Advice for Novice Bass Teacher

[LilyinBloom]

Hello,

I've been playing for around 7 years off and on and I want to get into teaching beginners and intermediates. I'm going to take a couple months before offering lessons to try and develop my lessons and tab out as many songs in different genres as possible. I would love to hear from other teachers on what sites you research info on, how to make well rounded players, and any personal adivce you might have.

[LARUMBLE]

teach them to play in all keys
teach them to practice slowly
teach them modes in all keys
teach them triads,intervals
warm up's like the x drill,spider,bouncing 5th's,octaves,supportive finguring and any other drill i'm missing

[Billnc]

No tabs please!

[MalcolmAmos]

I've never taught music, however I spent my working life teaching. An observation, a kid is like a goose, both wake up in a new World every day. So give them their homework assignment in writing. Plus put it in their instrument case yourself, do not expect then to get home with it. Yes, have a generic lesson plan and then work from that. Printed material on file you can hand out. A good music store will have a "teachers section" Alfred's # 1, etc. see what you can find there.

Baby steps, small successes, things they can show to Mom and Dad so Mom and Dad don't mind sending you money.

{EDIT} A thought unloosened - pick a "how to play book" you think will work for this student and have him purchase a copy. Then the two of you work your way through that book.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by LilyinBloom

I'm going to take a couple months before offering lessons to try and develop my lessons...

Great idea.

Originally Posted by LilyinBloom

...tab out as many songs in different genres as possible.

Please don't do this.

May I suggest the Hal Leonard Bass Method (3 books or an all-in-one spiral bound) as a starting point. This is a great method book, edited by Ed Friedland. It is _IMO - one of if not the best book series for beginners.

[LilyinBloom]

Thanks for all the tips!

Steve, I plan on teaching lessons with half theory and half learning songs. I know there are some purest on here but every musician I've ever played with didn't know that much theory and it mattered a lot more how many songs I knew. I want my students to be comfortable in a band situation.

[BigOldHarry]

On thing I had to learn when I taught is that some students just WILL NOT PRACTICE. You can dog them, you can hassle them - they won't do it. They think that showing up for that 1/2 hour a week should be enough to make them a great player. You have to get past that and take their money. I also found that some kids wanted to use me as a low-rent therapist - - no kidding. Kids with family issues often have no adults to talk to that they trust - but you, as a musician, they can trust you. I was never wild about that, and always tried to turn the topic back to music, but I had more than one kid come in and just spill his guts to me, never once picking up his axe. I tried to be a good listener and let them unload...

As far as music - find a GOOD book to use and then see to it that the store you work out of carries that book. Teach from the book, have set lessons, have a PLAN. And TAB? Dude - - full on FAILGASM. Teach notes like a musican - - teach modes, scales, exercises and theory - - They will want to just have them teach you the latest bad metal tune they've heard - which ultimately teaches them nothing. I used to make a deal with my students - I'll teach you one of your tunes (back then it was GNR/Metallica/Anthrax, etc) and then they have to learn one of MY songs - - which always was something like funk or jazz. I turned more metal-heads into funksters than I can count (yes, my bass-karma is *good*!)

And when you play at a store, no matter how goofy the store is, represent them well. They are giving you a slot to teach, and are likely giving you bro deals on strings/cords & whatnot - so be nice, even if the owner is a jackass (which was my experience).

So, to summarize:

Find a good book to use and then USE it
Be patient with folks who won't practice (particularly older students who can't find the time)
Be patient with kids who want to talk
Resist teaching flavor-of-the-month music to kids rather than working the lessons
Teach theory & notation rather than tabs and licks
Be a good member of the store staff
And *be professional*. You never know where these kinda gigs will land you. I made more musical contacts teaching than had before or since.

[Billnc]

+1^^^^^

All of the above, you've made great points. Regarding 'therapy' I had a teenage student that left home, had a complete mental breakdown, they found him a few hundred miles away. I was the only person he would talk to, period. I almost quit teaching.

The only thing I would add is dress like a teacher, not a homeless guy or rock star. You don't have to be dressed to the nines, even jeans can work. This applies whether you teach at home, studio, store or school, or students home.

Regarding a student who does not practice, we go through an entire practice routine, 'supervised practice' for the lesson. Most times this is really brutal, if we get anywhere I try to reward the last bit with a bit of a jam, no matter how bad.

Some lessons will be such a blast you'll leave the studio jacked up, when the Heavy Metal kid can walk a line through Autumn Leaves etc.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by LilyinBloom

Thanks for all the tips!

Steve, I plan on teaching lessons with half theory and half learning songs. I know there are some purest on here but every musician I've ever played with didn't know that much theory and it mattered a lot more how many songs I knew. I want my students to be comfortable in a band situation.

that won't make them comfortable in a band situation unless the band plays those songs. teaching is all about giving your students the knowledge they need to survive in a band situation, which is being able to figure out what to play on their own. and honestly, if a teacher ever pulled out tabs on me, that would be the last lesson i ever took from them.

[recreate.me]

All great advice, i am not a bass teacher but have been trying to learn bass for about a year so i guess i would be your student lol
So far i should strong second on the "learn my song, and then one of the teachers songs". I say this now because i started out just learning tabs of my favorite songs, then realized that there are SO MANY amazing bass lines from songs i have never heard in genres i have always stayed away from (IE- Motown) Now i'm actively going through genres that never interested me before, and loving it.

Sometimes you gotta force them to do something they may not want to do, but you know is best.

Also, its really important that you put out the impression that you want to be teaching that kid. If you seem like you don't want to be there, or your head is somewhere else, your student will pick up on that and they wont want to be there either. Your a role model as well as teacher and kids look up to you.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

that won't make them comfortable in a band situation unless the band plays those songs. teaching is all about giving your students the knowledge they need to survive in a band situation, which is being able to figure out what to play on their own. and honestly, if a teacher ever pulled out tabs on me, that would be the last lesson i ever took from them.

Thanks Jimmy, you beat me to it.

[narud]

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

On thing I had to learn when I taught is that some students just WILL NOT PRACTICE. You can dog them, you can hassle them - they won't do it. They think that showing up for that 1/2 hour a week should be enough to make them a great player. You have to get past that and take their money. I also found that some kids wanted to use me as a low-rent therapist - - no kidding. Kids with family issues often have no adults to talk to that they trust - but you, as a musician, they can trust you. I was never wild about that, and always tried to turn the topic back to music, but I had more than one kid come in and just spill his guts to me, never once picking up his axe. I tried to be a good listener and let them unload...

As far as music - find a GOOD book to use and then see to it that the store you work out of carries that book. Teach from the book, have set lessons, have a PLAN. And TAB? Dude - - full on FAILGASM. Teach notes like a musican - - teach modes, scales, exercises and theory - - They will want to just have them teach you the latest bad metal tune they've heard - which ultimately teaches them nothing. I used to make a deal with my students - I'll teach you one of your tunes (back then it was GNR/Metallica/Anthrax, etc) and then they have to learn one of MY songs - - which always was something like funk or jazz. I turned more metal-heads into funksters than I can count (yes, my bass-karma is *good*!)

And when you play at a store, no matter how goofy the store is, represent them well. They are giving you a slot to teach, and are likely giving you bro deals on strings/cords & whatnot - so be nice, even if the owner is a jackass (which was my experience).

So, to summarize:

Find a good book to use and then USE it
Be patient with folks who won't practice (particularly older students who can't find the time)
Be patient with kids who want to talk
Resist teaching flavor-of-the-month music to kids rather than working the lessons
Teach theory & notation rather than tabs and licks
Be a good member of the store staff
And *be professional*. You never know where these kinda gigs will land you. I made more musical contacts teaching than had before or since.

ime working at a music store, with the majority of the students, if you dont give them some tabbed out flavor of the month stuff they'll quit. especially if theyre coming in during teenage years. and if youre working at a music store, you probably cant afford them to quit

i make sure to split the lessons in half to work on reading and learning music and then the other half is fluff. its nice when they start young because you can make them do whatever you want. one of my 11 year old guitar students is reading through master of puppets in standard notation. if i tried that with a new high school aged student, they'd just switch teachers

[JimmyM]

i'm not against fluff, but there's a good way to teach fluff and a bad way to teach it. you can make the kids think they're having fun and still give them what they need. if you have a student reading master of puppets at age 11, i think you figured out the good way to teach it.

[LilyinBloom]

Originally Posted by narud

ime working at a music store, with the majority of the students, if you dont give them some tabbed out flavor of the month stuff they'll quit. especially if theyre coming in during teenage years. and if youre working at a music store, you probably cant afford them to quit

i make sure to split the lessons in half to work on reading and learning music and then the other half is fluff. its nice when they start young because you can make them do whatever you want. one of my 11 year old guitar students is reading through master of puppets in standard notation. if i tried that with a new high school aged student, they'd just switch teachers

Narud, that's exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to do both. You really seem to know what you are doing. Would you mind if I pm you with questions from time to time?

[narud]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i'm not against fluff, but there's a good way to teach fluff and a bad way to teach it. you can make the kids think they're having fun and still give them what they need. if you have a student reading master of puppets at age 11, i think you figured out the good way to teach it.

not all of them are on the same road though. the majority of them, taking guitar (the majority of my students are on guitar) is like the kung fu or tennis lessons their parents are making them take. to others that want to learn licks, maybe 20% are patient enough to go back and learn things right. the rest.....pfft, they aint havin' it. id love to be selective but i got bills to pay.

this last week i had a trial student. they didnt want to commit to paying the full month so they decided to take one and see if they liked it. it was a 13 year old girl. she came in knowing some basic chords and what not. i split the lesson into working on some song stuff and the other half reading. she decided not to continue lessons

[narud]

Originally Posted by LilyinBloom

Narud, that's exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to do both. You really seem to know what you are doing. Would you mind if I pm you with questions from time to time?

really just make sure you know your **** before you start. do you really understand the concepts your teaching, even if its the beginning stuff. someone recommended ed friedland's bass book 3 pack. i couldnt recommend anything any better. i use that myself with my bass students.

[BigOldHarry]

Originally Posted by narud

not all of them are on the same road though. the majority of them, taking guitar (the majority of my students are on guitar) is like the kung fu or tennis lessons their parents are making them take. to others that want to learn licks, maybe 20% are patient enough to go back and learn things right. the rest.....pfft, they aint havin' it. id love to be selective but i got bills to pay.

this last week i had a trial student. they didnt want to commit to paying the full month so they decided to take one and see if they liked it. it was a 13 year old girl. she came in knowing some basic chords and what not. i split the lesson into working on some song stuff and the other half reading. she decided not to continue lessons

Well, I would have been happy to *not* have that student, myself. Of course, I wasn't paying the rent with my lesson money - I did it to keep my foot in the door at the store, to meet other cats and have some folding cash. If you're trying to do this as a full-time job to pay the bills, I'm sure your approach has to be a bit more "Sales driven". I was in it for other reasons - but I never lacked for students. I had students referred by other students all the time.

[narud]

Originally Posted by BigOldHarry

Well, I would have been happy to *not* have that student, myself. Of course, I wasn't paying the rent with my lesson money - I did it to keep my foot in the door at the store, to meet other cats and have some folding cash. If you're trying to do this as a full-time job to pay the bills, I'm sure your approach has to be a bit more "Sales driven". I was in it for other reasons - but I never lacked for students. I had students referred by other students all the time.

thats the thing. im at the store 6 days a week teaching. ya gotta be open