Hi all,

I just noticed not many people replied to the introductions so I have taken the liberty of posting here:

Thank you for having me here. I am in Western Australia.
Its a great Forum.

I hope i never offend anyone here but I will be honest and say that I cannot play bass at all and I wish to learn and may have silly questions to ask. If this is not the forum for these questions -please let me know.

I played keyboards in blues/rock band in the early 80s (am in my mid 50s) and got away with playing 12 bar blues (JB good, etc ) with NO music knowledge whatsoever. I played by ear.
I cant read music at all and it maybe a bit late to learn at my age. But I can play keyboards using chords.

But the notes layout on the bass is so foreign to me compared to the more "linear" layout of a keyboard that I would not know how to start learning bass.

Its a dream i have had for a long time. To play bass.
I dont play anymore but I watch bands doing funky rock and funky jazz and i am continually mesmerised by the slap bass techniques, fast runs, 6 string bass players doing chords, etc.

I bought myself a cheap bass (4 strings) and a small "toy" amp 2 weeks ago and i would like some advice how can i start learning.

Could I learn enought to play by ear with practice one day?

Is it videos, books with pics, etc?
or is there a website than can get me started?

Any advice will be greatly apreciated.

Thks

OG

First and foremost, get some lessons on basic music theory, either formally or informally. There's alot to be said in getting the basics right in your head before picking up any instrument, and will help you grasp the instrument with much greater ease. Don't be diving straight into high level theory, as that will come with time and experience, but a little with go a long long way at this stage. And it's never too late!!

The physical notes on the bass are as difficult or easy as the piano. If you know the name of the notes on the piano, you'll know the notes on the bass with some instruction.

I guess the first step is to find someone who'll give you a small amount of time to run through what the notes are, how the bass is tuned, holding the bass, playing the bass, and scales. Time and Key signatures are important to get your head round at an early stage. After that, everything more or less builds on that. Being able to play "funky rock and funky jazz" won't come too easily by picking up the bass and trying to work it out by ear without any experience. At best, it'll be very very frustrating, I'd imagine.

http://www.studybass.com/

It might get you started in the right direction.

First off, it's never too late to learn. I'm 52 and too it up around 18 months ago. The first thing I did was get a teacher to show me good technique. Then, with my teacher , I started learning basic theory (major and minor scales, modes chords ect). I also bought some books ("Bass Guitar for Dummies" is very good IMO). There is a wealth of info on the internet also. "Study Bass" quoted above is excellent. The fact that you played by ear before is a bonus. If you listen to music with good bass lines eg: motown songs, blues ect you will get a feel for where and how the bass fits in and with practice and patience you'll find yourself making progress. Hope this helps and good luck with it.

If you have a good ear, as I think you do after having played only by ear earlier, I think you'll learn the bass quickly. Just work on the technique so you get it right from the start. It's hard to change a bad technique afterwards.

In addition to technique, learning music theory is very essential, as it makes it easier to play any styles of music. Also, analyze the bass lines of the songs you like and try to play them yourself.