NOOB to bass playing..HELP!

[SuViC]

Lol, i am completely new to bass, i have no teacher's in my area, i live in a small town, theres no music stores, so im trying to learn, i know nothing, my bass guitar came with a DVD but its hard to follow and the guy goes through it very quickly, i could watch it a thousand times but it wont help, i need to know where to place my fingers, i have searched google for things of this nature but have come up with a bunch of ramble on's that give me nothing, i do not want to spend any more $$...if anyone knows of a website that has graphical lessons let me know where i can find these, i want to learn bass so dam bad but i have no resources that help...

What i am looking for is graphical lessons, step by step with each note or w/e so i can atleast jam to something instead of plucking my brains out.

Thanks to anyone who helps...your posts will be highly appreciated!

[All_¥our_Bass]

Try the book "Bass Guitar For Dummies", not that I'm trying to call you a dummy, we're all noobs sometimes. It's a great book.

Your first tasks to learn would be:
A) Tuning your bass
B) Learning the notes up and down the neck
C) Learn how to sight read standard notation


While doing all these try to look up or ask about (on this forum or anywhere online) about proper technique (a.k.a. how to play without getting carpo tunnel 20 years later). Also when learnign something, start really slow and get it COMPLETELY RIGHT and then gradually speed it up.

[Kattabass]

I have the book too. Although I think he wants a resources that's free...Well, if want to learn the notes of the bass clef and many more standard notation things, this is a great resource.

http://www.musictheory.net/

[mcdeath]

Hmmm.

1. http://www.activebass.com

It has a lot of lessons and they've got this nifty little webpage thing that'll sound out the lessons for you in the proper time.

Here's an example with a scale:

http://www.activebass.com/default.as...ew.pl%3Fl%3D16

I suggest exploring ActiveBass.com, particularly the "beginner" section and see what's there.

Otherwise I'd suggest finding a guitar teacher for some pointers on fretting hand techniques. The plucking hand techniques are different for a bass than a guitar, but the fretting hand techniques are somewhat similar.

edit:
Oh someone else pointed out this website:
http://www.cyberschoolofbass.com/lessons.html

[SuViC]

Thanks for all the resources, ill deff check those out in a few minutes, ill check out the dummies book, if its cheap enough like $5.00 then i'd probably get it.

1.)I got a digital tuner for it and the tuning is spot on.
2.)I've gone though the note A A# B C C# D E F F# G G# on all EADG strings, i need to work on it and engrave it into my head atleast until i can do it backwards and do it relativley quick.

Since getting the guitar i've been looking at some online bass tabs, mostly from green day, been playing it just messin around & have gotten more comfortable with the guitar & have learned quite a few things, but i do seriously need to start learning the bass instead of playing a few dictated notes.

Thankyou everyone, ill check those out they all look very promising!! ill keep this updated as much as possible.

[WillPlay4Food]

Check out this link for pictures on how to fret with your left hand:

http://www.adamnitti.com/bass_player_03.shtml

Also Adam has some great free lesson writeups at http://www.adamnitti.com/lessons.shtml

[ireidt]

another great site to buy bass books is at..http://www.bassbooks.com Sorry, most bass oriented books are gonna cost you more than 5 dollers.

[SuViC]

Originally Posted by WillPlay4Food

Check out this link for pictures on how to fret with your left hand:

http://www.adamnitti.com/bass_player_03.shtml

Also Adam has some great free lesson writeups at http://www.adamnitti.com/lessons.shtml

Awesome, looks like i have ALOT of stuff to go through!!

Thank you, seriously!

lol, its hard learning bass on a budget.

Originally Posted by ireidt

another great site to buy bass books is at..http://www.bassbooks.com Sorry, most bass oriented books are gonna cost you more than 5 dollers.

yea, a bass book for $5, unrealistic but may ebay has something, does'nt matter if its used or new, i looked lastnight but most were well over $5 but maybe something will pop up hopefully but if not then next month for sure ill spring $20 max for a good book.

[mcdeath]

Hmmm.

One other thing that's fairly important but is often overlooked is that you need to record your practice sessions.

Either by using a cassette tape recorder that you place in front of the bass amp or something more than that. But in any case you really must record your practice sessions. One reason why a teacher is so useful is because the teacher is listening to what you're doing, something that's very hard to do while you're concentrating on playing.

By recording your practice sessions you can then review the tape afterwards and critique your playing. You'll be able to spot where you lost your timing, had widely uneven tone, mis-fretted notes and other errors. Without this critique what mistakes you make will probably be simply lost as background noise.

Listening to a practice session makes every error simply jump out at you and is a valuable technique.

Oh and definitely practice with a metronome.

[Torch7]

+1 "Bass Guitar for Dummies".... You won't regret that purchase.

[SuViC]

Originally Posted by mcdeath

Hmmm.

One other thing that's fairly important but is often overlooked is that you need to record your practice sessions.

Either by using a cassette tape recorder that you place in front of the bass amp or something more than that. But in any case you really must record your practice sessions. One reason why a teacher is so useful is because the teacher is listening to what you're doing, something that's very hard to do while you're concentrating on playing.

By recording your practice sessions you can then review the tape afterwards and critique your playing. You'll be able to spot where you lost your timing, had widely uneven tone, mis-fretted notes and other errors. Without this critique what mistakes you make will probably be simply lost as background noise.

Listening to a practice session makes every error simply jump out at you and is a valuable technique.

Oh and definitely practice with a metronome.

Thats an awesome idea, i have adobe audition on my rig here & a double ended jack type deal that would fit perfectly, then just listen to myself on the PC speakers and then playback...Thanks for the tip!

Originally Posted by Torch7

+1 "Bass Guitar for Dummies".... You won't regret that purchase.

Yea i was thinking earlier and thought about checking the local library to see what they had on hand, and if they didnt then have them order it for me!

Its genius!

Update* they have the bass guitar for dummies book, BUT...i wont be able to get it until the person brings it back & then thers someone else in line and then there me...

[mikeypbass]

+1 to Activebass.com, before i got lessons (still playing guitar), activebass showed me the ropes, and got me really stoked about bass playing, but it doesn't like to work with Mozilla Firefox very well.... not a problem in IE7 though

[Orangeclawhamme]

http://www.studybass.com/
Online Bass Lessons at StudyBass.com

I've ben using this one. I might check out the others mintioned here.

[thelibster]

Not that I mean to blow my own trumpet, but this site might be just what you are looking for and it won't cost you a cent. There is enough there to keep you busy for a long time.

www.thelibster.com