HOW DID YOU LEARN? - Page 2

wraub · #21 11-08-2012, 12:09 PM

Like some of the above, learned by playing along with records, moving the needle back and forth.
Problem was, I started with what I was listening to, which was stuff like Yes,
King Crimson, Bruford, Rush, Brand X, Gentle Giant, etc.
Didn't truly realize how high that set the bar.
Then I found Funk, and I went from there.

Later took some instruction in College.

wraub

sloasdaylight · #22 11-08-2012, 12:29 PM

I heard "The God that Failed" and "My Friend of Misery" from Metallica's Black album as a precocious 6 year old and never looked back.

6jase5 · #23 11-08-2012, 11:07 PM

Oddly enough, took guitar lessons from a bass player for a few years starting when I was 9. When I finished learning Led Zeppelin Complete front to back and got bored of finger tapping and sweeps, switched to bass and never looked back.

Every time I pick up the bass, I'm still learning.

Demonjrx · #24 11-08-2012, 11:17 PM

The honest reason I bought a bass is because I couldn't be a guitarist. As terrible as that sounds it's true. I was 16 and I was getting that whole rock star-obession thing going on, becoming obsessed with 80s metal bands who were treated like gods. Think Metallica, Megadeth, Guns N Roses and Motley Crue. So naturally I thought. "Hmm. If I buy a guitar and learn to play enough so people don't throw stuff at me, I'll get all the girls I ever could imagine." Then I met a kid who played drums and a kid who played guitar. Decided bass would be better and easier (4 strings instead of 6) and a few weeks later I bought a bass on Craigslist for like 35 bucks. Since then it's been something I just enjoy. I probably play about 3 or 4 hours a day if I have the time. Not even because I allocated time to play, but because I enjoy it.

Jhengsman · #25 11-09-2012, 06:04 AM

A combimation of working through method books and playing along with records with the added pressure of having to step forward every Sunday to support my church.

slngd · #26 11-09-2012, 06:26 AM

As long as i can remember my dad has had several guitars in the living room, and has played them just as long. Of course this made me curious from a young age, and played around with it many times as a child - even learning the lick to "Come as you are" at some point.
Did not give it ANY extra thought - it just was not me for some reason. And i never thought i had any musical talent at all.

Then around when i turned 17 my musical taste started maturing and i discovered greats such as Led Zep, Beatles, Jimi and so on. (Again in my dad's living room - via his old LP collection)
I suddenly grew some kind of deep instinctive urge to play what they were playing. It just felt so right - so primal.
After discovering the low frequencies of the Beatles records, i knew that was what i was going to play. Just knew it right away.
I saved up for a while and bought myself a bass. Within a week i played various phrasings, and got many complements from both my dad and my moms husband(a very proficient drummer).

That feels like a long time ago. Did not start taking lessons until recent years.

MrLenny1 · #27 11-09-2012, 06:50 AM

Self taught, developed Big Ears.
Wore out a lot of vinyl. Had to work at it.
Some are naturals. My 13 year old student was playing
the cycle of fourths on her fourth week with very few errors.

KJung · #28 11-09-2012, 07:23 AM

Played piano and had weekly lessons for 8 years in the 60's (all the way through grade school). Started playing professionally as a keyboard player Freshman year of high School (71).

Caught the bass bug by noodling around with the bass left at my house in my early 'garage band' days (my parents were very cool about letting us 'practice' at our house). Doubled for a while in early high school on keys and bass (guitarist doubled on bass) so we could kind of switch up. That was a safe way to get some experience prior to jumping all the way in.

The bug totally hit me (I remember the moment) when I walked into on of those grade school/early high school mixer dances and the bassist had an Acoustic 360 (of course, I didn't know what it was at the time). I had heard bassists live before with SVT's and Kustoms and other stuff, but man, when he hit that E string with that Acoustic, I could FEEL the bass (I even remember the tune... 'Nights in White Satin' by the Moody Blues).

Given that I could read bass clef from my piano training, and given I had a basic understanding of music theory and chord contstruction, I became a much better bassist (relative to the local competition) than a keyboard player rather quickly, and that was that. I took 6 months of private lessons at Washington University to make sure my mechanics were OK, and then continued to take every theory class I could as an elective in college. And, there you go! Played 340+ nights a year for over a decade back then.

I was very lucky to 'peak' in the mid 70's through mid 80's, when there was a TON of work in local clubs for electric bassists who could play 'pop jazz and also straight ahead'. I spent years playing some wonderful music with players WAY better than I was, just because I could read a bit, had a decent feel for pop music but could still swing, and always seemed to have a tone that people enjoyed.

I also feel very lucky that, in the 40 years that I have been gigging, I only have been in a 'set band' a few times (very early on, and then for a couple years in 2000-2002, when a bunch of freelancers decided to combine into a fixed band, which was pretty killer. For the rest of the time (including now), I continue to work as a 'gun for hire', which is a very challenging and wonderful thing... always playing different styles of music with different players.

schwarg · #29 11-09-2012, 03:51 PM

Jamming along to favorite records, starting out with the easy ones, the tougher ones can be learned in time after more accumulated time playing and practicing. You pick up a lot of nuances and techniques along the way. Now as far as theory and all that, you really do need to take lessons. XD

Kmonk · #30 11-09-2012, 03:57 PM

I am completely self taught. I seem to have a natural ability when it comes to learning and playing bass. I started on guitar but whenever I did fills, they sounded like basslines so I decided to switch to bass. I can usually learn songs well enough to play them in about 5 to 10 minutes. It takes me a little longer to get all the subtleties down or if the song is complicated. I have about 10,000 songs on my Ipod covering everything from old jazz to classic rock, hard rock, blues, pop, motown, grunge, alternative, country, etc. Sometimes, I just put the Ipod on shuffle and try to play along with whatever comes up.

delta7fred · #31 11-09-2012, 04:16 PM

Totally self taught. I play by ear and must do it quite well as I keep getting asked to join bands.

As a kid (back in the 60's) I wanted to play drums but when we were starting our first school band one of the wealthier kids had a drum kit (he couldn't play it to save his life) and just about every other kid played/owned a guitar so I built a bass in woodwork class and taught myself to play.

45 years on I am still playing and wondering if I should learn to read. I have never had a piece of music for anything I have ever played so when someone hands me one that is probably the time to start learning.

derridiandrift · #32 11-09-2012, 04:17 PM

I started at 11, learning chords on an acoustic guitar that we had at home. I bought a jazz bass copy for $80 at 15 years old from a pawn shop in town. I took some lessons at the music store down the street. My teacher saw that I was picking it up pretty quickly, so he pushed me along, doing two or three lessons a week. After about 8 or 10 months he asked me to fill in for the bass player in his band. After that gig they fired the bass player and hired me (they were all in the 20s, I was 16. My lessons were "on the job" after that.

That band broke up after a while and I started working for a long procession of local bands. I always made a point of learning something from the more experienced musicians on the job. At about 20 years old I formalized my knowledge of theory by doing conservatory exams. I went through work books by myself and sometimes recruited the help of the other musicians I was working with (horn players were always very helpful to me). As the years went by, I was increasingly working with players who had music performance degrees. Every now and then, a player who I've worked with for a while is surprised to learn that my degrees are not in music.

Basically, I learned from people who didn't even know they were teaching me. That, and I've put in the hours of learning, practicing, and playing songs.

MatticusMania · #33 11-09-2012, 04:26 PM

I was thrown in with the sharks and it was a matter of keeping up or getting eaten alive.

DSims63 · #34 11-10-2012, 06:05 AM

I am 49 years old. A year and a half ago I went to see Stanley Clarke at a seminar he was giving at Sweetwater. My brother, the musician of the family, asked me why I went, and I told him anytime you can see a master at a craft work you will learn something. 2 weeks later i bought a pawn shop bass and found a teacher in my area on the net. I am now taking lessons at Sweetwater and playing has taken over all of my hobbies. Prior to now never even thought of playing an instrument. Better late than never.

SquierJazz72 · #35 11-10-2012, 06:52 AM

I took up bass years ago,when our bass player and drummer jumped ship on us for someone else, right in the middle of us just getting a good act together.

Since I was rhythm guitarist, it made a certain amount of sense for me to switch to bass and keep something of our bottom end there. So I traded my guitar for a bass and relearned all the songs on it.

Now that I've come back to bass, and realize my love for it, I'm going back to relearn all the things I only got to brush over the first time around.

fdeck · #36 11-10-2012, 07:07 AM

I started on cello. The middle school band teacher roped me into playing bass for the jazz band. I bought an electric and spent a couple weeks going through my cello method books. Beyond that, it was reading charts in jazz band, and playing along to the radio.

RED J · #37 11-10-2012, 07:08 AM

Was taught the notes on the neck by the first drummer I worked with, who also dabbled in bass and guitar. Had a "learn to play bass with the ventures" record. Put in about a bazillion hours picking up tunes and playing along with records. Went and heard every band I could.

Mike M. · #38 11-10-2012, 07:31 AM

I started back in 1970. Bought a cheap Crestwood semi-hollowbody bass from a high school friend for $30.00 and like many others, sat there with records going back and forth with the needle! The good old days! I was really tenacious about it because I felt like I finally found something that felt like "me." Went at it so much that within a year I found myself in a band.

About 5 years later I took a few "theory" lessons from a piano player and that helped a great deal....even though my knowledge of theory is very basic for the most part.

jbrwn5000 · #39 11-10-2012, 07:33 AM

I learned via tabs. But it took me a year to realize I was still a terrible bassist. LEARN SONGS BY EAR AND LEARN MUSIC THEORY

Mulebagger · #40 11-10-2012, 07:37 AM

I started when I was 20. Every place I looked I could only find guitar players teaching bass ( reluctantly ). That's when I decided to teach myself. All my family members are musicians or singers. Finally decided to pick up the bass to fit in.

My first bass was a Fender 75 Jazz bass ash and maple. I'm ambidextrous but it felt natural to play it lefty. Within the first few months I had my balls busted so many times for playing it "upside down" that I wound up playing right handed.