Bass Musician Magazine - 8th Anniversary Issue with Stu Hamm | Page 22

bass for three days. He had rhythm, and I

some people are really sponges that want to

showed him how to play a major and minor

learn. I want to give them the knowledge that,

triad, then he could play. You don’t have to be

depending on whatever level they are, can point

a master of all techniques to hold the groove

them in the right direction and light a light

down, hold the band together, and have a great

bulb over their head. Because you can’t teach

time playing bass and that’s the wonderful thing

anybody anything, you can just, through your

about it.

experiences, guide them how you think they
can learn.

You just mentioned clinics – you’ve had
a long history as an educator, including

Hopefully a percentage will enjoy putting in the

your time as the bass chair at MI. Is

hard work because make no mistake - getting

being a music educator an important

better is hard work. It takes repetition, time,

part of who you are and what you do?

and patience. So you have to find that quickly
if that’s something you enjoy doing and if you’re

To make a career in music these days, you

willing to put the hours into it.

certainly have to wear a lot of hats. It’s certainly
always been a part of it and I enjoy it. I’ve had

I almost interrupted with a tongue-

so many chapters in my life; MI was certainly

in-cheek, “Wait, you don’t have the 5

one and that’s probably a chapter I’d like to

minute magic bass technique?”

bassmusicianmagazine.com | 08.15

think about, while right now I’m in a travel and
play mode. Like anything, it’s a good feeling to

I don’t have the 5-minute thing, but it’s like that

do things that you do well.

line about “give a guy a fish and they can have
dinner, but teach him how to fish and they can

Every clinic is different: sometimes they just

feed themselves the rest of their lives”. Like I

want a performance, sometimes guys want

said, it was cool yesterday when I showed a

to impress you with how cool they are, and

couple things about open strings and like when