Singer, bassist, songwriter and entrepreneur Casey Lipka presents…

ADVOCATE FOR YOUR WORK:

4-WEEK WORKSHOP SERIES

Your Personalized Roadmap for Advocating For Your Work and Getting Paid What You're Worth

August 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th weekly via Zoom

11am-5pm Eastern Time
8am-2pm Pacific | 5pm-11pm Central Europe

For musicians who who want to nurture the artist within, get paid what you’re worth,
connect with people who really appreciate your art,

And completely transform your creative life.

“I’m sharing my work, putting myself out there….but no matter what I try, I still don’t know how to represent my work and talk about my musical services!”

If that feels familiar ⤴

Then this is for you! ⤵

Whether you’re at the beginning of your journey or are a seasoned professional
Or you’re a artist, trying to honor the artist within and make a living for your work…
Or you’re purely in this for the love, curiosity, and joy of making music…

No matter where you are on your journey, the fact that you’re here tells me you’re already taking big steps towards advancing your musicianship — and it’s NEVER too late to make these goals a reality.

I don’t need to tell you that musicians need to know how to talk about their work.

I don’t need to tell you that bassists need to know TONS of tunes.

And not just know lots of tunes, but be prepared for anything that comes their way on the bandstand.

…to hear substitute changes

…to be willing to play tunes they don’t know (even without a chart!)

…and to be able to get outside of their own head, and truly be in the moment.

That’s a tall order.

On top of developing great technique, practicing scales and arpeggios all over the bass, working on time, transcribing… you know the drill.

It’s almost as if there’s not enough time to work on our ears or memorizing tunes, right?

There’s just so much to prepare!

We’re constantly spinning our wheels… but often times, even with all our practice, the pieces don’t come together and give us the freedom to play that we want.

Often times, all of the practice we do only leads to more thinking on the bandstand.

And if there’s one thing we want, it’s the freedom to play without worry.

But what if learning tunes could be the easiest and least worrisome part of your practice?

What if you could rely on your ear, and know that no matter what happens musically, you’ll be okay?

And what if you could create a list of 100 tunes that you would know inside and out, tunes that are not dependent on needing a real book…

Would you give yourself the chance?

Wouldn’t it be amazing to feel the freedom and confidence to play any tune, without needing a lead sheet… or fear of getting lost?

To listen to your bandmates and know exactly what they’re playing all the time?

And be able to focus exclusively on creating music… without worrying about getting lost, if you’re playing the right changes, or if you sound hip?

"My playing has improved exponentially"

“No one has a better grasp on how to organize and deliver the material that is essential to becoming a first call bassist [than Danny Ziemann].”

Cooke Harvey

Bassist, New York City

#1 I just need an App to help me learn intervals and chords, right?

Many of us have been there — we download an app to learn our intervals or basic chord types, and some of us get very far with it. Cool!

[I definitely applaud you and support your move to address your ears.]

Then, after we continue practicing for some time, something peculiar happens — or rather, doesn’t happen…

It doesn’t help us memorize vocabulary or tunes, hear chord progressions better, or really aid our improvisation.

The issue with many of the apps, or these skills learned in isolation is that they don’t transfer to a performance situation.

You need a way to put these skills into context — or quite honestly... just forget about memorizing intervals and individual chords.

Studying intervals and chords this way is akin to learning a language by ONLY studying individual words… but never full sentences. What so many of these apps and programs do is immediately start with de-contextualized skills (chords, intervals) and never connect the dots for you.

You need a program that places the emphasis on learning music from the beginning, and is organized so that the way you develop your ear models the way we play music in performing settings.

Say goodbye to memorizing intervals and chords. Seriously! There are far more effective ways to develop your ear.

[And if you don’t take this Intensive, this is still my best advice: put REPERTOIRE at the heart of your learning experience!]

No matter how hard we understand and recognize what’s happening in the music, memorizing chords and thinking about them will never be the ticket to learning tunes.

Think about reading a foreign language dictionary. How easy is it to remember words in a new language after glancing at them a few times?

Probably damn-near impossible, right?

That’s because charts don’t tell you how music sounds. And, in music that is entirely dependent on your listening abilities, it’s no wonder that looking at a picture of symbols doesn’t trigger our ear.

You need a different approach.

Chord charts are a reminder of music... but require YOU to interpret them and make the music.

There’s nothing wrong with learning to read, and using the aid of notation. However, you need an approach that puts the chart last in your learning process.

The problem with learning a tune from a lead sheet is that it allows you bypass your ear, making it near impossible to recall later on. It’s like expecting to get the same leg workout from taking an elevator as you would from taking the stairs. And if the shortcut is there, you’ll never be encouraged to take the hard road… until the elevator breaks and misery strikes!

You need a process for tune learning that puts your ear at the center. That way, when you do look at a chart, you already know what the music sounds like — similar to reading a book inside of your head.

#3 I need perfect pitch to be able to develop these skills! I’ll never get that…

Oof! There are a lot of myths surrounding building a great ear, but this is one of the most common ones I hear.

Here’s full disclosure: I have perfect pitch.

I also have relative pitch.

And I can say that I have worked on my ears religiously for the last 20 years to develop the skills that will benefit me on the bandstand.

Both are helpful, but relative pitch — a skill that anyone can develop — is FAR more useful in performance settings.

The times where perfect pitch is useful is when I’m on a gig and can’t hear the count-off for the tune… and I need to start playing on beat one. But do you know how to counter this?

Ask the bandleader for the key.

Do you know what perfect pitch can’t teach you? How to hear the function of chords, substitutions, and loads of other skills that are far more important to bassists.

The goal of having great ears is to connect better with the music, in any way possible.

If near-perfect relative pitch manifests itself as a result of your training, that’s great! Ultimately, the goal is to make our ears work for us and help us play with the confidence needed.

the

FIRST CALL BASSIST

3-DAY INTENSIVE

July 7th-9th daily

11am-5pm Eastern US Time

8am-3pm PDT | 5pm-11pm CEDT

"Danny helps you to be not just a better bassist, but also a better musician. "

"Even after one day I felt better at recognizing standard tune form and improvement with basic technical and aural skills."

Hey! I'm Danny Ziemann

I’ve built my professional career playing with some of the top jazz musicians, including Jorge Rossy, Sheila Jordan, Wycliffe Gordon, Bobby Militello, Gordon Webster, Bill Dobbins, Nancy Kelly, Harry Allen, and the Focusyear Band.

I’ve also spent an equal amount of time practicing and researching the art of teaching… in order to make music learning possible for everybody.

>Why should you work to build amazing ears? <

Because it may be one of the single most critical pieces to us experiencing freedom on gigs, playing with confidence, and expediting our progress.

And being good at it leads to better, more fulfilling gigs.

Why should you trust me to help you?⤵

Truthfully, there aren’t as many people who are as active in the teaching space as they are performing space. You know my playing credentials, but we know that not every great player is a great teacher. Here’s a shortlist of my teaching qualifications…

I’ve written four books about jazz bass playing.

I produced three video courses for Discover Double Bass.

I’ve taught at major institutions including the prestigious Eastman School of Music, SUNY Oswego, and Eastman Community Music School, and guest lectured all over the world.

I studied music pedagogy, curriculum design, and research through multiple degrees at the Eastman School of Music.

I designed one of the most innovative online bass teaching programs called the First Call Bassist, where bassists completely transform their playing and supercharge their ears. [Imagine being able to know *all* of the chords in a jazz standard after only hearing it once… and never needing the real book again!]

I have tirelessly researched the heck out of jazz bass pedagogy. [Think long nights reading dissertations and articles, analyzing method books and videos, designing research studies, you name it…]

Most importantly, I know what jazz bassists need to become successful, independently musical people…

And I’ve helped TONS of them do it.

"Get where you want to be"

“You’re going to have your mind opened up to to choose your path, and to follow your path to get to where you want to be.

Unlike a lot of these other courses where they just try to teach you things or promise you the world, the only world that you’re going to be promised here is YOU — you are that world.”

Chris Northington

Bassist, New York City

Whether you’re a full-time performer, educator, student, beginner, or hobbyist, you’ll walk away with a plan for developing your ears:

>> 17 hours of expert-guided training

>> A personalized ear-development roadmap

>> Guest workshops covering solfege, jazz piano, and composing with renowned pedagogues Dr. Dave Stringham, Dr. Chris Azzara, and Jeremy Siskind

>> My system for learning tunes quickly and effectively — without notation — and for remembering them.

>> Plenty of peer collaboration

>> Q&A sessions and opportunities for direct feedback with me

>> Coaching and accountability session with bassist and coach Casey Lipka

>> Strategies for tackling the one-pass listen

>> Video playback for up to one month

“Anyone who works with Danny will take their bass playing to the next level, regardless of their current musical experience.”

Stephen Parisi

Master’s Student, DePaul University

“Danny has become my most influential mentor.”

Jake Saeva

Bassist, Rochester NY

“I don’t think I can adequately explain how much I learned from Danny Ziemann in the short amount of time that I studied with him.”

Rafael Encisco

Master’s Student, Manhattan School of Music

FAQ

1. How does the event work?

The FCB 3-Day Intensive takes place live via Zoom.

But this won’t be your typical Zoom meeting. In this highly interactive event, you’ll receive personalized attention throughout, and plenty of time to interact with your colleagues.

You will also have plenty of breaks, ample time to stretch and grab food, and opportunities to avoid become a Zoom-Zombie. (A zoombie, if you will…)

2. I’m not as experienced as other people. Is this right for me?

Yes, absolutely! The strategies I teach are powerful because they work for everyone, no matter what stage of the game you’re at.

Even if you’re relatively new to the bass, returning after a break, or for any reason you feel like you’ll never play like the pros — this experience is perfect for you! What we’re dealing with is working on our core musicianship.

3. What is the cost?

All of this is available to you for $297. For perspective, a one-hour lesson with me costs $150.

4. I’m not very tech-savvy. Is that okay?

Absolutely! As long as you can use Zoom and are familiar with Google Drive, that’s all you need in order to participate. You don’t need a fancy camera, microphone, or anything — just the basics will be just fine.

5. I play electric bass [or a non-bass instrument!]— is that okay?

Absolutely! You’ll be in good company 🙂

6. Are there recordings if I can’t make everything?

Yup! You’ll receive all the recordings, though you’ll want to make it live just so you can get the full experience. You’ll have access to the recordings for one month.