first 5 things I should learn or a bass tutor in the NW of the UK

[servetakid]

ive been playing for 6 months self tought, i feel ive hit a wall.

wot should i learn in some kind of order, to help me improvise, learn songs by ear and write my own stuff?

or is there a bass tutor in the North West of the UK, in cumbria?

[cnltb]

I'd say-make sure you know the neck.
learn songs learn the circle of fifths/fours and start identifying harmonic "cliches".
You might notice that the circle is "everywhere".
Then I would learn the rhythm-changes as that too is rather widespread.
Learning the modes ( the scales based on the ionian( commonly known as "the major scale")will also help alongside the triads and chords that go with each of them.
Do transcriptions as well, bass parts AND those played by other instruments, so you get to grips with arrangement and possibly a better/deeper understanding of your role in the overall musical context.
Always be aware where you are on the neck-(where is every note in every position.)
Also listen to many different musics to "widen your horizon".
Try to find people to play music with as practicing can get a little theoretical at times and to apply what you have learnt and are studying to a real life situation will be a good thing I recon.
Whatever you do...do it thoroughly :-)

In short I'd do
The modes in all 12 keys
circle of fifths
rhythm changes

Always doing triads chords and all inversions
Parallel I would learn songs and try to identify what is going on harmonically to realize harmonic cliches
transcribe
Always be aware of what is where on the neck.

and so on...

[jgroh]

I agree with cnltb...I was playing for about two years WITH an instructor when I started to hit the wall. I think in my case we were doing too much theory and it was becoming like math class. After I quit the instruction and found people to play with, my playing took off. So, IMHO, learn the neck and where each note is on the neck, then find people to play with (the other stuff is good too, but again IMHO, those will get you going in the right direction)

[azureblue]

Short Term:

Get a metronome or drum machine and play along with it. Learn to find the groove and keep time. Learn to play exactly with the kick drum or the click- no rushing or dragging and keep it steady. No matter of it is punk or jazz, you will always need this.

Learn to listen. Develop your ears- hear a bass part, sing it to your self, THEN find it on the bass. Keep doing this, and eventually, you will develop a great sense of pitch recognition, maybe be able to know what key the tune is in when you hear it, and be able to play a part in your head before picking up a bass. This is one of the first steps to creating bass parts.

Listen to what everybody else is doing in the song. Learn the drum part, guitar parts, vocals, etc. Bass does not happen in a vacuum. Learn how your part affects the other parts.

Learn the diatonic chords in all keys, major and minor. Learn them by name and by number. This will help you find what chords should go in the tune, and give you a way to communicate with other musicians who may or may not know how to read music.

Learn how to play a major and minor scale in all keys. On a bass, this is a piece of cake, becasue you just need to know two fingering patterns.

As the previous poster said, learn the notes on the neck. But more important, and to provide a connection between scales and the music you play, learn a tune, and play a scale to it until you learn ON YOUR OWN what scale fits in and how it sounds to you.

if you can, record your practice, and listen to what you are playing. It will sound bad to you at first, but it will show you what you need to work on. Be critical of your playing, but don't get discouraged. I have been playing music for over 40 years- I record my bass parts as I practice, and I still find room to improve.

In sum: develop your ears, build your chops, solidify your groove, learn the neck, and learn basic theory.

[JTE]

Don't learn modes unitl you know what chords are and how to make them.

Learn how to hold the bass and to use both hands without hurting yourself, and with an efficient technique.

Learn what a diatonic major scale is. W W H W W W H. Be able to figure out the notes in any key (with correct enharmonics!) for any key. Know what that scale SOUNDS like (i.e. be able to hear the next note in your head before you play it).

Learn the basic chord formulae- Major chord, minor chord, dominant 7, minor 7, major 7, diminished, and augmented.

Be able to play any of the seven four note chords listed above in two octaves, again hearing the next note in your head before you play it

Be able to identify basic chord changes in songs. Know what a basic 12-bar blues is, a I vi IV V changes (e.g. "Stand By Me", "Every Breath You Take", etc.), and hear ii V I.

At the same time you're doing these things IN ORDER, you should also be copping bass lines off recordings. Listen for the stuff you're learning in the theory side. For example, if you're into old stuff like Cream, notice the Amin7 arpeggio that is the intro and the opening lick to "Badge".

Get used to playing with a metronome clicking only on beats 2 and 4. That makes YOU supply the downbeat (a key bass player function). If the 'nome is clicking on all the beats, it's not helping you learn time because the machine is keeping time for you.

Play with other people as soon as you can.

jte

[JTE]

Or, just use this...

Me, I'd say the logical progression learning music theory is this:

1.) Learn the major scale, and how it's constructed

2.) Learn how basic chords are built from the major scale- e.g Major is 1,3,5, minor is 1,b3, 5, etc.

3.) Learn how to harmonize the notes of any diatonic major scale by building chords / stacking thirds.

4.) Learn arppegios/chord tones

5.) Learn to look at common chord progressions as "numerals" (eg, I-IV-V ect) to understand how the chords relate to the song's key.

6.) Learn the Natural Minor scale (a/k/a Aeolian mode) and the dominant scale (a/k/a Mixolydian); And learn how these relate to the major scale (i.e.; its the V and vi mode)

7.) Understand how other 4 modes of the major scale are derived (less important
to memorize these other modes at first)

8.) Dive back into modes for more detailed ideas about what "goes" with what chord.


First, get that basic building block of harmony under your control. Own the W W H W W W H formula. Know WHY C# has an E# instead of F natural in it, be able to spell the notes in any major scale without reference to your instrument. It's the start of everything else.

Then learn how to figure out the notes in basic chords. It's really pretty easy once you learn a few formulae, and that'll help you understand the rest. I put this before learning the Aeolian mode/natrual minor and the Mixolydian because it's more useful in the beginning to know the chords than those two scales. And I'd be careful to say the "natural minor" because there're several minor scales.

The learn to harmonize the scale- that's what tells you WHY a ii V I in C is Dmin G7 C, and WHY those three chords define a key center. Learn that before you start messing with them as separate scales. This is a vitally important point! a ii V I defines a key center and the music is more likely to be cohesive if you understand and approach those three chords as one key instead of thinking of them as three disparate entities.

Then the arpeggios. Why? Because just knowing that Amin7 is A C E G without knowing what they sound like and where they are all over the neck still limits your ability to play stuff on the fly.

Now that you know where those ii V I and I IV V stuff comes from, start putting stuff you know into those buckets when it's appropriate. Understand that "Every Breath You Take" is a I vi VI V, just like "Stand By Me". And transpose!!! Take a song you know in A and play it in Eb, then in C#.

After you have the basics of harmony under contrrol, then learning the natural minor scale and the Mixolydian mode (I'd do Mixolydian first however), gets you into modes without them being either the mysterious "secret" they're often portrayed as, nor the be-all and end-all of theory. Once you get to this point you'll SEE the G7 chord in G Mixolydian, and the Amin7 in A Aeolian.

Then after you get used to thinkning of those two modes, the other modes make sense to learn.

Although somewhere around #6 and #7 I'd also go into the harmonization of the Harmonic Minor scale- that'll show why the key of A minor will have an E7 and a G#dim while the A natural minor gives you Emin7 and a G7 (which pulls you to C instead of the Amin chord)...

That's MY take on the natural progression...
I'd also point out, along with your excellent description of the practical applications, that theory is NOT how you have to do it, it's mostly an after-the fact description of what GENERALLY works, and some explanation of WHY Along with the caveat that there's only two rules of music theory that are never violated-
A. If it sounds right, it's right!
B. If it sounds wrong, it's wrong.
(And the understanding that "right" and "wrong" in this context is pretty much open to highly subjective opinions!)