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Our Bass Lab PLUS Legend for July, Robin Hoyles

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.

He basically just taught me root, 5ths and a few songs by tab. I carried on doing that for a very long time, right up to my 60th birthday as I had a lot going in life. On my 60th birthday, my son bought me a Warwick bass. This prompted me to think I want to learn a little more about this, rather than play root, 5ths the rest of my life. I plowed through a lot of bass content, which made me learn a huge amount but also realized how much I didn’t know. I found a bass teacher who was an older West End pick guy. He basically took one look at my right and he took me from a one finger pick to proper alternate picking, raking, string muting; all the things I wasn’t doing with my right hand. About 5 years ago, I put my hand out in our local guitar shop for a band to join. I got a phone call after about 2 days and the band said we’ve got rehearsal next Friday and a gig the following week. I said I could do the rehearsal but not the gig. I learned 30-something songs in a space of a whole week. It was fairly simple stuff; the lead singer was very much an Elvis-type of singer. We did a lot of late 50s early 60s rock and roll, a couple of Beatles songs. Not too demanding but some interesting stuff. That band carried on for around a year before COVID hit, which was also the last year I was working. I retired on December 2019. The band started to fall apart a bit, and then lock down came. The band completely disintegrated. When I retired, I decided to do something about the other things like bass. I signed up with you 6 days after my retirement, this was January 2020. I spent 2 months one to one with you if you recall?


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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.

J: Yeah my great teacher Paul Westwood developed that technique, and we have a whole masterclass on that inside the Bass Lab. 


R: I looked online and found the best examples in Sting and Paul McCartney. She then got straight to that and within an hour the strings were under control. She can pick-up a pick and then play. She’s a great bass guitarist on her right hand and a complete novice on her left. It’s amazing how quickly she’s gone through the Foundations book. 


J: I guess you’ve turned into a bass guru teaching your wife!I want to say thank you so much for everything you bring to our community. I’ve asked you to host Q & A’s before. You always come up with great questions which lead into great conversations. What I love about the community  is there are guys like you who are very thoughtful, guys who are very instinctive. We all bring our flavor to this and all learn from each other. What’s next with your bass playing? 


R: I’m looking forward to the Bass Lab Mentoring. I’m also trying to find another band at the moment which is more difficult than I expected. 


J: Robin thank you so much for being a valued part of the eBassGuitar community. It’s wonderful to have you as one of the BLP legends. I’m really inspired by the diligence and progress that you bring to the instrument!

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