question about bass Lessons (study)

[Tajue17]

well being 40 and out of the age range of most bands who need a bass player here I'm starting to wonder about lessons, or some sort of study..

but heres my question to those of you who read this and have maybe been on both sides of the fence.

If I'm a self taught bass player (in technique only) since about 1986, I cannot read music because I never needed to my back ground as been about 24 punk to alternative rock bands so should I just continue on how I have been going or should I attempt some real study on the bass (I'd love to try upright bass some day but I need the bass to get the lessons) or even learn about playing fretless correctly (hitting all the notes dead on )

not looking to make a living in music but down time has me bored and I honestly don't want to play in cover bands because I did that in 2 bands but just didn't feel right on stage playing someone elses songs 1 after another for 2hrs..

opinions needed

[MalcolmAmos]

We normally play one of four ways.
1) We gather our bass lines from fake chord or lead sheet music, i.e. we are told the chord and we go from there.
2) We play a bass line dictated by the bass cleft, i.e. read standard notation.
3) We combine the above and customize our bass lines.
4) Then there are the chosen few that can just play by ear - good luck with that.

Now all that said. Reading will never hurt you and it will occupy your time for several months. This may be the way to go. It will be an asset if you do go the stand up route. In fact the deeper you go into music the more you will need to be able to read standard notation.

Another thought - to occupy your time - take up keyboard, now that will open many doors. One of them is chord piano - playing accompaniment. Unless you just want to no need to spend years learning classical piano. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YTEi...eature=channel

Basic block chords for accompaniment. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-WkwWfi-8

Of course IMHO.

[EricF]

Espeically if you have the time to dedicate to working at it, NOTHING will accelerate your learning curve faster than working one-on-one with a good teacher.

[MonkeyBass]

Get a good teacher. Call around, ask who's the best in town. LEARN TO READ!! It will open up a whole new wonderful world in music that you never knew was there before.

I had students that would go into learning to read with the attitude "I'll never need this, this is a waste of my time" and after some gentle prodding from me to get them to learn it, they always, without exception, thanked me for it.

Get a teacher, learn to read.

[dalkowski]

Originally Posted by EricF

Espeically if you have the time to dedicate to working at it, NOTHING will accelerate your learning curve faster than working one-on-one with a good teacher.

This. Your story sounds the same as mine, right down to our ages. Several years ago, I decided that I wanted to hunker down and really LEARN the instrument, with the goal of becoming a capable jazz player. I shared this with a teacher I met (an old-school ex-Berklee guy) and we turned out to be a perfect fit.

Our lessons are theory, theory, theory, interlaced with practical application of theory in Real Book songs (Just Friends, All the Things You Are, etc.). Every lesson blows my mind.

I think the first key is to have GOALS. Know where you want to take the instrument, then find the teacher who'll help you get there.

Hour-long lessons are exponentially better than half-hours.

THen there's the whole practice thing...

Good luck!

I'm in my mid 40s and have been taking lesson for a year and a half from a bass pro. Like you, I have played for a long time (on and off since the early 80s) and did not know if lessons was the way to go. It has made a colossal difference in my technique, timing, etc. Education is never a waste... the more you learn, the more you realize how little you really know...

[JimmyM]

+1 for everyone. you could probably go on as you have and be ok, but there's nothing like what a little formal education in music can do for you.

[chrisbass0013]

take lessons my uncle took lessons on drums back in the day played in many different bands a couple months ago he took lessons jazz drumming

[BluesWalker]

Go for the lessons. It can only help you in the long run.