Welcome Mike!

by JW

We at PBDB are happy to welcome Peabody jazz bass faculty Michael Formanek to the blog. Mike is an important part of Peabody Bassland, and we're glad he'll be contributing some posts here. Mike is one of the major engines behind Peabody's fantastic Jazz Department, and I'm looking forward to learning from his many years of experience and teaching.

Having him here also illustrates an important principle we try to live by here: Trying to build and maintain connections between players in these two primary styles of acoustic bass. The basic issues that good jazz and good classical players have to look at to grow as musicians are much more similar than they are different. We all have to master our technical basics, develop a good sound, and learn how to make musically effective phrases. The Peabody jazz and classical bass programs have always been on good terms with each other, and we have had often had students doing work in both areas simultaneously. We hope to continue to move towards even closer collaboration in the future and Mike's presence here certainly symbolizes that.

Mike's first posts come from a letter he wrote to a prospective student asking about his teaching approach. These points are great for anyone considering serious jazz study.