Hello and looking for input

[WoodyTone]

Folks, hello, first post here. I'm a six-stringer (guitar), but am old enough to have kids who are into the drums and now bass, so I am joining up here and other non-guitar forums to LEARN! I'm supposed to know all this stuff, my kids think, so I hope to fake it until they're old enough to know better....

Anyhow, two unrelated questions:

1. How important is it for a beginning bassist to get lessons assuming the person (child) is already getting basic music theory via piano lessons. I mean, the bass part to Runnin' With the Devil isn't exactly tough to learn!

2. I have a blog (in my sig) on which I document my guitar tone/gear-related findings -- I'm kind of obsessed with that stuff. Occasionally I've covered a drummer or bassist (e.g., Doug Pinnick!), but was wondering if any of you have been looking for info about what gear a famous bassist has used and have been unsuccessful in finding it. If so, pls let me know the bassist and era, and I will try to track it down.

All this hunting around for drum and bass info really has given me a new appreciation for both types of musicians – which as you know is often lacking in guitar players.

Thanks much for any help!

[noahw1]

I would say for a beginner, lessons are very important as you can instill good technique from the very beginning. Otherwise some bad habits can begin to form. Plus, just getting up close personal instruction from someone better than you is invaluable because it really opens your eyes to what you have to do to get better and what you can do. Videos are fine but sitting next to someone is priceless.

[katibass]

i would agree that lessons are very valuable. you do want to learn the correct technique from the beginning. i know my dad played bass for a few years before he took lessons for the first time and had to relearn a lot of the technique. when my brother and i expressed interst in playing, he got us lessons with the same guy he took lessons from, and he's helped me a lot.

and it can really be invaluable depending on what you are looking at doing with bass playing. it is hard to teach yourself jazz theory, for instance, but with someone to explain it, it's a lot easier. kind of the same thing with learning a complex bass part (take the intro to aerials by korn for example) or learning to play chords. if there's someone to explain it and demonstrate (playing chords on bass is different from on guitar, as right hand tehcnique is totally different), as well as tell you if you are wrong, it is much easier. that's one of the main differences from learning from video, there's no one experienced who can watch and tell you if you're right.

also, getting them interested in playing and practicing is important. you can't get better without practice. i hate practicing, so i don't practice much outside of band class. my brother is in a way on the opposite end of the spectrum. once they practice enough and get good enough to start learning songs on their own, their playing will explode, like it did with him. he never practices what our teacher gives us, but he's learned half the songs in our HUGE itunes library. lol

[Hamrhed]

If they are simply going to play Rock then- aside from some lessons to help them w/ technique and absolute basics- it might be better for them to develop their ears via learning from playing w/ cds. Either way, some lessons early on cant hurt!

Scott Thunes (Frank Zappa & Fear) recently wrote an article in BP magazine about his experience teaching youngsters music theory (he is a big advocate of learning theory)... Should be able to find the article thru a search engine. Ive talked to him thru myspace- he is a nice guy and interested in helping others learn if he can. You might shoot him a pm via myspace to get his take on your situation...