Alejandro Betancourt

I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Music with an emphasis in Performance (Electric Bass) from Universidad de las Américas (UDLA) in Quito, Ecuador, in 2022, where I studied under Cayo Iturralde and Mauricio Vega. I currently continue my musical training through classical double bass private lessons with Enrique Sánchez, as well as performance workshops. My studies include demanding repertoire by composers such as Bach, Beethoven, and Dvořák, with a strong focus on technique, sound, and musical interpretation.

Since 2021, I have worked as a freelance electric bassist and double bassist, selecting the instrument according to each musical context, across jazz, classical, popular, and contemporary music. My performance experience includes projects such as Raimon Rovira Trio, Blue Code Jazz Trio (with Andy Sebastiá and David Morris), UDLA Big Band, and my own modern jazz projects Atrium and Sonoris Causa, performing on both electric bass and double bass. I have also participated in special jazz tribute concerts dedicated to Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, and Charlie Parker. In the classical and orchestral field, I perform on double bass with FUMAJS Youth Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Del Mundo, and LA FILL Chamber Orchestra (accompanying the UDLA Choir). I have shared the stage with the David West Group, performing Ecuadorian music with a modern approach, including a featured appearance at the Carnaval de Blancos y Negros 2024. In 2023, my project Atrium was part of the Festival de Artes Vivas de Loja. I have performed in major theaters and venues across Ecuador, including Teatro Sucre, Teatro Capitol, Teatro Variedades, Quito Jazz Club, La Oficina, Ananké, and La Catedral (Quito); Teatro Lalama and Casa de la Cultura (Ambato); Teatro Gran Colombia (Ibarra); and Teatro León (Riobamba). In addition to live performance, I have recording experience with Don Juan band Supervivencia Cantada (pop-rock, electric bass), Juan Pablo Ortiz (jazz fusion, electric bass & double bass, album Depende), and pianist Cristian Soto (jazz, electric bass & double bass), collaborating on studio and remote projects across Ecuador.

I began teaching in 2017, offering private lessons on both electric bass and double bass to students of all levels, from beginners to advanced players.

My students come to me with goals such as preparing for conservatory or university auditions, improving their overall musicianship, developing sight-reading skills, learning jazz improvisation, and building solid French bow technique on the double bass.

My lessons are fully personalized and focused on solving real musical problems. Depending on the student’s goals, I work with materials such as:

For jazz and popular music:
Oscar Stagnaro – The Latin Bass Book
David Baker – How to Play Bebop Vol. 2
Ron Carter – Complete Bass Lines (Aebersold Vol. 15)
Jerry Bergonzi – Developing a Jazz Language (Vol. 6)

For classical technique and double bass:
Simandl – New Method for String Bass (ed. Stuart Sankey)
Franz Simandl – 30 Studies for String Bass
Konrad Siebach – Bach-Studien für tiefe Instrumente
Lucas Drew – 77 Baroque Bass Lines
Rufus Reid – The Evolving Bassist
 

My online teaching methodology for both electric bass and double bass focuses on helping students develop problem-solving skills rather than just technical virtuosity.
Lessons are built around real music — written or not — because musicality always comes first. Technique is taught through practical musical contexts, supported by dynamic exercises that help students truly understand and apply concepts, instead of simply memorizing songs.

Online lessons allow us to adapt the repertoire to each student’s musical tastes, using different tools and approaches to analyze and learn music effectively. We work on chord progressions, time and meter changes, harmonic modulations, and other essential elements in a way that makes them easier to understand, remember, and apply in real musical situations.

Mi metodología tanto para el bajo electrico como para el contrabajo, se basa en enseñarle al alumno como resolver problemas, mas que en el desarrollo virtuoso. Lo que hago es enseñar la tecnica con música real, sea esta escrita o no, esto es sumamente importante por que aprendemos la musicalidad es la que manda, mas no la tecnica. Esto, acompañado con ejercicios dinamicos ayudan a al aprendizaje, a la aplicacion del mismo, y sobre todo marca la diferencia entre dominar conceptos, y aprenderte una o dos canciones.

Por supuesto que el repertorio es importante y buscaremos la opciones que mas resuenen con los gustos musicales de cada estudiante, y de nuevo, aplicaremos varios metodos para entender las canciones, y tambien aprenderlas de una manera que recordemos,progresiones, cambios de tiempo, cambios de mètrica, modulaciones armonica, etc, con mas facilidad.