Back in bass lessons......

My earliest bass teacher wasn't mean but he just didn't know how to tech.

 

MAybe be it was because you are a Wookie and got hair all over the place. And left the little poop balls that stuck to your fur. Just a theory.

 

Bad teacher:

. spends a portion of the practice tuning your instrument (seen it)
. teaches you how to play songs instead of how to play the instrument (seen it)
. talks a lot, but not about music (seen it)
. is a clock watcher (seen it)
. is downright rude (seen it)

Good teacher:

. teaches theory, but not in a boring way
. teaches techniques, but not in a boring way either
. encourages you
. will not teach you how to play the bass line from "that song" but rather how YOU could have composed a good bass line for "that song"
. is not a clock watcher

Also do not get impressed by teachers who will pick the instrument and impress you with their playing skill.

My best teachers were average bassists (and I am probably a better bassist than them now) who taught me a lot.

My worst teachers were pros or semi-pros who totally sucked at teaching.

And yes, you can learn a lot by learning to play such or such song, but you can learn them on your own. Don't waste your money on lessons where you pay someone to watch you play.

If you want input on your playing, record yourself or even better: join a band and hear the comments.

Also: you are not married with a teacher. Some teacher I had them for one lesson (whether they were good or bad), others for a dozen, and then I moved on to a different one because I realized I had learn all that he could teach me.

You do not have to meet a teacher every week for 52 weeks either. You can see one for a month, then go without seeing any for a month, while you improve and make progress, but also build some bad habits and then you can see a different teacher.

 

Find a new teacher. My first teacher was a total pr*ck but once I got him to sit down with me he would teach me some pretty good things.

The second guy I went to, I was 15 years old. I told him, "I don't want to just learn songs, I want to learn music theory". He looked at me in a weird way, gave me some exercises, not a single scale... he sucked.

Anyway, back of going to some kind of music school, I think the best way to learn is to teach yourself until you really can get into a degreed music program, if that's what you want to do.

As far as teachers teaching songs, I have no problem with that. It keeps the student interested. The reason a kid picks up a bass guitar in the first place is because he/she likes the sound the instrument makes in a certain song. Teaching the kid something they think is cool and that their friends will think is cool is a lot more likely to keep them coming back for more. Of course exercises, scale, theory, etc is important, but if a kid comes in and says "I want to learn that bassline from X band"; then, if it's feasible, teach it to them and show them what scale and mode the song is being played in. To me, that's good teaching...

...and obviously not the kind of teaching I had.

 

That's more than likely the case, wookies are quite easily hated. No one likes leftover poop balls waiting for the next student.

 

You just have to keep looking for a new and better techaer. If you havn't already found one. I thought I'd never find me a teacher. But one day I found someone on craigs list and he is teaching me all the right stuff to be a full functioning bass player/musician. I am doing stuff that I never thought I'd learn.
Also, it was the balls of poop. It had to have been.

 

I have recently realized that I need a new bass teacher and also to rethink the way I play bass. For the past several years, I have only learned to play songs, note for note, on bass. Yeah, it has gotten me some work in a couple of bands, but I can't play anything on my own, except by ear. I can make up some good stuff based on ear, but I know jack squat about scales, theory, sight reading, chord charts. So, I have taken steps to rectify that. I have a new teacher, Cliff Engel and someone here on the list that I haven't done any work with as of yet.

 

He was a nice guy but a mean man? Is he a guy/man shapeshifter?