Product Details

• Actors: Victor Wooten, Anthony Wellington
• Directors: Rob Wallis
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: German, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Hudson Music
• DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
• Run Time: 300 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001DPC4I2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,538 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

In this nearly 5-hour, 2-disc DVD set, legendary bassist Victor Wooten redefines the essential elements of music and demonstrates how to apply them in fresh, musically relevant ways. Victor's open approach to playing bass will provide effective improvement to any musician's skills and as the students on the DVD show, many of the most important lessons can be learned very quickly. Also featured in the Groove Workshop DVD are several solo performances by Victor, as well as duets with bassist and educator Anthony Wellington. Chapters and tutorials include: notes, grooving, articulation/duration, dynamics, rhythm/tempo, tone, phrasing, space/rest, listening, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master Class?, April 17, 2009

By 

Patrick King (Exeter, NH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victor Wooten: Groove Workshop (DVD)

Don't let the Master Class classification fool you. If you're thinking of taking up any instrument and know virtually nothing about music, watch this video first! This video was a complete reawakening to me of what I'm trying to do learning music. If you're reading this you probably, as I do, consider Victor Wooten among the top five living bass players. I hoped simply to watch the self analysis of a master performer. This video is vastly more than that. Wooten starts out with defining music as a form of communication and then asks, "How did you first learn to communicate?" He looks at the remarkable success rate of humans learning to speak a first language and compares it to the frustration for most people of approaching music classes. Do we ask a baby to recite the alphabet before we teach them their first words? Wooten asks the participants what notes are in a G minor key? He proceeds to play a bass solo in G minor using only notes NOT in G minor. Then he plays one in the G minor scale. The first solo sounds better. Wooten's point is that music is not about notes. Notes may actually be the least important part of playing music. This is one of the most thought provoking music lessons I've ever taken, primarily because it asks me to STOP THINKING when I'm playing. I LOVE this video.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Essential Reality Check for the Performing Muscian, October 30, 2008

By 

Todd Flanders "- ToddF" (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Victor Wooten: Groove Workshop (DVD)

There are many aspects of musicianship that "go without saying". We don't talk about them, so growth occurs slowly (if at all). We can flounder for decades without ever becoming great players, never questioning why.

Victor and Anthony break these elements of music down in a very logical manner, allowing us as musicians to take a sober look at what we actually know and don't know. This can be a very shocking reality check, but it's also very inspiring.

The content is best suited for good bass players who want to grow into great bass players, but it is also applicable to beginning and intermediate bass players, and to musicians in general. Some exercises are strictly for bass players, but this video teaches music as a whole.

You won't learn how to play the VWB's funk-infused jazz from this series of lessons, but you will learn something more valuable -- how to make whatever you do more musical.

Victor's approach to learning music is unusual, but it's not radical. He does not attempt to replace the classic methods, but to supplement them. I would be skeptical if his teaching methods were radical, but they are simply based on observation of how music really works.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a quick fix, but well worth it!, November 16, 2008

By 

Alexander Mercieca "FingerMan420" (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Victor Wooten: Groove Workshop (DVD)

I purchased this DVD thinking that it would be an instructional video like Billy Shehan or Jaco Pastorius. Well, it was not what I expected, but it was much more. It seems that Victor Wooten does not put out a DVD that is just simply an instructional video. This DVD is perfect for someone who wants to look at playing bass in a whole new way. He really gets you thinking about the music itself, not just memorizing different finger patterns.