About the Author


Marty Buttwinick is a veteran musician and band leader. Throughout his colorful  he has played a multitude of venues from clubs to major concert halls, and has recorded for film, records, and television.


He’s played venues from Knott’s Berry Farm to Tokyo Stadium; performed and/or recorded with original rock acts as well as the Santa Monica Symphony; and has played countless dinner houses, casuals, clubs and theaters, including long runs with many Hollywood musicals.


Marty has worked with Latin great, Willie Bobo, Motown queen Martha and the Vandellas, as well as a few performances with Ray Charles. For many years he was the musical director/conductor for actress/singer Karen Black in her one-woman show, (Los Angeles, San Diego & San Francisco performances), and was the co-band leader of his casual group Raw Silk for ten years.


He has recorded at/for Warner Bros., Capitol Records, CBS and NBC, including work on cartoons, albums, film scores and the soaps All My Children and Desperate Housewives. Marty is also an experienced music copyist (Sheryl Crow, Orlando Philharmonic, Duran Duran and many others), and has spent over 400 hours tightening up bands and teaching professional group-playing skills and rehearsal techniques to musicians of all ages.


He is currently freelancing as a bassist, composing and teaching. As a teacher and consultant, he has delivered more than twenty-five thousand hours of one-on-one instruction and career consultations with over 700 students.


In addition to teaching beginning and intermediate students, some top acts that his professional students have performed or recorded with include: Chaka Khan, Isaac Hayes, MC Lyte, Taylor Dane, Edgar Winter, Doug E. Fresh, Beck, Little Feat, Dixie Chicks, and many others.


The Musicians’ How-to Series is drawn from his many years in the business both as a professional musician and an educator.