Jazz Concepts: Just the Two Of Us
Bass in the Duo Universe from BassMagazine — The Future of Bass — July 31, 2023 My current recording project features several EPs of piano and bass duo music with pianist Billy Test. In preparing for the recording sessions, I considered and analyzed the long tradition of bassists playing in duo with other instrumentalists. I […]
Jazz Concepts: Why No One Sounds Like Charles Mingus
Jazz Concepts: Why No One Sounds Like Charles Mingus Photo: charlesmingus.com Bass Magazine, Jan. 9, 2023 He played with reckless abandon, embraced the joy of music making, and performed with a fervor displayed by few musicians. His music, a symphony of contradictions, used complex harmony that somehow always sounded like the blues. He came up […]
Jazz Concepts: High School Jazz
Jazz Concepts: High School Jazz In 1968, a student at Palo Alto High School near San Francisco had the idea to present a jazz concert. Danny Scher was in charge of organizing school dances, but he was a huge jazz fan. To Danny, it seemed like a reasonable idea to try hiring the Thelonious Monk […]
How To Practice — Presentation Materials

Here are the supporting materials for my “How to Practice Workshop” that I recently presented at ZUYD Conservatorium Maastricht. Download and enjoy! Download the zip file: Goldsby_Practice_Presentation Please check out my new online video lessons from Discover Double Bass a great way to jump start your practice routine!
Jazz Concepts: Back to the Roots

Jazz Concepts: Back to the Roots by John Goldsby — Bass Magazine — Issue 9 How large is the number called a Googol? You could Google it, but I’ll just tell you: A Googol is 10100, or one followed by a hundred zeros. That’s about how many quarter-notes I’ve played in my life, or at […]
How to Build a Walking Bass Line
Zusatzmaterial — Bergisches Jazz Workshop — Bass Master Class Hier klicken zum herunterladen.
“Didn’t Wake Up This Morning” … Get the Blues … Play the Blues … (workshop notes and links)

Here are the notes for my presentation on The Blues: “Didn’t Wake Up This Morning” … Get the Blues … Play the Blues Notes & Links 1. Intro — “Woke Up This Morning” was recorded on the album Down Home Blues by blues musician Lightnin’ Hopkins recorded in 1964 and released on the Bluesville label. You are […]
Triads over “All the Things You Are”

Inside the Changes of ‘Confirmation’ — a Bebop Etude
Bass Player Magazine adieu …

As some of you might have noticed, Bass Player Magazine is going through some changes. The great US bass magazine — going on 30 years of publication — has been purchased by the Future publishing group, the owners of Bass Guitar Magazine in the UK. I’ve stepped down from my position as writer and contributing […]