best video lessons for Upright bass
 

Hi,

I am a newbie with the upright and I need some lessons, I know a face to face teacher is the best way, but I want to check if there is some DVD/video lessons that I can buy to study by myself? can some of you TB'er recommend me a good video for lessons, if the focus of the video is more in jazz is better.

I would apreciate some advice.

Cheers.

I don't have a curriculum of lesson videos up but I do have lots of info and some videos of technique on my site at http://www.MostlyBass.com

Thanks MostlyBass I will check your site later.

Cool!

Tuning video:
http://petertambroni.com/mostlybass_...ning-the-bass/

Carrying a bass:
http://petertambroni.com/mostlybass_...ying-the-bass/

Jazz style plucking:
http://petertambroni.com/mostlybass_...jazz-plucking/

First, get a teacher, get a teacher, get a teacher. Face to Face with a qualified teacher will save you lots of time and pain.

There are SOME good YouTube videos out there. Run screaming from anything on YouTube posted by Expert Village. They are ALL horribly, bad, awful, pieces of crap. following their advise will cause you nothing but pain.

John Clayton has a great series.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJT...?feature=watch

Chris Fitzgerald has started a series that is really good.
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy-q...ztMY-Vw/videos

Michael Klinghoffer has a series based on Gary Karr's teachings
http://www.youtube.com/user/driveado...?feature=watch

But seriously, get a teacher!

All on You Tube:

John Clayton's Bass Tips

Michael Klinghoffer's Drive a Doublebass series

Chris Fitzgerald's series

Daddario Bowed series

Bill Harrison's Play Jazz Now series

Best to get a teacher

cool :hyper: this is all good stuff, thanks for the links Mostlybass, your site seems very informative, I will navigate more later and check what else you have.

jdepriest: I know I know I know! a good teacher is the best!!, but I am a selftaught electric bass player :rollno:, and I always thought I could teach myself to play the upright, hehehe I have the feeling that I am going to discover that is going to be difficult ;), anyway, I see that I already discovered cool videos on you tube!, because the only link I haven't seen yet is http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJT...?feature=watch
I saw Chris Fitzgerald and Michael Klinghoffer, and I thought that these were good teachers,very good info indeed, I just wanted to check if there is something bether, but I see that we think the same.

bassist1962:

I also have checked before Bill Harrison on you tube, he is also very good.

Thanks for the info people, between Bil Harrison, Chris Fitzgerald and Michael Klinghoffer + John Clayton should be enough to keep me busy for a good while.

I wouldn't do it alone. You could really hurt yourself with bad technique on DB. This is unlike any other instrument - there is alot of tension and if you don't do it right, you can do some serious RSI/Carpal tunnel damage. As good as those videos are, they're still not a replacement for live-in-person instructor.

If you really want to be cheap, just take a couple lessons in the beginning to get your technique together and then do whatever you want.

Having played the bass in high school 30 years ago, I already knew the basics & just needed a review so I did what hdiddy is suggesting at the end of his post. Best to get a teacher. That said - something else that has helped me in my development (I am also a former bass guitarist - high school to present) was getting on Notreble.com & checking out the articles/lessons by Donovan Stokes (Lowdown with Dr. D.). Lots of great stuff there.

Good advice bassist1962, I would like to fine a teacher, but I don't really have the time right now, that's is why I wanted to study by myself with videos, I am a newbie with the upright but I have played electric bass for around 13/14 years and I am still playing it, so I know my basics and I know that when your arm, your hands or your fingers hurt you should stop playing, I am aware that with the teacher the progress is quicker than learning by myself, but I still want to give a try. I am already a almost daily reader of notreble.com, great site!
Thanks everybody for all the advices,tips and links, and just you know, I will get a teacher eventually, but I will start by myself first. Talkbass is a great place :).

Also on Youtube - check out Bassius. He has several videos on right and left hand, bowing, even one on changing strings.

Somehow this seems to be a contradiction. No time for lessons but time to take much longer to learn the instrument.

If nothing else consider taking a few lessons to acquaint yourself with the physical approach to the instrument--holding it, the basics of the left and right hands, etc. Those are things much easier to grasp when face to face with a teacher who can literally put your body in the right place.

This was the approach I followed. When I first took up the instrument 11 years ago, I spent almost a year trying to work out things myself. Then I found a teacher who helped me reboot and get started a better road. Because of time and mainly distance, weekly lessons were not possible. Instead, we got together every few months for a couple of hours at a time. It was time well spent. He gave me lots of things to work on and was always willing to talk when I called him with questions. Today with Skype you have many options that were unavailable just a few years ago.

Once the basic physical things are under your belt, you can learn a lot from some of the youtube videos.

No one has mentioned it yet but the Ray Brown masterclass video series give you a lot of food for thought.

Based on my experience, 35 years on guitar, 7 on upright, I've recently concluded that it's nearly impossible to teach yourself a musical instrument. I say that based on my own experience and listening to well-developed self-taught players on bass, sax, drums, piano, etc. Unless you're a musical genius, I think it will take you a very long time, if ever, to develop good technique and tone without a good teacher. And good technique and tone are more important than might be initially obvious. Those who have it, recognize it immediately. Those that don't, would recognize it readily in a side by side comparison and really, it's the difference between playing your instrument well and just hacking at it. Videos help, but a good teacher cannot only tell you what to work on, but can tell you how to quickly improve. Granted, there are not that many good teachers out there, but if you look and find them, you will move ahead by leaps with their guidance.