Bass

Teresa picked up her first guitar at the age of seven and proceeded to teach herself guitar and electric bass. When she was fourteen, her brother (who was on leave from the army) commanded her to transcribe ‘La Villa Strangiato’ by Rush and teach it to him. It was at this point that Teresa realised that the bass was to be her instrument.

Further influenced by her brother’s taste in music, she transcribed and learned to play more Rush, Genesis and AC/DC numbers as well as albums such as Quadrophenia by The Who. She was later inspired by other great bass players such as Bernard Edwards, Jaco Pastorius and Victor Wooten.

She studied Music at the Brit School of Performing Arts where in addition to developing new skills and knowledge, Teresa found herself continually in demand by other musicians for their own projects. This continuous musical roller-coaster really pushed the boundaries of her bass playing.

Teresa later went on to the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, achieving a BA in contemporary music using the bass guitar as her principal instrument. This further education really developed her knowledge and ability with much more formal learning and technical training. Inspired and encouraged by her lecturers, Mike Nicholls and Stefan Redtenbacher, she would push herself, wanting one day to be a role model for other bass students.

This provided Teresa with a great all round ability as a live and recording session player; combining her natural affinity for music with sound knowledge of musical theory and the technical skills to match. Teresa also has a great empathy and understanding of the musical ‘direction’ when working with new musicians. Her relaxed but confident personality puts people at ease but also stimulates them at the same time.

Since leaving ACM Teresa has been in demand for a wide range of different ensembles and projects, including jazz, funk, rock, country and folk bands.  In addition to playing live, she has extensive studio experience, having been involved in various recording projects and song-writing collaborations.

Couple her technical skills and natural ‘feel’ for music with the ability to provide strong and harmonious backing vocals too makes her an indispensable asset for any musical project. Whether reading music or charts, improvising or just covering, Teresa can provide a solid and dependable but fascinating and intricate bass line in any style of music.

Teresa also teaches the bass guitar, passing on her passion for music and this instrument and has also recently started using an electric upright bass to expand her repertoire.

You can currently see Teresa playing with the Jazz Vixens - an all female jazz band: The Dandycats - a monster rock trio party band: The Fork Handles - a jazz/folk inspired originals band.

Teresa is playing at....