Help: The "what to do now" checklist

[Kickin'Fruit]

-So, I've got a bass. Fender Standard Jazz MIM.
-I've got something to play it through.
-I've got it all tuned up ready to go.
-I know a few licks from tabs I've picked up.
-The Suzuki method says to start listening to music and trying to play it without knowing anything else about music (is this correct?)
-*Where now?*

I would think that next I have to learn what scales are and how to play them. I hear that practicing them is, well, good practice. I've read a few others posts about learning what notes sound like what and what they are called, also singing them as I play them. Does this sound like the right path? I mean it seems like it contradicts what I know vaguely of this suzuki method. I'm sorry if this all seems redundant, but I'm workin full time so I try to take in information on all this any free time I have because I'm really enthusiastic about getting what goes in my eardrums, or starts from my brain and translating it to my fingers and ending up as sound that gets recycled . Thanks for anyone who can point me in the right direction toward this goal.

[Matthew Bryson]

If it is at all possible for you, the best path possible is to forget this "Suzuki Method" that you speak of and get a teacher.

[iplaybassguitar]

Originally Posted by Matthew Bryson

If it is at all possible for you, the best path possible is to forget this "Suzuki Method" that you speak of and get a teacher.

thats harsh, the suzuki method can be a great way to learn an instrument...but it is also great advise that you should get a teacher, ive been playing for a while now and i still take lessons

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by Matthew Bryson

If it is at all possible for you, the best path possible is to forget this "Suzuki Method" that you speak of and get a teacher.

You make it sound like Prof. Harold Hill from "The Music Man". There's more to Suzuki than 'just playing without knowing anything else'. Talk to someone trained in the Suzuki Method.... yes, to learn this way its best to have a Suzuki teacher.

[g00eY]

i utilize the "suzuki method". i just picked up the bass one day and started playing. i tried to use a book to teach me but found that i didn't want to read it all, so i just started playing. that being said, it sucks to know that you might be using the most terrible form possible, but not knowing for sure.

[markjazzbassist]

buy some cd's with music you like or basslines you think you can learn. play your bass along and try to learn them. do this to as many albums as you can, vary styles and genres. also, find people to jam with. it doesn't have to be a band, but you need to learn how to play with other people and where your place is. good luck.

[IanStephenson]

Originally Posted by Kickin'Fruit

-The Suzuki method says to start listening to music and trying to play it without knowing anything else about music (is this correct?)

I'm not an expert on Suzuki, but I suspect there's a lot more to it than locking kids in a room with a CD player!

Yes it's about listening and playing, but a good teacher while find music that you want to play that is at a level that you CAN play it, and learn something from it. A good teacher won't introduce unnecessary theory, or even technique but they will correct bad habbits, and they will show you the correct technique as you need them, and will introduce theory to explain things you've already learned to play.

I wouldn't necessarily say you need a full time teacher, but find an experienced musician to mentor you - even if thats just for an hour or so once in a while to help direct you.

Ian