I am going to meet with a bass teacher

[kalo]

Hi all,

I finally decided to break down and find a bass teacher...It's hard to find a bass teacher who actually plays nothing but bass. This guy is a solid stand up bassist who also plays electric bass...

I am hoping that this bass teacher will help me. Ya see I have been playing guitar for 6 years and when I go to play bass I don't know how to keep the groove down...

Tend to want to over play and play lead stuff...I don't want to play bass like a guitarist does.....I want to play bass like a bass player...

In talking with this bass teacher over the phone he said that reading music is VERY IMPORTANT..I am reculantent to read, but I am going to try it as I am thinking that it will help me understand about rhythmn...

My problem has been that I have never copied any bass stuff off CD's and I am wondering if that is what is missing in my playing....Maybe I really don't need a teacher...

Well, I hope that this teacher will teach me theory, sight reading, as well as playing other people's stuff....

I am very picky about teachers and can never seem to find a good one....

I am embrassed to say that six years of playing rhythm guitar as well as lead and I can't come up with anything good on bass...

Hey, at least I admit it....I hope all that changes once I find a good teacher....Sure, I can phsyically play bass, but grooving and coming up with lines is another thing....

I think that most guitarist just get used to shredding and showing off that we don't stop to think about timming and stuff and when given a bass it's a different roll and different instrument all together...

I highly respect it....So wish me luck...Thanks, Kalo!

[Justin V]

I would suggest learning to read just for the sake of learning to read. It's really helpful in quite a few situations. Having a teacher is something I HIGHLY suggest to pretty much anyone starting out on bass wether they've been playing other instruments before or not. There are a lot of things I learned in the first fifteen minutes of the first lesson that it would have taken me a long long long time to learn otherwhise (mostly technique and such).

Anyway, good luck!

[kalo]

Thanks Justin!!!

I'll let everyone know has it goes....

[AaronS]

Good for you! I read the bass clef because I was older and wiser when I decided to make a committment to bass. I seldom bother with the treble clef unless I am having a discussion with someone about the music because I can "get by" on guitar and steel guitar using my ear and experience. About 25 years ago I had an opportunity to study guitar with the great jazz musician, Johnny Smith; however, I decided not to after he insisted that I learn to read. Now I kick myself. A couple years of lessons with him would have made me a vastly better guitarist and musician in general. So, have fun and learn a lot.