Thursdays, 8:30-9:45 pm, beginning February 7
$80.00 advance / $90.00 after January 31
register online
Learn how to add emotional impact to ballads, waltzes and other song types by bowing your upright bass. We’ll start with how to hold the bow (both German and French styles), then work on producing good tone, getting a good attack, crossing strings, and, finally, playing full bass lines.
NOTE: Several bows will be available for use during class periods. Contact the instructor in advance if you would be interested in using one. chuck.ervin@att.net
Bassist Chuck Ervin has recently been performing
swing music with the Sylvia Herold Trio, folk music with Euphonia,
classic country with the Mike Stadler & Mary Gibbons Band, jazz and
pop with guitarist Chris Grampp and the Spin Cats, bluegrass with the
Nell Robinson Soldier Stories Band, and occasionally Celtic folk/rock
with Wake the Dead, among others.
He was the bassist in the
“Woody Guthrie’s American Song,” which in 2012 enjoyed a two-week run at
the Freight & Salvage and in 2011 at Marin Theater Company. He has
also worked as an actor, bassist, and singer in stage productions at
Center Repertory Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, and Contra Costa
Civic Theater.
Other area musicians he's worked with include
Bobby Black, Joe Craven, Ed Johnson, Jinx Jones, Keith Little, Tony
Marcus, Jim Nunally, Rick Quisol, Jeff Sanford, and Radim Zenkl. He
studied jazz bass with Glenn Richman, bassist for vibraphonist Bobby
Hutcherson, and teaches bass at music camp and at his Oakland home.