Hi--New to Bass and The Forum!!

[Bluepoet]

Hello, all,

New to the forum, and very much new to basses, although I've played guitar for quite a few years...

My first stringed instrument was a bass that my Dad got for me, at the age of 14. It was hand made, from the island of Cebu, in the Phillippines, where there's a lot of luthiers, even to this day. However, back then (1965), they didn't really have a clue what a bass was, and nor did my Dad or I. What we ended up with was a very cleverly made electric strat-type guitar body, with bass strings and tuners, but totally wrong neck length and pickups. It had beautiful Mother-of-Pearl inlay, with my name on it, but it would not stay in tune for more than a song or two. Not knowing anything about it, I naturally thought there was something wrong with me, and so I put the thing down. A few years later, it was stolen from my college dorm room, and I chuckle to this day, thinking of some poor soul trying to play it...

Anyway, a few years back, I got it in my head to finally get a real bass, and I got an Ibanez Artcore Hollowbody. It has a nice tobacco burst top, and a huge "soapdish" pickup. Sounds pretty good, but I'm still kinda clueless and don't play it much. I'm thinking I need a few lessons to get me started. My guitar playing is mostly chord-strumming, to accompany my singing, so I never learned leads.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I could do to get to playing? It's kind of a limited thing, sound-wise, without other instruments...maybe play along to songs?

[hrodbert696]

Hi Bluepoet, I'll be the first to welcome you! Glad you found TB, lots here to instruct, inspire, and also generally waste your time too.

When I started playing, about 3 or 4 years ago, I was just playing along to songs on a CD. After about 3 months I had a vague idea what I was doing and joined up with some guys to jam, and it's all gone from there. I would suggest to try working out simple songs you like by ear, and meanwhile learn some scales and common chord progressions, and go from there. But if you look around the sections on "technique" and "general instruction" there will be lots more ideas.

Welcome again!

[Bluepoet]

Thanks, hrodbert! There seems to be a lot of sub forums, so I'll be checking them out. I do have a looper, too, so I'll be trying that...