Lessons or no please vote

#1 05-12-2009, 03:42 PM

also I would love to hear what your opinions are and why you may or may not take i have been playing and taking lessons for 4 years and i would not be 1/20 of the bassist i am now so please tell your story

uaudio · #2 05-12-2009, 03:43 PM

Wrong forum; might want to post in General Instruction.

elpezpr · #3 05-12-2009, 03:44 PM

How much do you practice?

#4 05-12-2009, 03:47 PM

Is it really the wrong fourm sorry i am new at this and i practice about 1 to 3 hours a day

quale213 · #5 05-12-2009, 03:52 PM

I voted for "I take Lessons", but it was only for music theory, not bass guitar, and it was only for 2 months. They did change music for me though and were invaluable.

#6 05-12-2009, 03:56 PM

you probably should have voted the seconed one but to each his own

GeneralElectric · #7 05-12-2009, 04:12 PM

I've never taken lessons and I've learned everything by ear or watching people. I never bothered to sit down and practice either

That said, I've got a pretty good ear and can play along to anything in a lot of styles and feels, and can do a lot of intermediate songs by ear, relatively close to the record, after the first listen or two.

That also said, I do wish I'd taken lessons, if only so I learned how to read. Learning how to read is the only way you can truely communicate with other musicians.

Sijjvra · #8 05-12-2009, 04:18 PM

Never taken lessons and am completely self-taught (meaning I've taught myself to play by watching and hearing vicariously).

That being said, lessons can benefit some people, and some people it just hinders depending on how you learn and how well you tend to learn with or without someone's guidance.

mjolnir · #9 05-12-2009, 04:19 PM

I've never taken lessons for bass, no, but I learned how to read music taking clarinet and other assorted woodwind instrument lessons, and I bought every book on bass I could get my hands on. The rest just came from gigging experience.

cjlane · #10 05-12-2009, 04:21 PM

I think lessons are the smartest way to go. It's mighty nice being able to teach yourself, but that's not something to be proud about, it's alot easier to teach yourself a really bad technique that's hard to stop because you don't have someone saying "no that's not how you do it, you do it like this..". That being said, it's good to have a combination of learning the techniques from your teacher and also learning alot by yourself.

Sijjvra · #11 05-12-2009, 04:22 PM

I always figured this: Not everyone has the same technique nor should they. If it sounds good and it works, go for it. Maybe you'll create a new fad.

For instance, I don't hold my pick "properly" but you know what? I've never had any problem keeping up in my band because of it when we do faster, more complicated picking styles. I've tried to do it the "proper" way and found that it fouled up my playing more than I thought possible.

To each their own. If it sounds good, go with it.

PRUNEFACE · #12 05-12-2009, 04:24 PM

Yeah, lessons are the absolute best if you can find a good teacher. My teacher is like 80 years old and his first instrument was the tuba. There are even pictures on google images of him playing at a Prom in 1950 on the doublebass! I can see he is the real deal.

Knifedge · #13 05-12-2009, 04:25 PM

Wierd thing.. I took classical guitar lessons with the intention of learning a new discipline of guitar, it actually improved my bass technique and made me 10 times the bass player I was. I totally didn't expect that.. probably has to do with hand technique and scale practice, I don't know... I just loved the end result though.

timeflies91 · #14 05-12-2009, 04:39 PM

i took 3 lessons, and everything i else i learned by tabs.
cant really learn by ear, im damn near deaf....but oh well

Boostedrex · #15 05-12-2009, 04:41 PM

I've had 1 lesson so far and am planning on many more to come. Learning to read the clef is important to me as I think if you're going to get into something then you should be the very best you can and learn every last part about it that you can.

I did buy up all the bass books I could find, but supplimenting that with a teacher that you trust and are comfortable with should equal up to be a winning combination. Just my .02 on the subject so take it for what you will.

Zach

Calebmundy · #16 05-12-2009, 04:43 PM

<-------------- Music Degree, lots and lots and lots of lessons.

StevenO · #17 05-12-2009, 04:45 PM

I am self-taught, initially on keyboard / piano. I say "self-taught" and not just "by ear / watching others play" because although that was invaluable, too, I taught myself theory and reading. I'm convinced that if I had been made to take lessons as a kid instead of discovering for myself, I would never have taken it as far as I did, since this way I was driven by the things I was most curious about, not by someone's lesson plans.

I am approaching bass the same way now, with the benefit of my previous theory / reading learning.

On the other hand, I feel like at some point a limited number of bass lessons might be valuable for me for technique critique - I can record and critique the music I produce, but it's pretty hard to see yourself...mirrors and video notwithstanding.

Spinal Tapper · #18 05-12-2009, 04:52 PM

best lessons you can take is meeting musicians and jamming/writing songs with them IMO. especially people who are better than you

ghiadub · #19 05-12-2009, 04:56 PM

I take lessons. Mostly just to brush up on theory in practice. I have my teachers make up hard musical situations for me to play in where I have to apply theory/alt harmony/change posistion each phrase, etc...

Keeps me on my toes.

xk3smith · #20 05-12-2009, 06:17 PM

I have a teacher. I vary the time I use him though. I work hard at trying to learn the music i'm working on at the time by myself. When I've hit a rut or feel like my music isn't improving I give him a call and schedule a lesson. He's ear is A+ quality. He usually figures out my problem right away and sets me on the right path.