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Bass lessons from a guitar teacher?

#2
Find a good bass teacher! I had the same issue and took a chance and wrote an email to DW. I got lucky and I get private lessons twice a month.....Find out what players you respect in your area and reach out to them!! You never know who might enjoy teaching!
 
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#4
brianrost said:
Just because a teacher teaches both guitar and bass doesn't disqualify them as a bass teacher. My first teacher taught both.
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A good teacher is a good teacher....My son takes guitar lessons from a 24 year old music school grad.....great teacher and very good guitarist. My daughter takes ukele lessons from him too! I pay monthly and when my son is away or sick I sometimes take his lessons.....better then just losing the money right? He cannot really play bass.....has never owned a bass. He knows music....I can play circles around him. Not the ideal teacher as he tries to figure out how I do certain things! Its fun but not the best situation.......I hear he is giving a bagpipe lesson this week!
 
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#7
eric_B said:
No, but they gave me the impression they teach guitar mainly and, because a bass is pretty similar, they can teach that as well for the odd one.
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If this is the impression you are getting from this teacher, I would not take lessons from him as he's obviously looking at teaching the bass more as another monetary avenue. You could still learn some of the mechanics from this teacher, but when it gets past that, I think you'll find they don't have much to offer.

There are many guitar instructors that teach bass and do it very well, but from the sound of it, it doesn't sound like your option is going to work out in the long term.
 
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#10
I say at least try out the guitar teacher.

My first teacher was a guitarist, because that's what was available in my town. He may not have had a lot of right hand technique for bass but he knew theory and practices.

He would play songs on the guitar, and taught me to play along while reading chord charts. At the end of each lesson, he'd send me home with the guitar-only tapes (dating myself!) to practice with. This not only taught me how to play standard patterns and improvise over changes, but gave me valuable experience playing with a skilled musician. After playing with the teacher, the dudes in my high school were less than intimidating.

Later on, we'd do songs that I chose instead of jazz standards and classic rock. He'd just figure them out on the spot (except when I brought in Sonic Youth) and write out the chords. Totally demystified my musical heroes and made it seem like I could do the same thing.
 
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#11
eric_B said:
No, but they gave me the impression they teach guitar mainly and, because a bass is pretty similar, they can teach that as well for the odd one.
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They can't. If they think a bass is pretty similar, that confirms that they don't know what they are talking about.

Find a bass teacher. Guitar and Bass are not the same instrument, they demand a completely different mindset. Drive farther if you have to.
 
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#12
As long as the lessons are learning how to read music and understanding rhythm, ear training, playing comfortably, building endurance, basic plucking/picking techniques, knowing your fretboard and strings... what more do you want as a beginner?

A good teacher helps your passion to learn more and be a better player, at some point you'll probably find other teachers for advanced techniques or learn on your own when you have the fundamentals down.
 
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#13
Maybe I should clarify: I am a beginner bass player but not a beginner musician.
I've played keys on and off for over 25 years, I can read sheet music, know about scales, chords and progressions, can play by ear, etc.
Last 7 years my focus was on playing drums, also in a gigging band for 2,5 years.
So I'm familiair with rhythm and grooves and the function of bass and drums as the foundation of music.
I also played some guitar in the past but not much.

Playing along simple songs is already going pretty nice - I still have to learn where all notes are on the fretboard instead of the keyboard.
But that's just practice I have to do myself of course.

What I'm looking for in a teacher is learning good basic technique, getting some useful tips and trying to avoid bad habits from the start.
 
#14
eric_B said:
I was looking around to find a bass teacher not too far from my home but I could only find guitar teachers who also teach bass.
What do you think: take bass lessons from a guitar teacher or try to find a bass teacher?
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A good teacher will be able to teach you theory and fretboard stuff, but proper bass technique? "Proper" as in nothing like guitar. Depends on the teacher.
 
#16
the best way to decide is to ask them to play some bass for you. Then ask them to play some tunes with groove to them, like a 12 bar blues shuffle. If they can play a blues shuffle for 4 minutes and stay in the groove, then he's OK to study with. IOW playing something simple, but so essential to good bass playing, will drive a guitar wanker nuts... He needs to prove to you that can actually play good bass parts .....If they can't do that, move on. You're a beginner - you need to find someone who can teach you solid essentials to build upon.
 
#17
eric_B said:
Maybe I should clarify: I am a beginner bass player but not a beginner musician.
I've played keys on and off for over 25 years, I can read sheet music, know about scales, chords and progressions, can play by ear, etc.
Last 7 years my focus was on playing drums, also in a gigging band for 2,5 years.
So I'm familiair with rhythm and grooves and the function of bass and drums as the foundation of music.
I also played some guitar in the past but not much.

Playing along simple songs is already going pretty nice - I still have to learn where all notes are on the fretboard instead of the keyboard.
But that's just practice I have to do myself of course.

What I'm looking for in a teacher is learning good basic technique, getting some useful tips and trying to avoid bad habits from the start.
Click to expand...


"Bad Habits" are things that do not work for you. I've seen great bass players with awful technique. Don't get hung up by the "proper" way to play bass. just do it .. I moved from 10 years on sax to bass in 2 weeks time, to replace a departing bass player and I played for years before I actually got formal college music education. My bass teacher, who also played guitar, spent a couple of lessons helping me with technique, and he had the same philosophy - if it works for you, do it. If it doesn't don't. But doing it is what's important, not how you do it. I'd suggest getting a book like Standing in the shadows of Motown, and read through those parts. Jamerson will teach you more than most teachers will. There's a whole 2month's lesson in "For Once in My Life".........
 
#18
my old bass teacher is a monster bassist and he knew every bassists I wanted to learn from by heart. well one day I walked in on one of his jazz gigs and he had another bassist there and he pulled out a guitar and proceeded killed it. so don't judge a book by it's cover.
 
#19
I was going to say, "Yeah you need to take lessons from a bass player!" until I realized that I had been playing bass for over twenty (20) years before taking a lesson with an actual "bassist". ;)

I started off learning bass guitar from a teacher that played guitar, piano & cello with proficiency, and he also taught bass, banjo, mandolin and Latin at my high school. I've also been fortunate to learn from a pianist (classical piano lessons as a teen), trumpeter (college jazz band professor), and countless fellow musicians that I've played with over the years . . . and lots of listening and practice.
 
#20
I've only paid for bass lessons once, the school were only too happy to take my money for "Bass lessons" but imagine my disappointment when I turned up for the first lesson to see a guy with a six string. Not only did he fail to teach me anything to improve my technique but he attempted to tech me slap bass on his six string acoustic. Find a real bassist.
 

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