Seeking Advice

[Break_Free]

Hello fellow TalkBass forum members,

First of all I would like to say that I really enjoy reading the threads you write here, and will continue to read them as I progress as a bass player.


Now to the real point of this thread.
I am a fairly new bass player, I initially started to play bass to help out a friend's band and found out that the electric bass guitar is an awesome instrument and I would really like to learn how to play it well.


Currently I lack time for bass lessons with a teacher (something that is bound to change in a few months) but I would really like to at least learn some basics.

I already know some scales and do a few finger exercises through the neck.

Still I do not know what I should learn next, I personally would not like to only learn riffs and songs, I am far more interested in improving my technique and learning how scales, chords and everything else works and interacts to make a bass line.

So please fellow bass players I ask you to point me in the right direction, recommend exercises, web pages where I can learn about the music theory of bass, etc.

Also I would like to add that what I would like to know the most is what are the basic things all bass players should know (for example scales are probably one of those things).





Thank you very much also I beg you to forgive anything in the text above that makes no sense or is misspelled, english is not my first language and I'm not very good at it.

[JimmyM]

musicdojo.com is a good place to start. Or maybe get a beginner's book/DVD at your local music store.

[fearceol]

http://www.adamnitti.com/bass_player_03.shtml For L/H


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU For R/H


I'd say the first thing to master is good technique, before bad habits, and possible physical problems develop. Above are some links for this. Also search for "Finger Independence" exercises. Browse through the Stickys at the top of the "Technique" and "General Instruction" forums. There is a wealth of great information there.

A great web site for theory (its a great site generally) is :

www.studybass.com

Also, a very important aspect that is often overlooked is timing. Invest in a metronome. Search You Tube (or Google) for clips about using it.

Hope this gets you off to a good start

[MalcolmAmos]

Yes to www.studybass.com.

Understanding what baseline will work with a specific song has a lot to do with how much music theory you have under your belt. Here is a site that I think will get you started. http://www.ibreathemusic.com/forums/...ad.php?t=11975 It's basic stuff everyone should know. It was written for 6 string guitar, just ignore the top two strings on the patterns it will take you to.

Next step is to analyzing sheet music to see what the songwriter did in the bass clef. You'll need to be able to read standard notation to pull that off.

So IMHO for what you are wanting it's basic theory and standard notation.

Have fun.

[deckard]

Hey, Break Free: where are you from? Your English is fine... better than a lot of the "English-is-my-first-language" types who post on TB!



I recommend buying 6-string bassist Todd Johnson's "Technique Builders" DVD - best of breed, IMHO.

You don't need to read music to use it & Todd guides you through various technique drills and exercises, kind of like having a buddy sitting in the room with you showing you stuff.

You don't have to do the "floating thumb" thing he shows you, either - the rest of the DVD is directly applicable to anyone who wants to improve bass technique, floating thumb or not.

He has a forum on TB under "Ask a Pro" - check him out. If you live overseas from the U.S./Canada, this is a Region 1 NTSC DVD I think - you may want to check with Todd about that (he's a nice, patient guy).

I've had this DVD for a while now, swear by it, and I constantly refer back to it to fine-tune my technique. It is definitely "technique-specific", so you'll have to get the theory & reading/sheet music stuff somewhere else. (Like Ron Velosky's excellent "Sightreading for the Bass" book.)

JMHO

p.s. - just fyi, I personally did make the change to "floating thumb" due to beginning-carpal-tunnel issues that were starting to raise their ugly little pointy heads in both hands, and wouldn't go back now even if I could... esp. since it solved a number of muting issues, too.
YMMV

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by deckard

I recommend buying 6-string bassist Todd Johnson's "Technique Builders" DVD

+ 1. Great DVD IMO. The 2nd link in my post above is an extract from it.

[Stumbo]

You might want to check out the links in my sig. below for some great info on improving your bass playing.

Good luck.

[Break_Free]

Thanks everyone, I am currently checking studybass and it seems like a great site. I'll also try to buy the DVD from Amazon because I doubt that I can find it in my country.
Thanks again for all the links guys I will check each and everyone of them.


@Deckard: Thanks for the compliment, I'm mexican by the way.