It's that time of the month for our Bass Lab PLUS Legend.
For this month, it's Robin Hoyles!
I've got to know Robin quite a bit as we had a number of one to one sessions just about when lockdown started.
One of the standout things about Robin is his dedication to learning and playing the bass. Proof of this is his practice diary which is now over 300 pages long!
Robin loves the bass so much, he even is currently teaching his wife how to play!
Learn more about Robin's story and also watch him play below
James: Hey everybody! Welcome to this month’s BLP Legend Interview. I’m really excited to have Robin Hoyles with me.
I’ve known Robin now for quite a few years. We did some one to one coaching right at the beginning of lockdown and I followed Robin’s journey ever since. Without question he’s one of the most diligent students I have ever seen. He’s also getting the results to go with it. Robin! Where did your bass playing journey start?
Robin: A long time ago, in our church, I sang in the choir, around 52 years ago. That’s where I met my wife. We’ve been in that choir since 1970. I sang for years and years. Our very talented lead guitarist was also a cracking bass player. He couldn’t do both, so I put my hand up to stumble through a few bass numbers and let him play lead.
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J: I do indeed and one of the great things about that was we saw lockdown coming in together. We discussed that every week. The bizarreness of what was exploding in the world. Also, we started your practice diary as well.
Much to my surprise, what started off as a simple Google doc is about 300 pages long now isn’t it? R: Yes just over 300 pages.
J: I’m curious; how do you use your practice diary?
R: It wasn’t something totally unfamiliar to me. A lot of business management came into it, setting objectives, a plan on how to get there, reviewing every 3 to 6 months and where you got to is stuff I’ve been doing all my life. It all came naturally to me. You and I agreed on what we’re getting out of the 3 months and how we’re getting there. We veered off course a few times but went back on course again. I review it at the beginning of the year. I’ve always had a habit of having a life review every year; wife and I do it every beginning of the year.
J: I’m curious what are the things you are reviewing?
R: Everything! Family, money, what we’re gonna do, planning for next year, things like that. So at the end of the year, I review everything I’ve done with the bass, look at the next year and how to get there.
J: Could you give us some insights into what you’ve seen in your bass playing reviews?
R: One is how easy it is to get distracted with the next shiny thing that comes along like the new course from eBassGuitar or wherever. You look at it and you find it interesting and want to do that. You then start to think if this fits where I’m going. If it does great! I then integrate it into my practice. If it isn’t you have to be very disciplined and say no to it.
J: It’s fascinating to me to hear how you fuse business and management techniques to improve your bass playing. It’s really interesting!How has the content in the BLP and the community helped you achieve your objectives?
R: It’s the exchange of technology, the exchange of ideas; not so much the encouragement of each other. It’s more about seeing where you are in relation to other people. It gives you a benchmark and we all exchange ideas and you learn a lot from what other people are doing.
J: Fantastic! You sent me an email last week which I though was brilliant. I think you’re undertaking one of the riskiest things a man could do, and that’s trying to teach your wife how to play the bass guitar using an eBassGuitar book! Explain to me what’s going on there.
R: Well she’s been playing guitar for 50 odd years. She’s a very good guitarist. She’s very musical; we’ve been geting into music all our life. We’ve been singing and playing in church for 50 years; she knows her way around. Picking up a 9 or 10 pound bass is a bit of challenge, but she actually has an electric 12-string which is a pretty hefty thing. Also, I’ve spotted this guitar in a shop in Denmark street. It’s a mini P-Bass, and it really suits my wife. It was very interesting because I’ve said in a post she’s got very bad wrists and is very sensitive to anything resembling pain. As soon as we tried alternative fingering, her wrists starting aching. However, she jumped very naturally into thumb on fingers.
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