I am an electric bassist and the founder of the International Institute of Bassists (InstituteOfBass.com). I have been playing electric bass in all styles of music for more than 20 years with a primary emphasis on solo electric bass guitar, fusion, and jazz.
I am a former long-time student of world-renowned jazz improvisation instructor Charlie Banacos (New England Conservatory of Music). I also studied bass performance under the direction of Anthony Vitti at Berklee College of Music before earning a bachelor of arts degree from Fort Hays State University.
As a solo bassist, I have been arranging and performing contemporary music for unaccompanied electric bass guitar for many years by combining fingerstyle, slapping, tapping, and chordal techniques with altered tunings. I have also been featured in a number of ensembles including regional jazz duos, trios, quartets and quintets, fusion bands, rock bands, funk bands, big bands, R&B bands, country bands, musicals, and orchestras.
With over 15 years of teaching experience, I have instructed hundreds of bass guitar students located around the world through my online bass lessons by correspondence program. Since its opening in 2003, I have also been an instructor of jazz improvisation at MusicDojo.com. In May 2002, I was profiled in Bass Player magazine.
I am currently working on a series of instructional books and a DVD demonstrating my techniques and concepts.
On June 1, 2005, I launched the brand new web site of the IIB at InstituteOfBass.com (formerly BASSically.net).
The International Institute of Bassists (IIB) is a bass-centric web site aimed specifically toward the art of contemporary bass playing and the study of the bass tradition. Since its founding in 1997 by bassist Cliff Engel, the IIB has grown into one of the largest and most popular interactive bass-related web sites found online. Today, the IIB is comprised of a think tank of bass-playing professionals and recognized as the premier online publication for bass players and the promotion of all things bass.
On the IIB web site, you can read exclusive interviews with bass virtuosos including Michael Manring, Brian Bromberg, Stuart Hamm, Jeff Berlin, Gary Willis, Alain Caron, and Keith Horne to name just a few. Viewers of the IIB also have access to free, downloadable lessons which are published by a staff of highly-respected instructors such as Michael Manring, Todd Johnson, Ray Riendeau, and Berklee College of Music professor Jim Stinnett. In addition to these lessons and interviews, viewers have access to interviews with the founders of manufacturing companies, bass shops, and bass events along with the latest bass-related news, reviews, and streaming media. Plus, viewers can also watch selected instructional, concert performance videos, and live bass clinics on IIBtv as well as communicate with other bassists through the IIB chat room.
For more information about me, please visit: CliffEngel.com .
