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles: Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Gospel, Latin, Latin Jazz, Swing, Bossa Nova
Craig B
Instruments: Guitar, Drums, Bass Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Styles:
Jazz, Pop, Rock, Blues, Country, R&B, Gospel, Latin, Latin Jazz, Swing, Bossa Nova
Where I Teach:
Ages Taught: 11-65
Attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts in the Arranging & Composition program.
I self produced a CD in 2004. It is 12 original songs which cover the range of my musical background. It runs from 2 beat country gospel to sophisticated jazz songs in various styles. From pretty melodies to rap with intense guitar work provided by a good friend of mine. From straight ahead 4/4 rock and roll to weird minor stuff in 13/8. Between 1993 and 1996 I performed with a Civic Choral in Cheyenne Wy. I wrote several arrangements for the choral, served as the librarian as well as sang bass.
I have been playing music since I was about 8 years old. I started with the drums once my parents tired of my "playing" the kitchen! I started playing the drums at 11 years old and had my first student when I was old enough to drive. I started playing guitar at 25 when my life made keeping drums impractical. I picked up bass while playing with a small jazz group that did not have a bass player. That was a hard place to start but it gave me the opportunity to apply the knowledge I acquired in school about writing bass parts. In the last several years I started learning to play what I call rhythm piano. This also has helped me move more of what I learned in school from my head to my fingers. It is never to late to learn more.
I first taught about 45 years ago when I was a teenager. Since then I have been helping people learn more about playing music on both a casual and professional basis. I strive to discover where the student is and what they want to accomplish. I also train students in Music Theory, reading and transcription because it is important that musicians are able to communicate with other players clearly. Music is vital to my life and I am grateful to those who helped me - I hope to have a positive impact on the folks who I get to work with.
The students interests guide what I teach. All students are taught the importance of playing in time and listening to the other band members. All are instructed in having an attitude of service toward their current or future band mates. Bass players and guitar players will be taught theory. I have created a progressive test which will tell me how much Music Theory knowledge they have and serves as a guide to deepen that knowledge. As that progresses guitar players will learn how figure out their own chord voicings and bass players will learn how to move from one chord to another in a manner that keeps the music going forward. Drummers will learn various styles of drumming from basic rock beats through various Latin and jazz styles. Hand technique will be introduced little by little unless a student shows a strong interest in the benefits of proper technical execution.
Teaching is my favorite thing to do. To help someone grow in their ability to play is really rewarding. I ask the student questions about what they want to learn and structure the lessons around that as well as give them information so they can converse intelligently with other players. The confidence a student gains as they work hard on a challenging assignment and truly get it - this will help them throughout life no matter what they may pursue. For Bass and Guitar students I have written a progressive theory "test" which does 2 things - it tells me what the student knows and it serves as a guide in future lessons. Some theory instruction goes along with whatever playing instruction the student is working on. For Drum students I stick to the aspects of theory that pertain to the drums - meter signatures, note values etc. If a drummer wants to learn more then I can work with him on it.
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