$40 wasted on a lesson

[martyman5000]

My two daughters take piano lessons and seem to do very well. Last night I took a lesson from the piano teachers friend who is a bassist. #1 thing I really hate is when someone takes my bass and starts noodling during my $40 lesson. The teacher kept saying I was good and was not sure what he should teach me. He showed me that he uses the Nashville number system (he didn't know that is what it is called) another tab like system I'm not interested in learning. I would like to get into a band and find that most of the skill I really need is being able to either learn what the previous bassist did on a recording or know theory well enough to communicate with a guitarist. I'm going to try out for a band tomorrow and feel I lack the skills I need to be confident.

[skeptikal]

in all honesty i'm having a problem trying to find someone to teach me what I want to learn. they either want to teach you a cover or theory and i'm not paying $40 to learn 3 foo fighters songs on bass (BORING!!).

the more confident you are, the more likely you are to play your ass off! root notes are your friend, and can lead to other notes. Just get the basic chord changes and know what notes they are. I've found that bands are more interested in you getting the idea of the music and understanding the chord structure than being a bass god right away.

[mophead]

Originally Posted by martyman5000

My two daughters take piano lessons and seem to do very well. Last night I took a lesson from the piano teachers friend who is a bassist. #1 thing I really hate is when someone takes my bass and starts noodling during my $40 lesson. The teacher kept saying I was good and was not sure what he should teach me. He showed me that he uses the Nashville number system (he didn't know that is what it is called) another tab like system I'm not interested in learning. I would like to get into a band and find that most of the skill I really need is being able to either learn what the previous bassist did on a recording or know theory well enough to communicate with a guitarist. I'm going to try out for a band tomorrow and feel I lack the skills I need to be confident.

You are assuming the guitarist is a capable musician and posses skills you do not. That is not always the case. Keep to the root note and build from there. Whoever you sit down with initially for an audition the results should be somewhat rusty in that you haven't played with them before. Communication skills probably trump raw talent at this point. After your audition you may decide I don't want anywhere near this bunch, or maybe it has the potential to be a good fit for all. That's why some athletic teams are good and most are so so. Same with a band.

[martyman5000]

the more confident you are, the more likely you are to play your ass off! root notes are your friend, and can lead to other notes. Just get the basic chord changes and know what notes they are. I've found that bands are more interested in you getting the idea of the music and understanding the chord structure than being a bass god right away.

Yes, I totally agree with what you said. I still find it more enjoyable to just make songs or just jam along with songs instead of trying to transcribe stuff note for note. As I'm getting older I'm starting to see that being a bassist is far more difficult than a guitarist or drummer.

You are assuming the guitarist is a capable musician and posses skills you do not. That is not always the case.

Oh, absolutely. It really is either guitarists are blindingly brilliant or a bag of nails. I'm at the point that its 20 minutes into a practice and I'm sure if it will work or not. I totally understand when skill levels are just too far apart and when they are not and you are somewhat compatible and the guitarist ends up just being hard to deal with it becomes somewhat frustrating because you know it could work if you just work on music and not bitch and complain.

[Jim Nazium]

It sucks to have wasted $40 (and an hour of your life), but at least you've found out something about what you want (and don't want) in a teacher. Good ones are hard to find, and just because someone can play doesn't necessarily mean they can teach. I'd encourage you to keep looking for a GOOD teacher. Spend some time talking with them before you pay for a lesson - tell them what you want to learn, and ask about their approach.

[Bruce Lindfield]

I think that choosing who you want to be your teacher is the most important part of the process!

I tend to feel that I want to have seen the person play and that I like what they do - so the Jazz teachers I have had, have all been people I have seen play at gigs and whose playing I really liked!

[Mr. Mig]

You sound like your having the same prorblem I had years ago. I am lucky to have recently found a teacher who is a bass teacher that has an MA and has been teaching for 25 years. And, in just a month I already have learned to strike the strings in a proper fashion and get a much tone from them, I have learned proper posture, I have gotten more sturdy rhythm skills, learned apeggios, and can already read music in a veeeeeeeeeeery basic way. This week we had just started Voice Leading. And the great thing is is that each week we are building on what i have learned previously. Plus he is always avaliable for question. So if I email him I get a response in like 20 mins. Very lucky to have found him.
And you can have a great teacher as well. Just keep looking.
I have here a link to a page where a bass teacher gives his advise on what to look for and what to avoid. Hope it helps.

http://www.houstonbasslessons.com/fi...s_teacher.html

[kingbee]

One good way to search for teachers is to call the music faculty at your local colleges. Many music professors are willing to give private lessons in their spare time. Being a good bass player is one thing, but being a good teacher requires an entirely separate set of skills. You want someone who has a real plan for teaching you what you want to know, not just a player who knows their way around their instrument.

[BillyRay]

I would like to get into a band and find that most of the skill I really need is being able to either learn what the previous bassist did on a recording or know theory well enough to communicate with a guitarist. I'm going to try out for a band tomorrow and feel I lack the skills I need to be confident.

I'd wager that this is how most bassists, or musicians for that mather, feel when they want to get into a band and they don't have in formal training. Well guess, what ? I've never seen a rock band turn down a bassist because he didn't know by heart all the inversions of the Amaj/min 7th #13 chord. Getting a basic grip of theory is not difficult and most certainly not absolutely require a teacher to do so:
a) Get your butt reading music
b) Buy Jazzology or any number of reading books
c) Read up

Same thing for ear training. This is probably the thing that made High School band the most boring but that insured that I was able to transcribe simple songs right off the bat when I started bass. There are a good number of free ear training program available on the net that give you chords, intervals, progressions and triads to identify. Or you can go the old school way and get a CD and transcribe every song front to back.

Do that a few minutes a day (20 minutes reading/theory practice) and 20 minutes ear training, and you'll see results very, very fast.

Also, remember that any band you audition for has a desire for you "to be the one". This means that if you have a hard time picking up something by ear, giving them a call and asking what key or chord progression is used in a certain song is not a sin. Way better to go this way than to arrive empty handed to the audition.