Janek Gwizdala Podcast

Disclosure: These show notes were created from a transcript of the episode using chatgpt to a) give me an extra hour to practice today, b) give you as much detailed information about my conversation with IMA, and c) keep me motivated to keep coming back to the creative side of making videos and having interesting conversations with guests while not dreading the post-production minutiae that I’m simply no good at.
Ian Martin Allison and I sat down with our basses for a conversation that began with making mistakes and ended with both of us admitting we sometimes need to get out of our own way.
In between, we talked about a question that comes up constantly in lessons, rehearsals, recording sessions, and gigs: what actually makes a bass player sound professional?
There are obvious answers involving time, sound, preparation, and technique. But the more we talked, the more we found ourselves discussing the decisions underneath all of that. Where does a note end? How much energy should you give a verse? Are you leaving another musician somewhere to go? And what happens to your playing when you become preoccupied with proving you’re good?
Ian is wonderfully open throughout this conversation. There’s plenty of playing, some excellent sounds, and a lot to take into your own practice this week.
Making a mistake, and carrying it around afterward
Early in the episode, Ian tells a story about an exposed melody on an upright bass gig that went badly enough to affect the performances that followed.
The advice he received gets to the heart of something many of us struggle with: when your identity is wrapped up in your instrument, a small musical mistake can start to feel like a verdict on you as a person.
We talk about recovering in the moment, the mental recovery afterward, and shifting your attention toward the people you’re playing for. We also consider how music education can make an exposed passage feel unnecessarily intimidating—and what we might do differently as educators.
Sound is part of the job
If you know Ian’s playing, you’ll know how much character he gets from his sounds.
He walks me through an HX Stomp setup, demonstrating the progression from a relatively clean amp sound through breakup, overdrive, fuzz, and octave. You can hear how much changes with his touch and how differently the effects respond to a pick or fingers.
We also discuss his work with Cory Wong and the distinction between switching on a distortion pedal and making a distorted bass sound sit where it belongs in the music.
It’s a useful section for anyone thinking about their pedalboard, but also for anyone trying to understand what a particular sound contributes to an arrangement.
Note length, space, and making the song feel right
Some of the most revealing playing in the episode is also the simplest.
Ian demonstrates how note length changes the energy of a bass line, why giving too much away in a verse can leave a chorus with nowhere to go, and how your accompaniment can invite another musician into the conversation.
These are details you can work on with almost any bass line you already know. The pitches might stay exactly the same while the feeling changes completely.
Being someone else’s bass player—and finding your own voice
Ian talks about how much he enjoys being a supporting musician, and how that identity has shaped his approach to making music of his own.
We explore the different instincts involved in supporting an artist, leading a band, and committing to your own creative decisions. That leads us into people pleasing, competition, ambition, and the point where trying to impress starts getting in the way of communicating something.
We also talk about the value of hearing musicians in a room, beyond the parts of their playing you might encounter online.
Giving yourself permission
Toward the end, I ask Ian about the last time he felt he’d made a significant step forward musically.
His answer involves giving himself permission to make music with the vocabulary he already had, while continuing to work on the things he wanted to improve.
My answer turns out to be closer to his than either of us expected. Looking back at my trio recording with Peter Erskine and Nir Felder, I can hear moments where dropping into a supporting role opened up the entire sound of the band. I wish I’d trusted that possibility more often.
It gave us a lot to think about: allowing the music to develop without feeling obliged to fill every available space.
Something to try in your next practice session
Take a bass line you already know and keep the notes the same.
Experiment with where each note ends. Try a shorter, more restrained version, then a more sustained one. Listen for how that changes the energy and how much room it leaves around you.
Then ask yourself which version makes the song feel better.
I’d love to hear what you take from this conversation—and whether your idea of a “professional” bass player has changed over time.
Links and resources
* Ian Martin Allison
* Ian’s HX Stomp presets
* My bass instruction books and learning resources
* My recordings
* My HX Stomp Presets
More soon, Janek.


Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe

Before I hit record for this episode, I was playing around with a harmonizer sound and found myself right back in the music that first made me want to become a musician.
A phrase, an interval, a particular sound, and suddenly I’m thinking about Michael Brecker, John Patitucci, and records I was listening to thirty years ago.
What struck me was how much I still need that connection. Having heroes isn’t something I’ve grown out of. Going back to those recordings reminds me how much I love the work, and gives me energy to keep finding out what’s possible in my own playing.
A lot of this episode is about carrying that inspiration forward: taking the intent, curiosity, and commitment you hear in someone else’s music and bringing it to your own.
There’s plenty of bass playing throughout, alongside a few other things I wanted to share.
Revisiting old transcriptions
I still write down pretty much everything I transcribe. Sometimes I don’t have enough time to work an idea into my playing properly, and I want to be able to return to it.
That return can be the best part. Something I transcribed years ago can reveal a completely different set of possibilities now that I have more experience, more vocabulary, and a better understanding of the harmony around it.
Hearing what I’m actually playing
A broken amp during the recording of Night Watch in Argentina forced me into a monitoring setup I’d spent years avoiding.
Recording direct with in-ear monitors felt uncomfortable at first. Everything was so immediate and exposed. But it helped me hear my sound more accurately, and ultimately changed how I approach recording and working with stereo effects.
In this episode, I also play through some harmonizer, reverb, and texture ideas as I get my pedalboard ready for Minnesota.
A new book for Black Friday
I’m putting together a short book built around the exercises and ideas that have helped me make progress over the couple of years.
The aim is to include thirty-plus previously unpublished exercises, with standard four-string tuning as the foundation.
I’m planning to offer it as a free bonus with a qualifying book purchase for Black Friday. The exact offer is still taking shape, but I’m excited to share this look inside what I’ve actually been working on.
What should Ian Martin Allison and I get into?
I’m heading to Minnesota to spend a day making videos with Ian, and I’d love to bring some of your questions with me.
What would you like us to discuss or demonstrate? Is there something you’d like to hear both perspectives on, or something you’d like us to play?
Leave a comment below. Suggestions for future solo podcast episodes are welcome!
Books and links
• The recent post about listening, inspiration, and my transcription list• The Bass Player’s Guide to Pentatonics—where I recommend starting with my books: • Chordal Harmony• How to Transcribe• Private lessons
Thanks, as always, for spending some of your insanely precious time listening and hanging out with me.
Janek


Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe

A student asked me a question in a private lesson yesterday that I don’t think anyone had asked me quite that way before: “How do I listen to your music?”
Some of my albums connected with them immediately, but others left them wondering why they had little similarity to previous releases. That question became the starting point for this episode: a conversation about harmony, simplicity, and why I’m drawn to making something different each time I record.
There’s quite a lot of playing in this episode! I start with a simple ii–V idea and explore how a small harmonic detour can delay the resolution and open up new ways to eventually get to the tonic. From there, we get into chord inversions, voice leading, ostinatos, and some of the short solo bass pieces I’m developing.
I also talk about the expectations we bring to our favorite artists. Marcus Miller, Miles Davis, and Meshell Ndegeocello offer different examples of how a musical identity can develop, and how our attachment to a particular record can shape what we hope to hear next.
In this episode:
* Reimagining familiar ii–V–I harmony with an additional ii–V.
* Using inversions and closely spaced notes to give simple chords more character.
* Putting a repeating figure above the melody instead of underneath it.
* Turning improvisation and practice-room discoveries into compositions.
* Employing restrictive practice to find more possibilities within what you already know.
* Chick Corea’s Children’s Songs and the appeal of short musical forms.
* Balancing influence, artistic honesty, and audience expectations.
* Why time and sound remain the foundation, however complex the harmony gets.
Which influences can you hear in my playing? If a phrase reminds you of a particular musician, solo, or record, leave a comment. I’d love to hear what you recognize before digging into those transcriptions in a future episode.
Books Discussed in This Episode

Book a Private Lesson

More soon,
Janek


Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe

Does inspiration come before the work, or does the work create it?
A Jimmy Carr quote I heard while making breakfast this morning set this episode in motion. It reminded me how often musical ideas arrive simply because I’ve sat down and spent time with the instrument.
I share what that process looks like right now: working on a Brahms waltz for a potential duet with Daniele Camarda, exploring triadic movement around the bass, and following a chord progression that develops spontaneously during the episode.
We also get into a practice approach that has helped me keep improving after more than 30 years of playing: spending less time on an idea each day, but returning to it consistently for longer than I initially think necessary.
In this episode:• Why your goals should determine what you practice.• A focused 10-minute starting point for your practice routine.• The difference between understanding an idea and internalizing it.• Keeping a list of things to learn without chasing every new distraction.• Triads, inversions, and their application to bass lines and chordal playing.• Voice leading, passing chords, and developing ideas with a looper.• Using recordings and voice notes to preserve musical discoveries.• How returning to private teaching has sharpened my own focus.
I’m also considering a comprehensive book on triads—their inversions, applications, and musical context. I’d love to hear what you’d want from a resource like that.
And for anyone who stays to the end: a brief look at the humble footstool that travels everywhere with me.
If you’d like help identifying what to work on and building a practice routine around your goals I’m now offering Private lessons.
If you would prefer something with a little less commitment, but that packs a huge punch in terms of information, check out all my Books and learning resources.
More soon,
Janek


Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe

All my pedalboards start with a sound in my head and from there I slowly start to decide what I might need to create all the elements of the board, and where each piece belongs in the signal chain.
This week I play through my current setup, from the MXR Vintage Bass Octave, Mantic Hulk, and FMeron at the front of the chain to the HX Stomp, stereo effects, looper, and DI that follow. I explain why I use a hybrid of individual pedals and multi effects, and why the Stomp is both a complete travel rig and the point where my board splits into stereo.
Some choices are still up in the air. I’m getting to know the Chase Bliss Bad Mood, comparing it with the Stereo Mood, and questioning whether the Generation Loss MkII is the right way to find a texture I’ve missed since using the Dark World. If I bring a fuzz or bit crusher back onto the board, something else will have to go, and that could well be the Gen Loss at this point. 😭
Those choices come into focus when I think about the music ahead: a possible bass duo recording rooted in classical music, and a very different, improvised session with Jojo Mayer. One might need little more than a preamp and reverb. The other could take me deep into synths, loops, and cinematic sound design.
I also revisit my old classical guitar books and the notes my teacher Peter left in them. His reminders about light, shade, and phrasing still shape how I play over 35 years later, and it’s incredibly emotional seeing those notes and scribbles in the margins after all these years.
In this episode: choosing pedals by sound and playing feel; building a mono-to-stereo signal chain; using the HX Stomp alongside individual pedals; the sounds currently competing for space on my board; and adapting one rig to two very different projects.
Check out these links to stuff I mention in the episode:
HX Stomp presetsPrivate lessons
More soon,
Janek


Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe