Ryan L. TakeLessons Instructor music, electric bass, upright bass, guitar, drums Berkeley, CA

Since moving to California in January of 2007 I have been actrive in the Bay Area scene teaching bass at Santa Clara University and working as an instructor for the BandWorks! School of Rock. I have also toured the state with the afrobeat band Albino! and the jam band the Flux and am currently playing with my own project, an avant jazz funk group, called the Angry Philosophers, sub with the gypsy pop band Diego's Umbrella, play jazz gigs with 'Best of the Bay' guitarist Terrence Brewer, and perfrom with Congolese singer/songwriter Jacques Iblua, the West Valley Presbyterian Praise Band, the Mission Valley Chamber Orchestra and countless other jazz and pop bands. Before moving to the West coast I lived in upstate NY in the city of Albany where I played with the jazz band the Brian Patneaude Quartet, the latin bands Sensemaya and Alex Torres y su Orquestra Latina, the grammy nominated Joey Thomas Big Band and the Mother Goose Jazz Band while mainttaining an all ages private studio for electric and upright bass students. Recording and composition have also been an important part of my music career and I have recorded albums with Joy Adler, the Flux, the Brian Patneadue Quartet, the Joey Thomas Big Band and had a composition featured on the 2004 Music for Miracles CD. Before becoming a professional musician and educator I studied at the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, NY and have attended jazz programs where luminaries such as Milt Hinton, Rufus Ried, Steve LaSpina, Chip Jackson, Joe Lavano, Tim Hagans, Billy Hart and Billy Taylor have been teachers. Throughout my experience of music I have found live performance to be invaluable to my developoment and that as an educator there is no greater reward than to help students achieve the necessary skills to be able to step on stage for their own performances.

Lessons with me are pretty laid back though they do require study and some invested practice time! I like to focus on basic techniques such as scales, arpeggios and modes because they are basic structures found in all music. However, technical exercises can become tedious and tiresome, so I encourage students to bring their  music in so lessons can be directed toward a particular piece, song, or style. I am well versed in jazz, rock, funk, latin, big band, reggae, pop, hip hop, R&B, soul, gospel, punk, metal, fusion, and classical so there are limitless aspects to explore as lessons go on. Extended techniques such as slap & pop, two hand tapping, pick playing and usng the bow are also concepts that are examined in lessons. There is no specific cirriculum though I like to plot a series of goals for each student- I feel that students should be free to explore their musical tastes and desires and that as a teacher my job is to guide them toward understanding and mastery of their instrument.

I specialize in jazz, Latin, funk, rock, r&b, soul, hip-hop, Brazilian, praise/gospel music, metal, and folk/acoustic styles. My main instruments are electric bass and upright bass.

Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam - Music - 1997-2001
Fairport High School - Music - 1993-1997

music, electric bass, upright bass, guitar, drums