Grade

dideah · #1 10-04-2011, 10:37 PM

went to bass lessons for the 1st time the other day
and i have only been playing for a year and a half
he asked me to play some songs so i played
Portrait or tracy ,
Mr pink ,
and Donna lee ,

practical wize what grade would i be ? i play these songs cleanly and i dont take no short cut , he put me in grade 2 :S not like grades matter ,

bongomania · #2 10-04-2011, 11:17 PM

There is no such thing as "grade 2 bass", or grade whatever. I think you might have misunderstood him.

dideah · #3 10-05-2011, 12:12 AM

what do u think he ment? but i was thinking to buy one of those rockschoool bass books what " grade " should i be buying ,

Muttleybass · #4 10-05-2011, 08:42 AM

Grade implies education. If you've never had any lessons you haven't passed any grade. You will need to challenge whatever test to earn your grade. In other words, you might be able to play, but what did you miss on the way to where you are now?

It's more about THEORY than "ability". You say you can play Portrait Of Tracy, but can you read and play something you haven't practiced?

There's a heckuva lot more to it than just ripping it up.

TolerancEJ · #5 10-05-2011, 09:36 AM

One can "play" a song, but it doesn't demonstrate whether that person understood the purposes of all each nuance in the song. Why does a certain pattern of notes work so well together?

A few other thoughts which may or may not relate to your story:
- The teacher hears those same songs everytime he gets a new student.
- Maybe the bass teacher hadn't learned those songs yet & was jealous. Hehe.

**jmattbassplaya** · #6 10-05-2011, 10:34 AM

Be honest here, were you playing them THAT well? I could play those songs after two years of playing bass... or so I thought. I've recently listened to my old recordings from when I first started bass and it's amazing how bad I was even though I thought I was pretty good at the time. Don't take it personally. Teachers are there to help you improve - not put you down.

bassgod0dmw · #7 10-05-2011, 11:38 AM

Usually, the "grade" of book (A, B...1, 2...etc) implies what you are capable of reading and how complicated the exercises in the book are. Exactly what book are you talking about here?

Do you know how to read music?

elgecko · #8 10-05-2011, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dideah

went to bass lessons for the 1st time the other day
and i have only been playing for a year and a half
he asked me to play some songs so i played
Portrait or tracy ,
Mr pink ,
and Donna lee ,

practical wize what grade would i be ? i play these songs cleanly and i dont take no short cut , he put me in grade 2 :S not like grades matter ,

Then what's the point of this thread?

totallyfrozen · #9 10-05-2011, 01:11 PM

Nevermind

Depth_Charge · #10 10-05-2011, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dideah

he put me in grade 2 :S not like grades matter ,

There's a saying amongst martial (and especially fight) artists.

"A black belt is only good for covering 2 inches of your a**. The rest is up to you".

I think we can all take something from that

TBAR Shane · #11 10-05-2011, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Depth_Charge

There's a saying amongst martial (and especially fight) artists.

"A black belt is only good for covering 2 inches of your a**. The rest is up to you".

I think we can all take something from that

Use bigger belts..

flyingfinbar · #12 10-05-2011, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Depth_Charge

There's a saying amongst martial (and especially fight) artists.

"A black belt is only good for covering 2 inches of your a**. The rest is up to you".

I think we can all take something from that

Gotta ask...BJJ guy??

On a more related note...I used to think I could play certain tunes, then I got better and realized just how poorly I used to play said tunes. Not to put you down, you may be a little prodigy, but it could be your ego getting in the way.

Scioneyed · #13 10-05-2011, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Depth_Charge

There's a saying amongst martial (and especially fight) artists.

"A black belt is only good for covering 2 inches of your a**. The rest is up to you".

I think we can all take something from that

LOL, I've never heard that saying (not much of a fighter) but it's so very true. I'll take that to explain to my friends why I'm not impressed by a black belt.

On Topic, I played Piano for 10 years and never got "graded". Weirded me out when I got to high school and had people asking me what grade I was in for Piano. I'm not convinced there's any actual structure to learning music. Some teachers use a grading system. Some teach you what you need to play. (Not dispariaging either method btw.)

elgecko · #14 10-05-2011, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scioneyed

...On Topic, I played Piano for 10 years and never got "graded". Weirded me out when I got to high school and had people asking me what grade I was in for Piano. I'm not convinced there's any actual structure to learning music. Some teachers use a grading system. Some teach you what you need to play. (Not dispariaging either method btw.)

Well, "graded" methods do exist for other instruments (e.g. John Thompson's "Modern Course for the Piano"...I made it to 3rd grade before quitting piano lessons...big mistake!

). I just haven't heard of one for bass.