Advice for Newbies

[Waffleman]

Hey, I'm a new bass player, and I'm trying to learn all I can, but all this theory and stuff is confusing to me...

Anyway -- all of you somewhat experienced bass players who know anything: what advice could you give someone who's just learning to play?

[Bassopotomus_2]

Hello.

i am also a newbie to bass, and ive been playing about a month.

i havent totally devoted my life to my bass, as i want some free time to myself also.

i NEVER take theroy.

what i have been doing is just gettin tabs for my favourite offspring/papa roach/korn song and just playing along to my CDs, obviously i cant play many just yet but i can play about 4 songs in all.

i learnt a song in about days, and a few days to perfect it.

this path i take seems to be doing great.

to i could advise you to do this


Jay!!

[Brendan]

Take lessons. Learn to read music; it'll open more doors than anything else you can possibly pick up...
Practice...a lot, don't half ass it. Don't get frustradted. And Slapping and popping may sound cool, but they aren't the whole world.

Experience different music. It open horizons that might make you, or lead you to, being a better player.

Lot of other stuff some of the older guys can tell you...Good to have another bassist in the world...

[fat-bottom]

If you get to a point where you can sound good playing tunes you like, stop there and try to get some sort of formal music theory education. It will help you make more sense of what you can already play. Too many guys avoid this and after many years, get fairly good at playing simple music, then hate the "cold shower" of trying to branch out without basic theory.

[wynnguitars]

Spam Removed....mod

[Michael Wiley]

If you're starting from scratch, playing along with some of your favorite CD's is a good way to become familiar with the fingerboard. It also helps with pitch recognition..Keep in mind though, that if you want to improve, you'll need to work beyond merely copying some elses musical voice....depending on how far you want to go, bass lessons would certainly help, as would theory lessons. Learning the language of music is difficult at best, so hang in there.....

[wynnguitars]

Spam Removed.....mod

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by wynnguitars
take some lessons get some direction. theory isnt hard jus got to have it explained in simple terms. I have a correspondence course 10 bucks per lesson

My dear Watson, I do believe that someone is frying SPAM in this general vicinity. Judging from the aroma, it's fairly fresh SPAM, cooked in a light oil with some cracked grammarcorns for seasoning. What is far more sinister, however, is that I also detect the faintest scent of human thumb in the mix, which seems - even while cooking - to have somehow remained pointed in an upward direction. These are dangerous times, my good Doctor....dangerous times indeed.

[gruffpuppy]

Yea but the SPAM isn't as chunky as it usualy is.

[Waffleman]

Dude, what's with the spam and chunky spam and thumb in the spam.... what the fruitcake are you talking about?

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by Waffleman
Dude, what's with the spam and chunky spam and thumb in the spam.... what the fruitcake are you talking about?

Elementary, my dear Wafflehouse...SPAM is an internet acronym for Silly Peabrains Aggressively Marketing themselves and their services in places where solicitation of any kind is either not welcome or strictly prohibited. The Diogenes club and Talkbass are two such places.

In this case, it would appear that the sinister Professor PAYMEFORLESSONSEVENTHOUGHICAN'TSPELLORMAKEACOMPLET ESENTENCE is attempting to sell you a correspondence course in music theory. My best advice, my dear friend, is to decline the Professor's offer, since it appears likely that, if his musical phrasing resembles his prose in even the remotest way, it would not be - to put it kindly - money well spent.

[metallicarules]

Ask anyone here and they will tell you to not worry about musical theory and just look at a lot of tabs
Seriously though, that's the way I started but thanks to the good folks here at TB I have changed my ways. If you want a site with some good lessons try www.libster.com, I'm still working through the lessons myself. For something a bit more fun, I'd recommend listening to your favorite songs and trying to figure them out so you can play along. If its too difficult to figure out I think it would still be productive to look at the tab for the sake of playing along with the song, at least it will help your timing and get you used to playing along with other instruments.

[Newsted]

i have start with the same way and is the best way to start but realy men you need to take some bass lesson i start like this but i was playing before piano 5 years so i have learn to read note and know some scales but even that with the bass lesson i was learning alot tha i didnt know so go and take some lesson(remeber practice slow and with a metronome PRACTICE IT GETS YOU BETTER)

[cassanova]

1st thing i tell people they should learn is propor finger positioning, you want economy of movement, you can practice propor finger position by practicing scales, these imo and many other musicians that i know should be the 1st 2 things you learn. Id also recomend learning how to read standard notation. Buying instructional videos and lesson books are always advantagous as well.

[wynnguitars]

Hey Fitzy you have proved my point bro you can't address anyone without first insulting them.Just shows the mentality your operating on.Leave Waffleman alone and pick on someone your own size.Got the guts boy?!!!!!!!!!!!

[ThePaste]

Hey wyynguitars, stop friggin egging people on. That's why no one likes you.

[XavierG]

Out of curiosity, how many times is a person (after having been warned numerous times) allowed to post "spam" on TB (against posting policy) before joining JWC in the netherworld?

[Chris Fitzgerald]

Originally posted by wynnguitars
Hey Fitzy you have proved my point bro you can't address anyone without first insulting them.Just shows the mentality your operating on.Leave Waffleman alone and pick on someone your own size.Got the guts boy?!!!!!!!!!!!

As a matter of fact, WIPEGOOBERS, I think if you ask around here in the Technique and General Instruction forums you'll find that I generally try to be very helpful to anyone asking a serious question about music theory or technique. Not only that, but when I DO give anyone advice on these subjects, the recipient gets whatever advice I might have to offer for a nominal fee of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. (In case you get flustered by a four-syllable words like "absolutely", I'll translate for you: it means that all theory/ technique advice on the board is FREE, as in NO CHARGE, as in NOT, "email me I'll help you out for only $10 a lesson").

As regards my post to Waffleman, I would imagine that you are the only person on this board who would mistake my response to him as "insulting". FYI, around the turn of the century this English dude named Arthur Conan Doyle started writing some great stories about a famous detective. My response to Waffleman was written in the style of those stories, as if said famous detective was warning a bystander about nefarious goings on in the vicinity. Waffleman PM'd me the same evening to thank me for the heads up, and had the sense of humor to write the PM in the same literary style.

And for the record, WHIPGUMBY, I only "insult" those who show - via their repeated behavior - that they deserve it, and those who are so dense that their attention can not be gotten any other way. "Pick on someone my own size?" Gee, to whom might that be referring?

[AllodoX]

Originally posted by wynnguitars
Spam Removed.....mod

Spam ?? isn't that

1) the greacy meat-like stuff in cans
2) annoying,unwanted advertisement ( AOL ??? )

[jazzbo]

Leave the guy alone! Jeesh!

I understand what he's going through. Here's my correspondence course, ClIcK HeRe PlEaSe.