In the absence of bass lessons....

[ebonalley]

So I recently moved to rural farm country and there are no bass guitar lessons. In the absence of a bass instructor what will be more helpful to my bass playing growth a) guitar lessors or b) piano lessons? I figure guitar lessons will help me with the chords but I already have access to a keyboard and piano seems to be great foundation instrument. Your thoughts?

[Mushroo]

Piano for sure, it is such an important instrument for learning music theory and harmony.

I'm currently working through the Bach Cello Suites on piano and it's been great for my bass-clef reading.

[Lo-E]

Consider bass teachers who offer lessons electronically. There are quite a few now who will do video lessons online.

In leu of that, I'd suggest piano.

[Randyt]

Without Question:....Piano...

[MalcolmAmos]

Good question. For the long haul, piano with out a doubt. However, for the short haul rhythm guitar has a lot going for it as well.

I found my experience playing rhythm guitar, from fake chord and lead sheet music, folded into playing the bass, i.e. the learning curve from rhythm guitar to electric bass was not all that difficult.

I also found my experience playing the keyboard and the theory involved with that was a great help when I started bass.

So.... Rhythm guitar for immediate help. Piano for the long haul.

[scottfeldstein]

The videos at http://scottsbasslessons.com

[fdeck]

In a small town you're more likely to find a piano teacher who can address fundamentals such as reading and theory, which would definitely benefit your bass playing.

[ebonalley]

All, thanks for your help. Merry Christmas.

[MarkMgibson]

Another vote for piano. I actually took music theory lessons with a piano teacher, and it was the best thing I ever did. If you do go this option, point out to the teacher that you're more interested in learning music theory than piano technique (assuming that's true). Keyboards are so much more intuitive than other instruments when it comes to learning theory.

[throughthefire]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

The videos at http://scottsbasslessons.com

+1

If you want lessons from a live person, go for piano; everything you learn there can be moved onto guitar/bass quite easily, and it makes the music theory side of things fall into place.

[ebonalley]

Originally Posted by scottfeldstein

The videos at http://scottsbasslessons.com

That's a nice website. I'm just about done with studybass.com and this looks like a nice follow on. Thanks.

[Woodstockz]

Originally Posted by ebonalley

So I recently moved to rural farm country and there are no bass guitar lessons. In the absence of a bass instructor what will be more helpful to my bass playing growth a) guitar lessors or b) piano lessons? I figure guitar lessons will help me with the chords but I already have access to a keyboard and piano seems to be great foundation instrument. Your thoughts?

A couple of things:
1. Piano. I messed around with tabs for a while, until I started looking at the bass as a piano. Then things really clicked for me. [James Jamerson also played the piano when he first got started.]

2. If you can't find a formal teacher, find an experienced local bass player as a mentor that can help you with some technical issues to get started on the right foot.

3. Find some friends to jam with.

4. Have fun. Bass is the most fun instrument.