Trying to learn bass

boltsaq · #1 05-12-2007, 01:33 PM

My dad has a lot of his own music. Has a country sound to it and i would like to come up with some bass lines for some of his music but I am not sure where to start. Just got a bass and am trying to learn the basics. I am relay new and have no formal musical education. Can any one help me give me some Ideas of where to start maybe a web site that teaches the basic concepts of bass lines.

Nairb · #2 05-12-2007, 05:59 PM

Try going to a local music store and getting lessons. A person in real life can help you alot more then a website (granted the person know what they are doing)

Try learning very simple baselines first, then progress into more complex ones. In order to be better at bass, you actually need to play it, some people forget this!

Deacon_Blues · #3 05-12-2007, 06:39 PM

Learn technique, scales, arpeggios, the most common chord progressions and general music theory. I agree with getting a teacher, I had one after having played three-four years, and that really boosted my playing, although I only had 4-5 lessons with focus on technique. If you can take theory classes somewhere too, do so.

Learn to play some guitar too. Especially chord progressions and harmony theory is easier to learn and understand on guitar than on bass.

Listen to the bass lines of songs you like and try to learn them yourself. Play along to records. Don't focus on copying the lines completely, you seldom need to do that in practice anyway. Focus on capturing the feel of the song and play something that fits over the chord progression.

Always practice with a metronome. See it as your friend, not your enemy. Drum machines work fine, too.

Good luck!

Devils Epic · #4 05-16-2007, 12:29 AM

another thing you can do is just find a song you really like, learn it nice and slow, and etc. haha. personally, i just come up with stuff on the spot. i agree with Deacon when he says learn scales and stuff, cuz that stuff comes in handy when trying to make stuff up.

uturnbass · #5 05-16-2007, 12:33 AM

Also learning how a certain style of music is played can help.
Like country basslines use a lot of root/fifth combinations, and walking down or up to the root of the next chord

Pilgrim · #6 05-16-2007, 11:44 AM

Listen to the music - and listen on the first and third beat. Much of country music depends heavily on bass at those beats.

tommytomthms5 · #7 05-16-2007, 06:59 PM

hi i got my bass about a week back myself i have a music teacher at my school teaching classes plus another teacher in the school who works with me mono-e-mono and the one teacher (rutger) moves to fast for me to understand and the other (gavin) doesn't understand that my technique is different from his

but i found that i lean really quick by reading tabs

so i say its all about finding your learning style

btw... this is my 1st post here so a big hello to everyone on my behalf....

Johnny Crab · #8 06-01-2007, 05:54 PM

Howdy from south Texas!
We cover some country(hey, look where we live) tunes in a humorous way sometimes. There are a number of FUN-TO-LEARN country bassists. Yes there are the "simple" ones and you should learn that as well. Sometimes what you DON'T play says more about you than overplaying ever could.

A few favorite fun-country bassists(IMO) are found on Brooks & Dunn, Dwight Yoakum, Travis Tritt, Robert Earl Keen. You'll find all types of bass in their music(slow, fast, simple, complex, etc.). Not even the tip of the iceberg....but have FUN!