can you guys help me i have two boys who live on my block that are about 11 and 13 yrs old. both of their parents work and they are not rich enought to take lesson. and they are not related. i gave both of them a bass one a t-40and the other and old fury. one is doing real well and want s to play country but wants to learn how to walk the bass, and the other wants to learn anything but he is doing pretty good he is real good with 12 bar blues. is there any free online programs that they can use that would be easy for them. it would also keep them out of trouble thank you again.:help::help:

Playing along to records is a good way to learn once you've started to have a feel for the instrument.

For online instruction, people keep recommending www.studybass.com and other similar sites. I haven't checked it out myself though. If you search on the topic, you'll find more tips on other sites.

Online study of music theory/ear training.
http://www.teoria.com/ Check out the tutorials, exercises and reference(dictionary).
http://www.good-ear.com/
http://www.activebass.com/

Books and instructional materials
http://www.bassbooks.com/shopping/default.asp

Free Jam tracks
http://www.freejamtracks.com/index.html

Free online lessons
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=481548

This is a very helpful program for learning the notes on the bass clef. (as recommended by AlphaMale)
http://www.download.com/NoteCard/3000-2133_4-10004005.html?tag=mncol&cdlPid=1509909
http://www.playthebass.com print flashcards for learning bass clef, print staff paper