New Bass Player (Need Help)

[rePPinTRACK]

Ok... I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this in. I looked around, and this was the only place that seemed right to post this.

I've been attempting to teach myself how to play bass for the past couple years, but every time I start teaching myself to play, something comes up and causes me to not be able to continue the learning process for another several months. Things such as school, work, hanging with friends, family priorities..... ect.

I'm now needing a new hobby to keep myself entertained and I believe I will be able to focus my full attention on playing my bass. This is the first time I think I will be able to devote the time and effort I need into learning how to play my bass.

My question for yall is what are some good beginning bass player tools for me to have, such as books, instructional dvds.... ect.

Just post whatever you think I need. Any help is much appreciated.

[chuck65]

Try to learn your favorite song(may take a long ,long time). This will tell you if you have or can develop an ear for bass lines. Find a chart of the major blues scales they are fairly easy to learn and will build your dexterity. I am "old school" and have not yet used a dvd.I have however ruined many casette tapes in my day. Learn to be precise,speed will build naturally. If you can make it sound great on an acoustic bass it will be smokin hot on your electric. Just my opinions.....

[DUC1098]

Songsterr is a good place to find guitar tabs for many songs, though if you know the song well you will see there are omissions.

I am just learning bass as well, while learning electric guitar also. A lot of the basics seem to carry over pretty well.

[magickbass]

Music stand, metronome, and tuner are necessary started tools. Good old Mel Bay Student Bass Method 1 is a rite of passage in the book department. There are tons of good books/cds/dvds out there. One piece of advice, stay away from tablature. Learn music.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by DUC1098

Songsterr is a good place to find guitar tabs for many songs

OP, I'd advise against becoming too dependent on tabs. Try to develop your ear by listening closely to songs and then playing along. Also, don't forget that good technique is the basis on which you will execute all you learn. Don't neglect that aspect of your learning.

[rePPinTRACK]

Thanks everyone for posting the helpful tips so far. I will check into some of these tips and see how it goes. Keep posting more helpful tips and I will check back over the next few days to see what else I need help with.

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by rePPinTRACK

My question for yall is what are some good beginning bass player tools for me to have, such as books, instructional dvds.... ect. Just post whatever you think I need. Any help is much appreciated.

Print this off. http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...67#post9372867.

Using that and this:


See what you can do with this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUK5pE5x_6A
Just roots first. When that gets comfortable then R-5 (two R-5's per measure) changing with the chord changes. When that gets comfortable then R-3-5-8 for the first measure then 8-5-3-R on the second measure of the same chord. Experiment. Look what is on the right hand side of the screen. Get roots into a groove. Then put R-5 into a groove. Then try that R-3-5-8 (notice there are 4 notes one for each beat in the 4/4 time this song is using.) When you get those down things like R-3-5-b7 for dominant seven chords and R-b3-5-b7 for minor seventh await you. Get your go to riffs into muscle memory so you can write your bass lines on the fly. Yes, after you get where all this is on the fretboard THEN start learning how to write your own bass lines.

www.studybass.com Is a good reference source and will help you get started. I just gave you enough to keep you busy for a couple of months. Call up fake chord sheet music on your favorite songs and see what you can do. http://chordie.com/ Or Google; guitar chords, "Cold, cold heart".

Ask questions - someone will help.

[Buslady7803]

If you can do it, get a teacher.

You learn lots faster, they'll catch bad habits before they get real bad, they'll play along with you and it's much more fun.

[rePPinTRACK]

Originally Posted by Buslady7803

If you can do it, get a teacher.

You learn lots faster, they'll catch bad habits before they get real bad, they'll play along with you and it's much more fun.

I thought about doing this, but I don't know if I want to spend money on a teacher right now. I will probably try teaching myself first and see how that goes. If I pick it up fairly quickly I will just stick to teaching myself. I tend to pick up new things really quick, so I'm fully confident in my ability to learn how to play my bass.

[Stumbo]

Check out the links in my sig. below.

Good luck.

[rePPinTRACK]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Check out the links in my sig. below.

Good luck.

Thanks for the link... I will be sure to check it out.

[sound of bass]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

Check out the links in my sig. below.

Good luck.

Do whatever Stumbo tells you! I do, and its paid off immensley!

[rePPinTRACK]

Originally Posted by sound of bass

Do whatever Stumbo tells you! I do, and its paid off immensley!

Ok!.... I will be sure to do that. I always try to listen to people when I need help with something. I'm really liking this community so far. Yall are really good when it comes to helping someone out.

I will keep yall posted with my progress. I just ordered a new tuner and it should arrive to my house in a couple days. I'm waiting to begin playing my bass until it's in tune.

This is the tuner I bought. I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I went ahead and purchased it since I don't have the ear for tuning it manually yet.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Korg-GA-...31-i1125499.gc

[sound of bass]

Originally Posted by rePPinTRACK

Ok!.... I will be sure to do that. I always try to listen to people when I need help with something. I'm really liking this community so far. Yall are really good when it comes to helping someone out.

I will keep yall posted with my progress. I just ordered a new tuner and it should arrive to my house in a couple days. I'm waiting to begin playing my bass until it's in tune.

This is the tuner I bought. I've heard nothing but good things about it, so I went ahead and purchased it since I don't have the ear for tuning it manually yet.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Korg-GA-...31-i1125499.gc

Seriously, Ive learned alot from this man and his threads, a wealth of information! Check them out.

[InLeoWeTrust]

+1 on everyone else's advice. Get a teacher if you can. +100 on tabs - tabs are like crack and you'll be doing yourself a big favor if you avoid them and just learn to read music.

A couple more things that haven't really been mentioned. You mentioned that your learning keeps stalling because of conflicts with the rest of your life. That happens because so far, everything else is more important to you than learning your instrument. If you're serious about becoming a musician, you've got to set aside a time of each day where nothing else is more important than practicing. For me that's 5:30 am, before my wife and daughter are up, and before work - you pick a time that works for you. Leave your chair and your music stand set up, with your lessons on it, so your "place" is always ready to go when you are. Then, when it's time each day, sit down for the designated time (hopefully at least 30 minutes) and work - don't noodle.

"Hanging with friends" is an important part of life, but if you always pick that in favor of serious practice, you will end up 20 years down the road, still wanting to be a good bass player, saying "man, I wish I had practiced." Spoken from experience, Grasshopper. . .

Good luck with it. The harder you work at it, the more fun you'll have down the road.

[rePPinTRACK]

Originally Posted by InLeoWeTrust

+1 on everyone else's advice. Get a teacher if you can. +100 on tabs - tabs are like crack and you'll be doing yourself a big favor if you avoid them and just learn to read music.

A couple more things that haven't really been mentioned. You mentioned that your learning keeps stalling because of conflicts with the rest of your life. That happens because so far, everything else is more important to you than learning your instrument. If you're serious about becoming a musician, you've got to set aside a time of each day where nothing else is more important than practicing. For me that's 5:30 am, before my wife and daughter are up, and before work - you pick a time that works for you. Leave your chair and your music stand set up, with your lessons on it, so your "place" is always ready to go when you are. Then, when it's time each day, sit down for the designated time (hopefully at least 30 minutes) and work - don't noodle.

"Hanging with friends" is an important part of life, but if you always pick that in favor of serious practice, you will end up 20 years down the road, still wanting to be a good bass player, saying "man, I wish I had practiced." Spoken from experience, Grasshopper. . .

Good luck with it. The harder you work at it, the more fun you'll have down the road.

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking the same exact thing about my practice time. I'm wanting to be as good as I can be and I WILL NOT SETTLE FOR LESS. I do plan on setting aside about 30 to 45 minutes a day for practice time. If I have more time to practice, I will try to put in more practice time, but I don't want to burn myself out by practicing too much. I love music and I'm serious about trying to be as good as I possibly can be at playing my bass.

[Phalex]

I learned a lot back in my youth by playing along with the oldies station. Stuff from the 50's and early 60's usually seem to have relatively simple bass lines and chord progressions. Everything that came after was built on that foundation. Learn a few turtles tunes.....

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by rePPinTRACK

Ok... I'm not sure if this is the correct forum to post this in. I looked around, and this was the only place that seemed right to post this.

I've been attempting to teach myself how to play bass for the past couple years, but every time I start teaching myself to play, something comes up and causes me to not be able to continue the learning process for another several months. Things such as school, work, hanging with friends, family priorities..... ect.

I'm now needing a new hobby to keep myself entertained and I believe I will be able to focus my full attention on playing my bass. This is the first time I think I will be able to devote the time and effort I need into learning how to play my bass.

My question for yall is what are some good beginning bass player tools for me to have, such as books, instructional dvds.... ect.

Just post whatever you think I need. Any help is much appreciated.

Hey RTrack, welcome to the tribe! You're gonna love it here. As others have commented, the basics: Learn to sightread, try to avoid tabs. Get a metronome. Buy Ed Friedland's books.
But most important, learn a lot of REAL songs. You're gonna be awesome, I can already tell.

[Staccato]

Buy the Bass Method-Complete Edition, and make sure you get the version that includes CD's. This one is often sold in bookstores, and music stores-which might save you a shipping cost.

Take some time, and work through the entire book. It will give you much of what you're seeking...

The author posts frequently on Talkbass!

[M*A*S*H]

what i did is go on ultimate guitar and teach myself songs