what "schools" of bass playing are there?

[Joel Larsson]

Thanks — PM sent. Maybe I will have to split the American school in two, huh?

As for the teacher-seeking bit, I kind of agree with you... in a small country like Sweden, there are basically only three cities you can go, so it kind of solves itself... problem might arise when you are about to complete your bachelor's degree and start to think about somewhere to do your master's. The general consensus among teachers and players here would be that you have to get out of the country for at least a year — as all of the teachers at our universities themselves have — and by this time you really ought to have been thinking about what it is that you need to get you a job. The huge variety of playing styles out there makes this an interesting position to be in!

I have been thinking about what you, as a student, will ask, publicly or privately, before you decide where to go. I thought it would be interesting to have ex-students (or even professors — I just want to make sure that they don't start to throw s**t at any other school than their own!! ) answer those questions. So far, the questions I have come up with are:

1. What will make me special if I study there?
2. What method or etudes are used?
3. Any special circumstances that will (positively, negatively, or, in any other way) affect my - playing and practising? (Such as: Limited access to practice rooms? Long time spans between lessons? Big/small class?)
4. What are the (typical) teacher’s ‘pet peeves’, and what are his favourite ‘mantras’; what's his thing?
5. Solo or orchestra oriented?
6. Simandl or Rabbath style left hand?
7. Bow arm/sound characteristics? French or German bow?
8. What sets players of this tradition apart from those of another/List of characteristics

I was just thinking, that maybe it would be quite interesting to find questions where opposites are easy to find. Simandl versus the Nouvelle Technique, high bow pressure with lots of focus versus high bow speed and a freer sound, etc... but most good teachers will of course teach you the whole span of expression, so maybe posing questions like that would be useless?

I will answer these questions myself later on, once from each of the four perspectives that I feel that I might have ample experience with. But now — movie time!!