Gary Willis
Merging technical virtuosity with musical mastery, Gary Willis is widely acknowledged by fans, peers, and critics alike as one of the most influential voices of our time. Recognized for his fretless bass prowess and fingerboard harmony concepts, Willis' unconventional musical facility is demonstrated through often thick, 16th note-laced, hypnotic grooves and lyrical solo flights entrenched with a dynamic melodic sense. Over the past two decades, Willis' innovative, ultra-light right-hand approach has defined economy-of-motion while the depth and scope of his musical vision has often defied easy categorization.
Now a resident of Barcelona, Spain, Willis' story begins as a Texas-native. In 1978 Willis enrolled in the legendary jazz program at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) where he studied composition and improvisation. It wasn't until his third year of college that his long-time conflict between bass and guitar was resolved and bass became his primary instrument. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1982, Willis met guitarist Scott Henderson, and shortly after, their musical collaboration as Tribal Tech was born. With Kirk Covington on drums and Scott Kinsey on keyboards, Tribal Tech revolutionized their own style of jam-concentric composition and became the driving force behind the mind-bending, improv-driven fusion of the day.
Besides his contributions as a co-founder of Tribal Tech, Willis' fretless faculty has been well documented in recordings and musical conversations as a sideman with Wayne Shorter, Allan Holdsworth, Dennis Chambers, and Robben Ford to name a few.
In 1996 Willis launched his solo career with the debut of No Sweat, and two years later, Willis unveiled Bent, the second project under his own name. Joined by an all-star cast of sideman, both collections display contemporary fusion as its finest featuring spontaneous improv-laden compositions.
An in-demand educator, Willis has shared his approach and knowledge of bass playing and music with thousands of students as a course leader at the Bass Institute of Technology and an instructor at the California Institute of the Arts, the National Guitar Summer Workshop, and Gerald Veasley's Bass Bootcamp. As a touring clinician for Ibanez, Aguilar Amplification, and D'Addario Strings, Willis has conducted master classes in 21 different countries.
Also an author, Willis has written some of the most widely-revered and best-selling bass texts in publication today covering harmony, ear training, improvisation, and technical concepts. Along with a book of transcriptions featuring eleven original compositions, Willis has also had several of his tunes included in Sher Music publications.
As the developer of his own web site, Willis maintains one of the most informative bass-related domains on the web. He is also a pioneer in the realm of cutting-edge, interactive online bass education. Through his web cam lessons, anyone seeking bass education can take lessons from Willis in a private, one-on-one video conference format.
Now a resident of Barcelona, Spain, Willis' story begins as a Texas-native. In 1978 Willis enrolled in the legendary jazz program at North Texas State University (now the University of North Texas) where he studied composition and improvisation. It wasn't until his third year of college that his long-time conflict between bass and guitar was resolved and bass became his primary instrument. After relocating to Los Angeles in 1982, Willis met guitarist Scott Henderson, and shortly after, their musical collaboration as Tribal Tech was born. With Kirk Covington on drums and Scott Kinsey on keyboards, Tribal Tech revolutionized their own style of jam-concentric composition and became the driving force behind the mind-bending, improv-driven fusion of the day.
Besides his contributions as a co-founder of Tribal Tech, Willis' fretless faculty has been well documented in recordings and musical conversations as a sideman with Wayne Shorter, Allan Holdsworth, Dennis Chambers, and Robben Ford to name a few.
In 1996 Willis launched his solo career with the debut of No Sweat, and two years later, Willis unveiled Bent, the second project under his own name. Joined by an all-star cast of sideman, both collections display contemporary fusion as its finest featuring spontaneous improv-laden compositions.
An in-demand educator, Willis has shared his approach and knowledge of bass playing and music with thousands of students as a course leader at the Bass Institute of Technology and an instructor at the California Institute of the Arts, the National Guitar Summer Workshop, and Gerald Veasley's Bass Bootcamp. As a touring clinician for Ibanez, Aguilar Amplification, and D'Addario Strings, Willis has conducted master classes in 21 different countries.
Also an author, Willis has written some of the most widely-revered and best-selling bass texts in publication today covering harmony, ear training, improvisation, and technical concepts. Along with a book of transcriptions featuring eleven original compositions, Willis has also had several of his tunes included in Sher Music publications.
As the developer of his own web site, Willis maintains one of the most informative bass-related domains on the web. He is also a pioneer in the realm of cutting-edge, interactive online bass education. Through his web cam lessons, anyone seeking bass education can take lessons from Willis in a private, one-on-one video conference format.
Selected Discography
Gary Willis - Bass
Dennis Chambers - Drums; Steve Tavaglione - Sax, EWI; Scott Kinsey - Keyboards; Kirk Covington - Drums; Bob Berg - Tenor Saxophone
Release Date - 1998
Record Label - Alchemy Records
Dennis Chambers - Drums; Steve Tavaglione - Sax, EWI; Scott Kinsey - Keyboards; Kirk Covington - Drums; Bob Berg - Tenor Saxophone
Release Date - 1998
Record Label - Alchemy Records
Gary Willis - Bass
Dennis Chambers - Drums
Steve Tavaglione - Sax, EWI
Scott Kinsey - Keyboards
Release Date - 1996
Record Label - Alchemy Records
Dennis Chambers - Drums
Steve Tavaglione - Sax, EWI
Scott Kinsey - Keyboards
Release Date - 1996
Record Label - Alchemy Records
The latest and most successful book is the 101 bass tips book. It covers everything from how to build your own strap, boil your strings, wrap your cable, what a parametric eq does, how to improvise over sus chords, how to set up your intonation, and beyond. You name it, and it's probably in there. A lot of the information in the book was taken from the 2+ years Gary did the "Ask Willis" section of his web site.
The ultimate ear training book is based on the idea that if you train yourself well enough, whatever you hear externally (tv, radio, cd, whatever) gets a fingering. Then, you'll have trained yourself well enough so that whatever you imagine will get a fingering. What else could you ask for as a musician, to play whatever you imagine? It works on directly connecting your ear/imagination to the fingerboard. It's also for guitar too, not just bass.
The collection book is eleven of Gary's compositions with the melody, harmony, and bass parts transcribed plus the bass solos. It's also in tab. It's all Tribal Tech material, and the music is kind of hard to find so the music has been made available on Gary's web site as mp3 downloads.
The fingerboard harmony book is the most challenging book authored by Willis. It addresses the geometry of the fingerboard. It exploits the symmetry of the bass so that you only have to learn to see what happens in a key from two positions. Learn that and anywhere you go on the neck, within a fret, you can use a combination of those two positions to see the neck wherever your hand is located. We don't have to learn everything in all twelve keys, unlike other instruments. It's a misconception that it's bad to play patterns on the bass. Most people's problem is that their view of patterns isn't complete enough. Actually, the bass neck is one (or two) infinitely connected patterns. They continue by shifting five frets in either direction. It applies to fretless as well. The idea is you can choose where to locate your hand when you're playing harmony. Teach yourself what happens in a key thoroughly, and if you put your hand in the right place, you're playing what you already know. It will look exactly the same. Part of it puts demands on your ability to analyze harmony for key centers, but that's a pretty straightforward process. It takes the mystery out of the fingerboard.
