Beyoncé Bass Player Divinity Roxx gives London Masterclass

13 April, 2015

Divinity Roxx must be one of the most recognisable bass players in the world after five years with Beyoncé’s touring band, performing for millions of fans both live and on television. Divinity shared these and her other musical adventures with an audience at her BIMM London Masterclass in March.

Divinity’s career took a positive turn when she attended a summer school hosted by Victor Wootten. Wooten is one of America’s most accomplished bassists — a composer, producer and multiple Grammy award winner. Divinity’s bass playing skills left such an impression at the summer school that Wooten invited her on tour with his band.

Sharing her learning experiences from these opportunities, Divinity advised the audience of gathered BIMM musicians:

“Get as much on stage experience as possible — stage presence is everything and you need to be comfortable!”

Divinity was head-hunted for an audition with Beyoncé but initially declined, until friends were able to twist her arm! After an initial test she was surprised to get a recall. She spent a day performing with various line-ups of musicians, with everything carefully overseen by Beyoncé herself, with husband Jay Z in tow.

Of course Divinity eventually got the gig. She described how her resulting experience performing with Beyoncé pushed her and the rest of the band beyond their limits — in a positive way!

As well as album tours with Beyoncé, Divinity also got to perform with her on the Oprah Winfrey Show, at the Grammy Awards and eventually at the White House.

The students found Divinity’s Masterclass truly inspirational. Niklas Andersson was in attendance:

“Divinity Roxx’s masterclass was amazing!” he said. “Such an incredible musician with many inspiring stories to tell. Hope to see her again soon!”

Divinity ultimately expressed the importance of commitment to your musical craft, saying: “When you make a decision and stick to it, doors open and people come to you.”

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