Mike Pope

"As a doubler, I am a big believer in the idiomatic applications of the acoustic and electric bass, but also an open-minded proponent of crossing idioms and genres. As the music industry evolves, the lines that define styles are becoming more and more blurred. While style and genre is important, especially to session players, I think they should be seen as guidelines more than parameters or limitations. Everything has its practical historical place, and creativity inspires us to reach yet further."  

"As a pianist, harmony plays a big role in how and what I teach, and I spend significant time working on that. I believe that technique is a result of music and that it should be taught that way. So I encourage the use of exercises that address technical problems, which limit your ability to get the result you want. Very often, technical problems are as much mental as they are physical, and I address both aspects in my teaching. To the greatest degree possible, I aim to use what the student already has as a foundation on which to build, so as to mold students into better versions of themselves."

"I've played in a wide variety of musical situations, both low and high profile, and have experienced first-hand the challenges being versatile presents. I feel that both my successes and failures afford me the ability to help a student cultivate the skills necessary to succeed and the savvy to avoid making poor decisions."