also I would love to hear what your opinions are and why you may or may not take i have been playing and taking lessons for 4 years and i would not be 1/20 of the bassist i am now so please tell your story

Wrong forum; might want to post in General Instruction.

How much do you practice?

Is it really the wrong fourm sorry i am new at this and i practice about 1 to 3 hours a day

I voted for "I take Lessons", but it was only for music theory, not bass guitar, and it was only for 2 months. They did change music for me though and were invaluable.

you probably should have voted the seconed one but to each his own

I've never taken lessons and I've learned everything by ear or watching people. I never bothered to sit down and practice either :o

That said, I've got a pretty good ear and can play along to anything in a lot of styles and feels, and can do a lot of intermediate songs by ear, relatively close to the record, after the first listen or two.

That also said, I do wish I'd taken lessons, if only so I learned how to read. Learning how to read is the only way you can truely communicate with other musicians.

Never taken lessons and am completely self-taught (meaning I've taught myself to play by watching and hearing vicariously).

That being said, lessons can benefit some people, and some people it just hinders depending on how you learn and how well you tend to learn with or without someone's guidance.

I've never taken lessons for bass, no, but I learned how to read music taking clarinet and other assorted woodwind instrument lessons, and I bought every book on bass I could get my hands on. The rest just came from gigging experience.

I think lessons are the smartest way to go. It's mighty nice being able to teach yourself, but that's not something to be proud about, it's alot easier to teach yourself a really bad technique that's hard to stop because you don't have someone saying "no that's not how you do it, you do it like this..". That being said, it's good to have a combination of learning the techniques from your teacher and also learning alot by yourself.

I always figured this: Not everyone has the same technique nor should they. If it sounds good and it works, go for it. Maybe you'll create a new fad.

For instance, I don't hold my pick "properly" but you know what? I've never had any problem keeping up in my band because of it when we do faster, more complicated picking styles. I've tried to do it the "proper" way and found that it fouled up my playing more than I thought possible.

To each their own. If it sounds good, go with it.

Yeah, lessons are the absolute best if you can find a good teacher. My teacher is like 80 years old and his first instrument was the tuba. There are even pictures on google images of him playing at a Prom in 1950 on the doublebass! I can see he is the real deal.

Wierd thing.. I took classical guitar lessons with the intention of learning a new discipline of guitar, it actually improved my bass technique and made me 10 times the bass player I was. I totally didn't expect that.. probably has to do with hand technique and scale practice, I don't know... I just loved the end result though.

i took 3 lessons, and everything i else i learned by tabs.
cant really learn by ear, im damn near deaf....but oh well

I've had 1 lesson so far and am planning on many more to come. Learning to read the clef is important to me as I think if you're going to get into something then you should be the very best you can and learn every last part about it that you can.

I did buy up all the bass books I could find, but supplimenting that with a teacher that you trust and are comfortable with should equal up to be a winning combination. Just my .02 on the subject so take it for what you will.

Zach

<-------------- Music Degree, lots and lots and lots of lessons.

I am self-taught, initially on keyboard / piano. I say "self-taught" and not just "by ear / watching others play" because although that was invaluable, too, I taught myself theory and reading. I'm convinced that if I had been made to take lessons as a kid instead of discovering for myself, I would never have taken it as far as I did, since this way I was driven by the things I was most curious about, not by someone's lesson plans.

I am approaching bass the same way now, with the benefit of my previous theory / reading learning.

On the other hand, I feel like at some point a limited number of bass lessons might be valuable for me for technique critique - I can record and critique the music I produce, but it's pretty hard to see yourself...mirrors and video notwithstanding.

best lessons you can take is meeting musicians and jamming/writing songs with them IMO. especially people who are better than you

I take lessons. Mostly just to brush up on theory in practice. I have my teachers make up hard musical situations for me to play in where I have to apply theory/alt harmony/change posistion each phrase, etc...

Keeps me on my toes.

I have a teacher. I vary the time I use him though. I work hard at trying to learn the music i'm working on at the time by myself. When I've hit a rut or feel like my music isn't improving I give him a call and schedule a lesson. He's ear is A+ quality. He usually figures out my problem right away and sets me on the right path.

Even with a decent knowledge of music theory from nearly 20 years of playing the guitar, NOTHING helped me progress as a bass player faster than working with a good teacher in a one-on-one situation on a regular basis. As a guitar player, I was essentially self-taught, and would firmly and proudly defend that position. It wasn't until I started taking lessons for bass that I realized how much I was missing in my guitar playing.

The option in the poll you don't have is "I have taken lessons, but am not currently. I expect/hope to again in the future."

Where's the "Mostly self-taught but takes lessons occasionally" choice?

It's always good to learn to read and learn your theory, especially if you're playing jazz.

I've had a few lessons, but by far have learned everything by ear and what other people have shown me, including instruction videos and CD's. I've done very well by it and really wouldn't change anything if I had it all over to do again.:smug:

i won't vote here since theres no fitting option... BUT:

I did take 2 lessons like 5 years ago.. couldnt afford more.. still can't.. lessons are way expensive..

So if you give lessons in Oslo Norway, and don't take alot for em.. gimme a shout..

I think lessons are the best way to start out on bass, or even down the line if you feel like you have reached a plateau and want to advance. I took lessons for about a year before I stopped. I already knew how to read music from band in school and piano lessons when I was a kid. I find that personally if I have a goal to reach for that I try harder and advance faster than if I just go at my own pace. I'd like to take some lessons even now if I could find the right teacher. Just to get different input.

best lessons you can take is meeting musicians and jamming/writing songs with them IMO. especially people who are better than you

+1

As soon as I have the money and the time i am making my way to the Players School in Florida and getting myself enrolled in some serious reading and playing classes!!! :)

Have been playing about 7 yrs. Took basic lessons for a yr and then had trouble finding a good teacher. Did the DVD/book thing quite a bit. Have been taking lessons again for almost a year having finally found a good local teacher through TB. A teacher is the only way to force me out of my comfort zone, which translates into faster progress and becoming more complete.

i played for about a year by myself just learning tabs and stuff. As soon as i started getting lessons i made more progress the first couple of weeks then the entire year playing by myself. My teacher teaches me things outside of bass aswell. Definately worth it imo

You probably needed one more thing to vote for which would of been my choice:

"Took lessons at first, but now only go once or twice a year to have someone critique my performance and to give me quick tips on what to do to improve my playing."

Personally, I think that`s the best thing anyone can do. Even more so than regular lessons.. but hey, I like to learn on my own so it`s not for everyone!

To each their own, I say.
I don't condone any kind of "You SHOULD NOT have a teacher", or "You SHOULD have a teacher".

You know how you learn best. If you can put the time in, and make sure your doing it right on your own, then do it that way. If you work better when someone maps things out for you, and gives you direction, get an instructor.

I never took lessons. But now I give lessons to a few bassists who literally just picked up the instrument. When your starting out its hard to decide. You can have a bum teacher and not even know it. Then you have to unlearn things. Same goes for self-teaching though. If you spend 3 years playing wrong, and no one is there to tell you, it can be way worse.

I like an analogy someone came up with on this forum. Getting lessons is like taking the escalator, while teaching yourself is like taking the stairs. Me personally, I love the "hard" way. I'm the only one who I credit for my playing. I put the time in, I learned everything, I got myself to where I am. No one had to keep me motivated, no one told me which direction to go in. Obviously I learned from the internet, people on this forum, and ask players I know / meet. I take all the information I get, apply it, and if I get stuck, I check it with 5 different sources.


Theres nothing more rewarding to me when I get stuck, tear open all my notes I've taken over the years, and figure it out on my own. This stuff isn't brain surgery. It's just alot of information to understand and memorize. Technique is a never ending lesson as is music theory. Then theres different techniques and theory opposite of what you allready learned. Its just never ending.

I don't charge for lessons, and I don't give faulty information. If I'm not dead positive about something I'm teaching, I dont teach it ya know? A few weeks ago, a person on this forum said that I was done with music theory, and that I should learn a new instrument......Its more like your NEVER done with music theory.

Take what you want to learn, find a teacher proficient in it, and get to work. Or, learn it yourself, be cautious in what you do ( a mistake could mean the end of your bass career if you mess your wrists / hands up with bad technique) Use tabs for now to learn some cool songs, but make sure you learn your standard notation (it's easier than you think). Play with a metronome, even if it's just practicing your scales. Learn...err your scales, modes, everything. Be a bass sponge! And most of all......HAVE FUN!

All this stuff gets boring, tedious, and aggravating when you begin. Once you get some of it down, your on your way to being a musician. :hyper:

Do what keeps you into playing the bass. What works for BassDood A wont work for BassDood B


-Troy

I'm glad I never took lessons on bass. I took lessons on guitar and piano, which helped for learning other people's music. On bass I feel like I found my own style. I don't think that would have happened if I had a teacher. First reason for that is when I started, people said 'you're playing with wrong technique'. Now I play with the same technique and people say 'wow you've got an unusual style', which apparently is the same as Paul Westwood's who wrote the bass bible.

I can play in lots of styles now, and can play other people's music, read notation and tab, follow charts, improvise etc, I know tonnes of theory - I studied general music theory and piano before picking up bass, so I suppose I already had a grounding, which is probably essential. But I think if I had got a bass teacher rather than going it alone to begin with I wouldn't have developed my own voice on the instrument.

Having said that, most players won't ever want to do anything particularly new, and are happy to learn other people's music, so for the majority, having a teacher is probably far far better.

I think lots of people could learn quicker and better from learning percussion and applying this to bass. The bass is after all a rhythm instrument.

i could never afford lessons, but im glad i never took them. i feel like lessons for a short time to get simple techniques and general practices down, maybe even music theory is a great thing. learn the basics, learn how to tune, play, learn and write by ear.. and then move on. put these things to use, develop your own style, and explore your capabilities as a musician.

one of my friends in high school took lessons for years. well into being a spectacular lead guitarist (albeit a total guitard), he was still taking weekly lessons. basically going in and learning a song that focused on something.. a technique or a scale. i had no idea why he bothered to keep taking lessons.. he was more than capable of figuring it out on his own.

...but he NEVER learned how to figure things out on his own. he couldnt write music.. he could tune and learn songs by ear, but he didnt seem to have a style of his own. he didnt write his own music to impart style into, and he basically became a knock off of david gilmour and tony iommi, with a little bit of his teacher's satriani fanboy-ism mixed in. not bad influences.. but they werent influences.. they were a script.

as far as i know, he doesnt play anymore. i at some point feared that a teacher would put too many of his own opinions/style in my head that i would become an extension of him, and not my own player.

Sorry it became a longer post than I planned but anyway -

I switched from guitar to bass in 2001 (age 23), when I took over the bass in the band I was playing in. No lessons, just some fooling around on the bass on our gigs and I was doing OK I thought, except that my fingers always became tired too easily. I thought I would get over that problem naturally simply by playing. I never practiced technique, and didn't even think of taking lessons.

In 2003 we disbanded, and I suddenly got time to practice a bit more. I also moved around quite a bit and didn't get a new band to play regularly in until 2004/2005. I had gotten quite much better in this period, and I thought I was doing pretty well. Fatigue was still a big problem though. So...

In 2005, I finally decided to take some bass lessons, and WOW! I only took four or five lessons, but they definitely made me improve drastically. My teacher taught me mostly how to improve my technique by giving me certain finger exercises to play for some time every day. He also gave me some basslines to practice, by Jamerson for example, that gave me plenty of new musical and rhythmical ideas that I'd never thought of before.

I never got a faster or smoother technique by simply playing the bass. What helped me the most in this perspective was the finger exercises that my teacher showed me. I have since then posted the same exercises in the exercise thread here in the Technique forum.

Before the lessons, I was stuck playing the same kind of basslines and riffs all the time, taking only microsteps forward. I stopped taking lessons since the empty spaces in my teacher's and my own calendar didn't match too well. That was 3 years ago, and for some reason I haven't started again. It's probably due to my work, personal economy and other interests. Writing this post makes me want to take some lessons again...

My view is that lessons are really helpful, but everyone needs however to remember that you don't learn to play at the lessons. You learn to play between them. You collect ideas and knowledge at the lessons, that you work into your playing by practicing. I give guitar and bass lessons nowadays too, and it's easy to see who practices at home and who doesn't. The ones that never practice don't get any better...

EDIT: No option in the poll seems to fit me, so no vote from me.