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Anthony Wellington: The Thinking Man's (& Woman's) Bassist

by S. K. Wallace

Anthony Wellington is the epitome of bass coolness characterized by intelligence, power, depth, attitude, respect (both commanding and giving it), awareness, and astuteness. Nothing gets past him-[e.g. In a class of over a dozen bassists all playing simultaneously and essentially inaudibly through headphone amps, he somehow could hear and pinpoint when one person got off track, but at least he jokingly accused the student of "composing."]-He's always watching, listening, observing, even when you don't realize it, and when you do, you might notice an interesting expression-maybe thoughtful or introspective, as if he knows something that you don't know, and he's possibly inwardly amused, but not in an unkind way.

…And I found myself face to face with him in the first few moments of the Bass BootCamp 2005 kickoff in Gerald Veasley's famous Bass Circle. Wellington was delegated to teach me the individual groove I was to play in a rather complex rhythm section that included four other bass students, each playing a different part, while Gerald Veasley soloed across it all. In my nervousness, I was fumbling to even find the right fret, but Wellington patiently stood by, and I knew I had it when he smiled, nodded, and stepped aside.

Shortly thereafter, Wellington's class was the first workshop I attended with my group level, and he presented the following outline of key factors in playing the bass:

1. Dexterity

2. Music Theory

3. Creativity
          a. Inspiration
          b. "Magic"

As he discussed his philosophy of creativity, particularly in debating those who claim not to be creative, Wellington said, "If you can wake up in the morning and take a breath, you have it! It's part of the package deal of being alive!" This was followed with, "If you think you don't [have creativity], it's usually a deficiency in 1 or 2 [dexterity or knowledge of music theory]." Then, he advised people faced with a perceived block in creativity to redirect their focus by working on either their playing dexterity or music theory skills and indicated that if one builds and improves the foundation of the first two essential elements, the flow of creativity will be a natural outcome.

The remainder of the class primarily focused on the first point of dexterity. Wellington led us through his "4-Finger Sequence Exercise Patterns (The 24 Variations)" in which he told the class that the number of unique combinations of any given number of items could be determined by the factorial mathematical function. [i.e., "Factorial" is the product of a number and all the whole numbers below it, mathematically symbolized by the number followed by an exclamation point, (!).] Since most people have and use four fingers to play notes on a bass's fingerboard, the total number of distinctly different permutations of finger patterns that can be played without repeating any of the sequences is exactly:

Thus, there are twenty-four unique combinations of fingering patterns using all four fingers. Now, why, why you may ask, am I bothering to tell you this? I mean, we're bassists, and this is a bass publication… To loosely paraphrase, or rather, completely misquote Tina Turner, "What's MATH got to do with it?!"

Well, first, it really is a great set of finger exercises; (see the example at the end of this article). However, what really got to me was the fact that in my former life as a college chemistry professor and only just a couple of months before I heard Wellington tell the Bass BootCamp group about the factorial function, I had actually been personally reprimanded for teaching this exact same mathematical function in a biochemistry unit "because this kind of math is too hard!" [By the way, in the unlikely event the question should ever come up in your life-maybe when you're starring on "Jeopardy" or "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"-the number of unique tripeptide sequences for three different amino acids is three factorial = 3! = 3 x 2 x 1 = 6... Just tell 'em your friend S.K. said so!] To hear Bass Master Anthony Wellington authoritatively lay down the factorial function (the "too hard" math!) in bass finger exercises, in this unlikely, diametrically different, yet quite relevant context… Somehow, I felt strangely validated and avenged by the universe, and I thought to myself, "A bassist who boldly and unapologetically uses and teaches 'forbidden' math! I like this guy!"

Wellington's fundamental appeal as both a performer and an educator is the balance among various aspects of creativity, artistry, logic, self-discipline, intellect, and technical excellence that he not only advocates but achieves in his own personal example. Too often in life, especially as I've experienced it, whether in the sciences, arts, or humanities, there is a tendency towards polarization, even to the point of exclusion of and occasionally even resentment or offense towards certain key elements: Facets of creativity (e.g. intuition, abstraction, imagination) are mislabeled "out there," "artsy," or "flaky" by one side, while the other faction scorns attention to logic, systematic thinking, and analysis as the domain of nerds and mistakenly claims that attention to technical correctness stifles creativity. Wellington refreshingly reminds us that it's all important, not an "either/or" choice, but rather interrelated, synergistic, and critical for wholeness in our endeavors not only as bassists but as human beings.

Excerpt from Anthony Wellington's 4-Finger Sequence Exercise Patterns, as taught at Bass BootCamp 2005 (reconstructed as best as possible from my memory and notes): This is just one of the 4 sets of 6 sequences. (I'll leave figuring out the remaining 18 sequences for homework. Hint: The remaining 3 sets start with fingers 2, 3, and 4, respectively.) Each line is a separate pattern. In class, we played one pattern at a time on a single string, moving up a fret after each repetition of the pattern. For each sequence in this particular set, we moved up a total of 7 frets and played a final note at the end on the 9th fret (to give a sense and sound of completion). Other variations of the exercises might include playing alternating notes on alternating strings, incorporating a fingerpicking style using the same corresponding finger numbers on the opposite hand, etc. Wellington had us play to the accompaniment of his Boss JS-5 Jamstation (gear he says he requires his students to own)-at a tempo equivalent to a metronome setting of 200 beats per minute. [Obviously, you could use any drum machine, Band in a Box, metronome, etc. that you have on hand.]

(1) (2) (3) (4)
(1) (2) (4) (3)
(1) (3) (2) (4)
(1) (3) (4) (2)
(1) (4) (2) (3)
(1) (4) (3) (2)

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About the author: S.K. Wallace is a freelance musician, writer, and artist who studies the bass with John Reid, Editor of Bass Sessions. When not playing the bass, she teaches violin and fiddle and performs a variety of musical styles on the acoustic and electric violin. She may be contacted at FreedomToFiddle@yahoo.com.