Yiannis Vagianos

I am a Greek Musician and Educator, graduate from Codarts University of the Arts, and currently doing a Master’s Degree at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. I started playing Bass Guitar at the age of 15 and immediately fell in love with it. My love for jazz led me to pick up the Contrabass a few years later. After spending years practicing both classical and jazz double bass, I decided to come to Rotterdam to study Jazz Performance. Currently, I am teaching in Rotterdam and Amsterdam and performing all around the Netherlands with numerous different projects. My rich educational background (Engineering and Music) and my teaching experience in different fields enable me to have a holistic view of the potential of each pupil. My ambition is to pass all the knowledge and experience that I acquired through the years to other musicians.

The goal of the lessons is to provide to each student the knowledge necessary to play the music that they love in this instrument. I use a basic curriculum that serve as a basis on which we build together the individual lesson plan of each pupil. The basic curriculum includes technique (pizzicato, bowing and left-hand positions), musicality (sound, phrasing, timing, feel), practicing different music idioms and healthy practicing (posture, muscle tension etc..). We always have as a guideline that we play music because it’s fun and, in the meantime, we develop practicing schedules and tactics that meet the pupil’s needs. After some months of lessons, we can focus on Jazz or Classical repertoire.

We focus on learning the instrument through the music that the pupil loves, while still going through all the genres that the Bass Guitar is popular in (funk, rock, reggae, hip hop etc..). Same as with the Contrabass, I use a basic curriculum that serve as a basis on which we build together the individual lesson plan of each pupil. The basic curriculum includes technique (left and right-hand position, fingerboard knowledge, advanced right-hand techniques), musicality (sound, phrasing, timing, feel), practicing different music idioms and healthy practicing (posture, muscle tension etc..). While learning any of these instruments, you are going to need some knowledge of music theory and some solfeggio and ear training skills. These fields are going to be discussed in the lesson and be part of the practicing routine of the pupil.

When it comes to preparing for the first lesson, I would like beginners to think about what music they like to play. If a pupil is playing already for some time, or is an intermediate to advanced player, I would advise him/her to think about the direction that they want to go. This will enable us to build a more efficient lesson plan.