WorkshopLive interview with Matt Scharfglass
Instrument(s) Teacher Plays: electric and upright bass, guitar, mandolin, piano, French horn
When did you start to play? I started on piano when I was 6, then French horn when I was 8, then upright bass at 9. I got an electric when I was 13, and taught myself guitar pretty much around the same time. A few years later my brother got a drum set, so of course I had to learn how to play that, too.
When did you start to notice that your playing was different from everyone else's? When I first started on bass as a kid, I’d occasionally get asked to play with people who were older than me. Then it started happening more frequently and I was still barely in the 9th grade at that point, so I figured maybe I might be good at it. I also figured out in junior high that if I played the piano, girls would surround me within minutes.
When did you find your voice as a player? Right from the beginning, I wanted to be that guy who jumps right out of the mix, like Geddy Lee, so I overplayed like crazy for years. Then I got to college and I got schooled – about things like keeping good time, holding down a groove, playing with soul instead of trying to show everyone how fast you are all the time. It was pretty humbling. But that’s probably when I figured out what I should be doing.
How do you keep your playing fresh? Just by trying to do things other bass players may not necessarily do, like approach a jazz gig like a rock player would, and vice versa.
What do you do when you get stuck? I just listen to a lot of different things. You can always learn something from someone else, whether they’re a beginner or virtuoso, no matter what kind of music it is, so whenever I’m listening to music or watching a band, I just pay attention. There are so many players and so many unique approaches, it’s kind of hard not to pick up different things here and there if you’re open to it.
What do you still find hard to do? Cooking, rollerblading and calculus. And nuclear physics.
Do you have a regular practice regimen? Do you have a practice "tool-kit" - metronome, tuner, recorder, etc.? Do you have a special place for practice set aside in your home?This is probably sacrilege, but I don’t really practice anymore. There’s just not enough time. I play enough, though, that it kind of makes up for it, and playing live is much more valuable to me than practicing at this point. If I have a particularly challenging gig coming up, I’ll carve out time to practice the music beforehand, but that’s about it. It’s mostly just writing music and performing.
Is there a piece of gear you just can't live without? My Wahl beard clipper. I wouldn’t be able to maintain this perfect five-o’clock shadow without it.
Are there one or two core ideas that are central to your teaching that you make sure every student learns? Yup. Play with an attitude, no matter what your skill level. I can’t stress that enough. If right now all you can handle is playing eighth notes on the open A-string, then goshdarnit, be the best open-A-string-eighth-note player there is.
Do you find yourself returning to listen to the artists who inspired you when you first started to play? Who are they? Sure. When I was a kid, they were Geddy Lee, John Entwhistle, John Paul Jones, Steve Harris and Bob Daisley. Later on I got into that whole shred thing with guys like Jeff Berlin, Billy Sheehan, Stu Hamm and Victor Wooten. Then I discovered Jaco Pastorius in college – which I realize was late for a bass player – but I’m sort of thankful for that because I would have tried to become him if I had discovered him as a kid. Lately, though, I’ve been concentrating on stuff I overlooked earlier – like, for example, I just re-discovered James Jamerson, and I’m checking out Chuck Rainey and all those old-school session guys. Really amazing stuff.
Does your playing change when you switch instruments? Yeah. I’ve been told that I look kind of stiff playing guitar, but happy and loose when I’m playing bass. I’m not really surprised by that – I played lead guitar in my own band for about 5 or 6 years, and I could cut it, but I was always concentrating on trying to be some badass shredder. I enjoyed it, but there was too much thinking involved because I’m not a natural guitarist. But with bass I don’t have to think at all. I just feel it. Everything just comes more easily.
How often, when you're playing, do you find those moments of pure music, when your head is clear, your fingers are working, there are no distractions, and it’s just you and the music? It happens a lot with my current band, where we’re all good friends and we love what we’re playing. It also happens with this gospel group I play with at this rickety old church up in Harlem, where I don’t really know everyone that well, but we’re all on the same page and on Sundays we just throw down.
We have a feature called "Big Ears", where we suggest interesting music to our members that they might not have heard before. What would you suggest for them? Well, thanks to technology, everyone and their brother can now acquire professional-quality recording gear. This means that, for better or for worse, everyone and their brother now has a CD out. One of my all-time favorites is a singer/songwriter named B.J. Snowden. I don’t want to give too much away, but whatever you think of her, you can’t deny her passion for music or the joy that comes from her songs. If you do a search on the Internet for “outsider music” you’ll find more artists like her.
What are you listening to these days? Do you search out music that's new and unfamiliar to you? I have like 5000 songs in my iPod. Depends on my mood. For some reason I’ll often listen to metal in the morning, but then throughout the day I’ll get turned on to something that I haven’t heard before, which I love. MySpace is actually great for that. Most of my friends are musicians so I take a lot of their recommendations, too.
Do you have a musical wish list - other instruments to learn, people to play with, artists or styles to explore? Well, I always wanted to learn how to play sax. As far as styles go, I really enjoy gigs where I’m playing music that I don’t usually get to play, like this Brazilian avant-garde thing I did last year or a couple of world music things I’ve done. I’m not an expert in these styles at all, so it’s a challenge, and then it’s really rewarding when the whole thing locks in together on stage. I’d also love to get back into an orchestra playing upright or French horn at some point. The singer in my band played tuba as a kid so we kind of joke about infiltrating a community orchestra together someday.
Have you ever had a really great teacher? What made him/her so good? Mike Richmond was my bass teacher in college. He’s this classically-trained, very well-established monster jazz guy that could shred an upright bass like it’s nothing. He was really laid back and friendly, didn’t treat me like a heretic for trying to play jazz on a five-string electric, was totally open to new music and always trying to grow, even with everything he’d already accomplished. He’d never say, “That’s wrong” – he’d just suggest another way of going about things. I should also mention one of my first teachers – Mr. Mantone. He was my school band director, and the guy who suggested I play bass when I was in fourth grade and gave me my first lesson. He ended up being my band teacher from that point all the way through high school, and he put up with a lot of dumb-kid crap from me because I was a cocky little doofus. But it’s his fault I’m a bass player.
How do you learn best? Under pressure.
Do you have any practice tips we can share with our subscribers? Play songs, not scales. I learned by playing along to the radio, which was much more exciting to me than the boring scales and unmusical method-book exercises I was told to practice when I was a kid. Even if I didn’t know a song, I’d fumble along with it anyway just to force myself to get better. I’m not anti-scales at all – you should definitely learn them – but you’ll never play one on a gig, unless you’re in Led Zeppelin and you’re doing “The Immigrant Song.” There are so many easy bass lines out there – pick anything by AC/DC, the Ramones, Kiss or even Bob Dylan, for example – why would you want to play scales when you can just rock? But don’t just stop there – play things that challenge you. If something’s above your skill level, practice it until it isn’t anymore. And if a particular phrase is difficult to play, slow it down, practice it with a metronome until you get it perfect, then turn the tempo up a few notches and do it again. Keep doing this until you’re playing it as fast as you want. And if you’re going to jump off the drum riser, then for God’s sake make sure you can land solidly on your feet in the privacy of your own home first, so you don’t make an ass of yourself at the gig. Not that that’s ever happened to me or anything.
visit Matt at www.thebordercops.com
