Is a teacher worth it?

[totallyfrozen]

My friend, I think Jazz improv is beyond you.

You claim that you are only going to play as a light hobby, you don't have natural talent for music, you are wondering if Jazz music is something you can teach yourself...

Uh...no.
Considering you are not willing to make the HUGE investment of time necessary, without natural musical talent, no; you cannot teach yourself jazz. Jazz is NOT the easiest of styles and you don't sound like your practice sessions are even serious enough to actually benefit you even if you COULD teach yourself Jazz (which you cannot sine you have no natural talent musically).

Although you have the "utmost respect" for musicians, I think you don't quite understand just how time consuming the study of music can be. It takes LOTS of time in very disciplined, focused study & practice sessions to make good progress.

It doesn't sound like you are willing to pay the price necessary; therefore, since Jazz is one of the more complicated styles, you should probably focus your attention somewhere else.

Rock, Country, Bluegrass, etc. Many other styles are much easier to learn than Jazz. Without natural musical talent, improvisation is going to evade you most of the time and when you actually do get an idea...it will probably be medocre at best. I doubt you'll get the enjoyment out of playing jazz bass that you hope to.

Learning music and playing music can benefit from natural talent but don't require it...teaching YOURSELF music does require natural talent. Without it, most of what music is will evade you. Talent without discipline is a waste; however, without talent it's all about hard work and trying to force a round peg into a square hole. There are far more "musicians" on the planet than there are people who SHOULD BE musicians. There's nothing wrong with just enjoying and admiring the music of others.

[quadrogong]

I must agree,
in the wise words of the Ventures,
"walk,don't run"
or to Quote,"What About Bob?".. BABY STEPS....!

if u want to expand your musical vocabulary,so to speak, Jazz is the right direction,
the way out of the "pentatonic box"..
BUT..u have a lot to learn first.
take it slowly,methodically..and GET A GUITAR.


1.BUY A GUITAR
I'd suggest having a friend or instructor chart out some slightly more "interesting" guitar chords for you,Get a cheap guitar if you haven't got one.

If you you can recognize the sound of major vs a Minor chord..that's number one,always.
before u tackle jazz,learn major,minor chords and scales on a guitar and bass.
learn to spot them in music,what do maj or min chords
sound and feel like?

have somebody chart out some:
seventh chords
minor sevenths,
major sevenths,
diminished,
and augmented chords.
learn them in the same key first,maybe all in A.
(A minor 7,A major 7,etc)
learn them well, how to play them on a guitar,


2. learn to recognize them.
What does a major seventh sound/feel like??
or a diminished?..
..learn to spot the chords in songs you know..

for instance,"Mercy mercy(The Ecology)" by Marvin Gaye..
(the,"Brother,Brother..song")
that song has a Major 7th feel,it's all major seventh,baby..
or "Eyes of the World" by Grateful Dead,another Maj 7th song.

3. after you can spot the chords,and you know them on guitar,
learn the full scales..
go through my list,learn each one in scale form.those are the basics ones.
or,in other words,this is where u go,after you can spot major and minor.

Once you can play the chords,recognize their sounds..
and play the full scale on your bass...

4. you can try to incorporate them in your playing. use a little diminished scale here and there,try a minor arpeggio at the end of a minor-ish song..experiment with the scales.

5. when u know the chords I listed, you can try finding other versions of the same chords on the guitar neck.
There are many,many versions of an "A diminished" chord,
all over the fretboard,many forms and shapes to try,of the SAME chord!..

..Try linking your new guitar chords together,(the min7,maj 7,dim,etc..)

6.print some simple jazz standards off the net,(with guitar chords listed),
and follow the chords on your guitar,until you're playing songs.
remember!..the four lowest strings of these guitar chords can be used as
BASS CHORDS!


BOTTOM LINE??...once you can play a simple jazz chord progression on guitar,
you can tackle the bass part,

jazz bass is hard,
they tend to be walking bass parts,
where u need to know the scales so well,by heart,that you can improvise quickly enough to stay on a quarter-note walking bass pattern.
This requires alot of time studying the scales,and also listening to jazz,learning the cliches,and just absorbing alot of walking bass parts.

IMO, if u recognize the chords,and can play them,you can then understand a jazz bassline, If u fill your Ipod up with a truckload of Jazz,that's gonna help,

but studying,playing and seeing the chords,will help you grasp what they really are.

[MNAirHead]

Good one yes - they're rare though..

one month.. you may be better finding someone near your new home

[Eric Swaim]

Being a teacher myself, I can say find yourself the most knowledgable person in your area to learn what you can from them. Just because they teach, does not make them a good teacher. I have studied from some of the best in the world, and some of the best were not good teachers, great players, but not teachers. about 18 years ago when I was in college, I studied from a pianist/trumpet player who taught at the college because his concepts worked and he taught in a manner that was easy to understand. It doesn't have to be a bass player as long as you know your instrument well enough to apply the concepts and theory. But remember you can have the best teacher in the world and it still come down to you working hard to develop what you learn bewteen lessons.

Good Luck,
Eric in TN

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by totallyfrozen

My friend, I think Jazz improv is beyond you.

You claim that you are only going to play as a light hobby, you don't have natural talent for music, you are wondering if Jazz music is something you can teach yourself...

Uh...no.
Considering you are not willing to make the HUGE investment of time necessary, without natural musical talent, no; you cannot teach yourself jazz. Jazz is NOT the easiest of styles and you don't sound like your practice sessions are even serious enough to actually benefit you even if you COULD teach yourself Jazz (which you cannot sine you have no natural talent musically).

Although you have the "utmost respect" for musicians, I think you don't quite understand just how time consuming the study of music can be. It takes LOTS of time in very disciplined, focused study & practice sessions to make good progress.

It doesn't sound like you are willing to pay the price necessary; therefore, since Jazz is one of the more complicated styles, you should probably focus your attention somewhere else.

Rock, Country, Bluegrass, etc. Many other styles are much easier to learn than Jazz. Without natural musical talent, improvisation is going to evade you most of the time and when you actually do get an idea...it will probably be medocre at best. I doubt you'll get the enjoyment out of playing jazz bass that you hope to.

Learning music and playing music can benefit from natural talent but don't require it...teaching YOURSELF music does require natural talent. Without it, most of what music is will evade you. Talent without discipline is a waste; however, without talent it's all about hard work and trying to force a round peg into a square hole. There are far more "musicians" on the planet than there are people who SHOULD BE musicians. There's nothing wrong with just enjoying and admiring the music of others.

most of the jazz guys that you hear about started off young as students,who were recognized as talented and schooled......you have to know your instrument and music well enough to hear a few notes,instantly know where its going and be able to solo or comp until you get there ..

...its like being intuitive enough to finish the other guys sentences after hearing a few words......the nuts and bolts of it are scales,chords,and arpeggios,but being able to put them together on the fly into a coherent context is a lifes work,even for the gifted.....go to youtube and find

jj johnsons gone with the wind....its a paul chambers line on a standard

mingus..11 bs ....its the song from jerry mcquire sometimes called hatian fight song

sunday at the village vanguard....scott lafaro with bill evans

miles davis ....kind of blue

[ryco]

If you are putting in two consistent hours everyday, that's pretty good for a "hobbyist".

Take yer bass and amp to college and take a beginning piano class and a first year theory class.
Don't swamp yourself if you're going to be talking a bunch of business classes on top of basic academic classes.

Maybe find a GOOD local bass teacher or an advanced bass playing student to give you lessons.
One of the best ways to learn to improvise is playing over blues changes. These are helpful and inexpensive.

If you just want to do it for fun, treat it fun. Your learning pace will be slower, but so what. You've got a whole lifetime to learn. No big.

Also find some local people to jam with or start a band.
If you want it lite - keep it lite! It's good to know you're willing to put in the time (2 hours a day) to learn.

[scrunks11]

Not sure for only a month however if you find a good one it may be worth it