Don’t miss your chance to get the next best thing to a private lesson with Michael, as he talks to you about his daring and unusual fretless bass work and captivating compositions and how to  incorporate harmonics, on-the-fly tuning changes, and richly voiced chords to express highly refined musical ideas.

This is a unique opportunity to learn some new skills directly from a bass legend in the comfort of your own home with your bass in hand! You’ll also interact with Michael and Bass Player senior editor Jon Herrera via live Q&A opportunities throughout the one-hour master class.

And if that’s not enough...
It’s your chance to win an SWR WorkingPro 12 bass combo amp!

The WorkingPro provides bassists with the classic SWR® “big rig” sound in a rig that fits in the family car. With such innovative features as the Bass Intensifier™  and the Wedge EQ,  this combo provides shockingly good tone in an easily portable package. With 200 watts of power at 4 ohms, an elegant appearance and exceptional tone, it’s the perfect amplifier for small gigs, practicing and monitoring. Valued at $799.99!

In additon, all LIVE registered attendees will qualify for the Music Player Network discount on the 2008 print edition of the Musician’s Atlas and AtlasOnline membership. You’ll book more gigs and sell more music with the Musician’s Atlas and AtlasOnline!

• What: Bass Player Artist Master Class Webcast
  Full Range Bass With Michael Manring
  

• When: Wednesday, March 12, 6:00pm PST (9:00pm EST)

• Cost: $19.95

• Register:  Register in advance by clicking anywhere on this page or visit http://www.visualwebcaster.com/musicplayernetwork/storefront/

About Michael Manring
Hailed by many as the world’s leading solo bassist, Michael Manring has been pushing back the boundaries of what’s possible on the bass guitar for over two decades. While his technical skill and innovations always make an impression, it is his ability to communicate on a profound emotional level that most touches listeners. As editor Tom Darter wrote in Keyboard magazine after seeing one of Michael's solo concerts, "Forget his astounding technique and musicality; forget his absolute command of his instruments; forget how seamlessly the musical ideas and the performance of them were wedded together...The enlightenment came most from feeling (seeing, hearing) the joy Michael felt to be playing...his brand of transcendental chops and musical understanding...was all in the service of the final outcome, the joy of making music."

Building on the conceptions of his teacher, the late bass legend Jaco Pastorius,Michael has developed a new approach to the instrument that includes unorthodox tunings, techniques and methodologies. He has honed his skills on hundreds of recordings as a session musician and thousands of concerts throughout the world. Michael has worked with a surprisingly diverse collection of musicians from New Age keyboardist Suzanne Ciani to avant-improv guitar innovator Henry Kaiser to celebrated folk troubadour John Gorka to experimental post-metal rockers Tim Alexander (Primus) and Alex Skolnick (Testament) to electro-pop pioneer Thomas Dolby. His long-term collaboration and close friendship with the late acoustic guitar genius Michael Hedges led to a lengthy stint as house bassist for Windham Hill Records; a label for whom he also worked as a solo artist, releasing four recordings under his own name: Unusual Weather (1986), Toward the Center of the Night (1989), Drastic Measures (1991) and Thonk (1994). These, along with his 1998 release The Book of Flame on the Alchemy record label earned him an international reputation as "a master of the fretless bass without rival." (Guitar Club Magazine, Italy). He has garnered two gold records, Grammy and Bammie nominations, a Berklee School of Music Distinguished Alumni Award, two Just Plain Folks Awards and numerous Bass Player Magazine Reader's Poll awards including 1994 Bassist of the Year. He was also the subject of a recent PBS TV documentary, The Artist's Profile: Michael Manring.

In his solo concerts Michael weaves together his musical influences into a tapestry rich with expression, virtuosity, humor and meaning. As one writer put it, "Michael Manring can do more with a bass than even the most creative individual could imagine" (L. Pierce Carson, Napa Valley Register). His newest release Soliloquy, performed entirely solo without overdubs, is the best recorded example yet of that depth and diversity. Using a variety of bass guitars and the far-reaching, innovative approaches he is renowned for, with Enhanced CD content including Michael’s extensive 24-page liner notes detailing the composing and recording process, photos and live performance videos, Soliloquy takes the listener on a unique musical journey. We hope you'll follow the advice of France's Musicien magazine: "Do not miss your next opportunity to discover the bassist with the most fresh and inventive playing today."

Stuart HammThrough his innovative work as a solo artist and his contributions as a sideman to Joe Satriani and Steve Vai, Stuart Hamm has firmly established himself as one of the most influential electric bassists of the past half-century. Extending the non-traditional function of the electric bass previously revolutionized by Jaco Pastorius and Stanley Clarke in the 1970's, Hamm helped to reshape the contemporary concept of the bass guitar as an unaccompanied instrument with the utilization of polyphonic, two-handed tapping, slapping and popping techniques, chords, and harmonics. Although Hamm certainly wasn't the first bass player to debut during the 1980's and employ an unorthodox approach to playing the electric bass, he was undoubtedly at the forefront of his generation who effectively fused the application of these unconventional techniques. READ MORE