It's that time of the month to Introduce you again to our Bass Lab Legend this April 2022, Michael Popp!
t’s time to Introduce you to this month’s Bass Lab Legend, Michael Popp!Michael is a BLP student that has really impressed me. His progress has been impressively fast and noticeable over the years.
He started playing bass guitar only 5 years ago. In this interview he will share with us how he initially got interested in bass guitar from playing a cello.
J: Hey I am super excited to welcome this month’s Bass Lab PLUS Legend, please welcome Michael Popp! How are you doing?
M: Hello I’m fine! Hi everybody.
J: Michael is from Germany and he has been a member of the BLP for a couple of years now and he has really impressed me. As you might guess from his t-shirt, the Iron Maiden one there that he is a bit of a rocker as he’s demonstrating there.
Michael has impressed me so much as he’s literally thrown himself into so many different styles and genres of music and really, really pushed himself. He’s got the results to show it too.
Can I ask, how long have you been playing the bass and how did it all start?
M: I’ve been playing the bass for about 5 years. The first years it was just jumping around from one YouTube video to another to play to tunes. I found my way to bass playing as a child. I was learning the recorder and a little bit of classical guitar. That stopped and in school I played the cello. We had the opportunity to learn classical instruments for free. I always like the lower registers. I played the cello for 40 years in a symphonic orchestra. I’m not a professional musician; far away from that, but they let me join the orchestra.
About 4 / 5 years ago, I was in Munich for a concert of Black Sabbath with my son. My brother is a good guitar player. He told me “ You play the cello, why not play the bass “, and that was the day I said I’ll buy a bass now.
J: So how long have you been a member of eBassGuitar.
M: I think it’s one and a half or two years.
J: What results have you seen since joining the Bass Lab PLUS.
M: I joined different online schools for the bass. What I especially liked here is it’s not too highly sophisticated for me. I can follow the lessons in small parts and in the end we put it together and it’s a complete song.
I like your style of teaching; it’s more like a friend than a teacher. I like this very much.
I was pushed to different genres; a little bit of jazz, a lot of blues. I joined the Blues Bass and Walking Bass Accelerators and it was very good for me to step out of the rock genre to work on other styles and I learned a lot from this.
J: How do you think learning other genres has benefitted your bass playing and you as a musician.
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M: The biggest step for me was the Blues Accelerator. While it was not completely unknown to me as a lot of rock is based on blues. The Walking Bass Challenge was another big step for me. I had a better understanding of how the chords word together.
I’m not a very theoretical musician; I play mostly by ear. It’s often that I know what tone has to come now, but I don’t know why. This course has brought me further on.
J: How has the process of making videos helped you?
M: It was a really great challenge from the beginning until now. I play a tune a couple of times without mistake then I put the camera on, and I get the jitters. The last weekend I showed the videos that I recorded to my brother, then I saw I need to work on my timing. There are issues with my timing ; it’s not perfect. I’m far away from perfect but I want to go further to the point of perfect playing.
J: So making the videos has allowed you to analyze where you are and has enabled you to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
M: If I base it off my hearing and feeling, I think my playing is good. However, when I see the recording, I notice issues like the rhythm is not as good, the tuning is not as good etc. Making videos brings a big step forward.
J: There must have been moments where you have been pleasantly surprised with your playing.
M: Yes of course! I always check the videos together with my wife and sometimes I have to say it sounds really good!
J: I completely agree! I’m very impressed in how far you’ve come in a short period of time. Also, you have quite an impressive selection of bass guitars that I’ve been watching from a distance now.
Talk us through briefly on what you’ve got in your arsenal.
M: My first one is a Fender P-Bass. Then, I got an Ibanez Sound Gear. I got a Fender Jazz Bass, one is fretless. It sounds a lot like an upright bass. One fretted jazz bass, one 5 string jazz bass. One Fender Mustang, the short scale, very good for traveling. I got an acoustic bass from Sigma which is also fretless. I also have a Warwick Alien Rock bass. The last one is a Dingwall Combustion 5.
J: That was the one that I spotted! How do you find the fanned frets?
M: It was not a big problem to get used to it. The sound especially at the very low register is fantastic.
J: I love the way that you’ve really embraced the learning and the equipment sides. You really got the bug for nice basses. You’ve gone out and invested in them. Do you find that having nice basses inspires you to pick them up a little bit more.
M: Yes! Sometimes I think “ This one is a little bit dusty now; I have to use it “. I choose a song and try it on different and which one fits best according to sound and playability. I like it; it’s fun!
J: What would you say to anybody who wants to join the Bass Lab PLUS?
M: It would be a great decision to join the BLP. There is nobody who is looking down to you; you are all friends there. It’s not about showing the latest bass etc. The point is the group is very supportive and they are really nice people.
I would even like to get a little bit more criticism as everybody was really nice!
J: What would you say to anybody who wants to join the Bass Lab PLUS?
M: Do it!
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