How to self teach bass like musicians did in the 60s

[tristan 666]

i would like to learn bass myself cause i dont have time to take lessons so could someone give me any suggestions how to start?? thank you

[jasper383]

Jam with others. This has not changed since the 1960s. Find every possible opportunity to play with others.

Turn on the radio, and play along. Do this for hours and hours. Play along with anything that comes on, any style.

Play along with CDs/MP3s/ etc. Years ago, players had to use records, and lift the needle to hear something again. I have read that Clapton literally wore out records. Now we have much better technology to do this. Get a Tascam trainer, and play your cds through it.

Spend many, many hours doing these things, and you will see results.

[idoru]

A couple of suggestions:

Try not to use bass tab to figure a song out. If you're struggling, look for chord charts to get the basics down.

Stick to easy stuff at first; it's far more rewarding to nail something simple than to struggle through something hard.

[Jim Carr]

Originally Posted by tristan 666

i would like to learn bass myself cause i dont have time to take lessons so could someone give me any suggestions how to start?? thank you

I am self-taught on electric bass. I started at age 13 in the early 60's. Getting a few easy songs down takes very little effort. I got in my first Rock band once I new about 4 songs.

Yet I really wanted to play EVERYTHING I heard, so I played with records and the kitchen radio, day and night for years.

What are your goals?
How much Bass? How well? 4 songs? Play in a band? Be a pro?
You have been given a lot of good advice above.

Going beyond knowing a few tunes to being a musician is a long journey. IMHO, if you don't have time for lessons, you may not have enough time to learn bass beyond the most rudimentary level. I don't mean you should take lessons, I mean that bass takes a lot more time than say, learning to swim or learning to drive.

Once you learn a little, it can be quite enchanting and challenging.
You may find that you start making room for it in your schedule.

PS. this thread seems to be in the wrong forum....

[Pan]

And don't believe half of what you read and hear.
I played all through the 60's, 70's and into the 80's and met only a handful of bassists who could read.

Now it seems from the magazines that you have to know all the rudiments before you even think of gigging. When you see the score from a vintage bass part do you think the actual player wrote it and played it like Beethoven? Maybe, maybe not.

Just play along with anything and everything and you'll automatically learn patterns (albeit other people's).

Tascam trainers are great.
Get 'Bass Guitar for Dummies' if you want to learn the theory once you know how to have fun.

And check out bass players on TV and at gigs. How many readers are smiling? Any at all?

Rule#1: Play
Rule#2: Have fun.

[esoxhntr]

Just a thought, but it's not lessons that take the time - it's actually sitting down and playing the instrument on a daily basis that gets you to improve. Lessons with a decent teacher can in fact save you some time since you would be learning correct techniques and wasting less time on counter-productive ones.

But as all before have said, sitting down with a decent method book, jamming on easy tunes with buddies, listening to the radio/cd/iPod (or what ever) and playing along...all of these things will get you going very well with or without lessons. and the Tascam Bass Trainer is a wicked little piece of equipment; very useful!

[GM60466]

Learn all the scales in major and minor keys, practice with the TV off and remove all other distractions from your study space. Be serious about learning the craft and you'll do fine. .....also listen to as much new music as you can. I don't mean stuff that has just been released. Music that you have heard before.

G

[Steel Hyena]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the tips, even though I didn't start this post. I'm on the "newer" side of things when it comes to the bass myself, so I'm anxious to see different techniques and ideas on how to learn.

I'm going the self-taught route myself, but I have considered taking a few lessons. Unfortunatly I don't have many friends who are musicians, and the ones that are play almost exclusively metal (which, I completely respect metal, but it's not what I want to play), which means jam sessions for me are few and far between, and tend to consist of just one style. :-(

But it still helps. Other than that, I'd say learn some basic scales and try to play along to some music. Also, take time to jam by yourself. Screw around and see what you can figure out on your own.

And like the guy above me said, take time to study. Don't pick up your bass for five minutes a day and then call it quits till tomorrow if you can help it. I personally go for a minimum of thirty minutes a day, but tend to feel guilty if I don't get a couple hours in.

And I think I wrote most of this directed towards myself.

[lomo]

I took lessons for a year and have been on my own (mainly due to a tough schedule) for the 5 next years up to now. Today there are so many "lessons" available on DVD, through books and online that it can make you dizzy. My advice would be to define what you want to be able to do first. If all you want is to play rock covers, what you'll practice will be far different from if you want to make a living or if you want to be able to write. Once your goals are defined, post the question again and you'll get more specific answers. Without knowing your goals, I'd suggest getting a scale book as one block in your foundation, and trying the Aebersold series of play-alongs if you're serious about learning music as a whole and not simply bass. Oh, and commit to as much time per day/week as you can. I play for 1-1.5 hours a day, virtually every day. It's all I can fit in between the rest of my life, but it has stacked up nicely and consistently over time. Most of all, enjoy!

[Moe Monsarrat]

I started as a singer in 1964 in Tokyo. I had a guitar & a uke but didn't play them on stage because the guys I worked with were so much better & older than I was. I acquired a Teisco bass on an endorsement deal just for kicks & started fooling with it. Then one day we fired our drunken bassist who kept falling off the stage. The lads looked at me & said " Don't you have a bass at home?" I said I did but I doubted I could hang on the gig because I had to front the band singing as well. They said " We have two weeks before the next show....that's plenty of time." I sat down with the guitarist & learned the bass lines by ear. I imagine it was pretty rough the first few gigs, but we got her done. After 35 years I still can't read music, but I play sessions & live gigs daily. If I hear some bass part like I sit down & figure it out the same old way. Learn the major & minor scales & start with something you like on cd & learn it lick by lick. Whatever you do, have fun at it. That's what keeps you coming back & working hard.

[RJMiller]

All good advice. However......

While there may not be a "right" way and a "wrong" way to play the bass, there are ways of playing when you start out that later may get in the way of faster, cleaner execution of the notes and may lead to carpal tunnel or rotator cuff problems if you play enough.

Its easier to develop good playing technique at first than to have to relearn muscle memory.

I started out taking a few lessons from a local guitar player who had played some bass and got a few pointers but it wasn't worth while to continue. I have gotten the most help from the "Technique Builders" video of Todd Johnson - see his forum on TB - and from the "Bass Essentials" video of Michael Manring - he also has a forum on TB. I believe that Todd Johnson had to change his playing technique and the scale of the bass he played because of rotator cuff problems. Michael Manring mentions that several times he got to a dead end in his playing and felt the need to go back to the fundamentals and modify his technique to make more progress. I have some videos that jump right into how to play what notes or patterns, etc. and don't talk much about technique. So, not all videos are equally helpful, just as not all teachers are equally helpful.

All IMHO

Good luck!

RJM

[John Wentzien]

Go out an watch some local players that you admire. Get a good visual on what they are doing.

[GlennW]

Unplug your computer and practice.

[TAZ]

Originally Posted by GlennW

Unplug your computer and practice.

+1

The guys in the 60's (like all musicians in any decade) played constantly by: practicing, jamming with everyone, playing in front of people, staying in bands, listen and watch other musicians. If you don't have time for an 1/2 hour lesson, do you have time to do all the above?

Sorry dude but there are no short cuts - you have to put in the time. When you hear a guy that is really good but has only been playing 3 years, you can bet he's playing 8 hours a day - everyday.

[grovest]

Originally Posted by tristan 666

i dont have time to take lessons

Tristan-

Taking lessons from a good teacher will improve your skill faster than trying to teach yourself. If you're short on time, take lessons.

[BassFTW]

I started off learning tabs and nothing else; bad route to take. I got decent at playing and after a while I started just jamming, but I never learned any basics. Now I take lessons and let me say--it's very frustrating to feel like your starting back at square one.

[Jimtoonz]

Many great players are self-taught. If you have passion for the instrument and are willing to spend the hours playing along with music you like and jamming with friends, results will follow. The one thing that is just as critical as playing a lot is to listen...a lot. Listen not only to learn techniques and licks, but listen to music that grooves and learn how to contribute to it. Listen to the places where you want to occupy space in the song and places where you need to let it breathe. Listen for the difference in space that exists in one song versus another. Listen, so that you will remember that your role is to support your band and allow them to shine. Listen, so that you will know that what you don't play is often as important as what you do.

While there are people who will take issue with this, I don't see the bass as a "feature" instrument or something that should frequently be featured as a solo instrument or carry the main melodic line of a song. When you think of great bass solos, I'm willing to bet that you will remember very few, and the ones you do remember are ones in which you came away praising the player for great chops rather than finding the solo something that was emotionally stirring or memorable. IMHO, if you do your job as a bassist, you will be solid, "in the pocket", and allow others to have the solo glory. It's not always easy, but such a commitment to the music is always rewarding.

[lbanks]

Originally Posted by Pan

Just play
Rule#1: Play
Rule#2: Have fun.

Yep, just play and have fun.

[js1]

Wanna do it like the 60s?

Find a band to play with. That's why people played bass - to be in a band. Bassists didn't play on their own.

Learn from recordings. There wasn't tab around.

And, as previously stated, have fun.

js

[supergrizz]

Great stuff in this thread. I am also a beginner, and I'd like to go the self-taught route because I'd really like to try to figure things out for myself. Also because the only instructor in town is a guitarist-first (plus he's only into metal, and I'm more into jazz). I figure I can learn the things he can teach me from books, which makes sense to me because that's how I'd like to learn.

Anyways, what are some good books to look for, and maybe yall can help with a good practice routine? I'm very into soul/jazz/funky rock stuff and I'd like to learn the theory behind playing it. Right now, before I go jam with friends or do anything after school, I choose a "key of the day" and run through major/minor scales up and down the fretboard using Pacman's method, then triads for that key. And interspersed throughout the day I throw on random records and try to figure out the bassline or just jam along. Thoughts ? Thanks in advance..