Bass teacher, what should I look for?

[James S]

Your deciding to take lessons is to be applauded. Following the advice of jazzbo is vital:

You have a responsibility as well.

Show up on time. Respect your teacher's time and life. Don't show up 10 minutes late and expect a full hour (or whatever) lesson. Don't cancel without 48 hours notice, and rescheduling, and don't make a habit out of it.

Do your homework. You'll get out of lessons exactly what you put in. Don't expect to become much better simply by going to an hour lesson each week, and never studying the lessons your teacher gives you.

(Add one: listen more than you talk)

After you have studied for a while it would be very benificial for you to take a few lessons from a number of different teachers. As you can see by the above posts, there is quite a difference of opinion as to the qualifications of a "good" teacher. Until YOU have some experience taking lessons you really do not have a basis to judge good from bad.

If you really want to become a good musician do not let your own excuses keep you from paying the price. When it comes to lessons many students cop out by saying things like, "I can't afford it", "it's too far away", "I just want to do my own thing", etc.

At your stage, just make sure that you really enjoy being around your teacher and you dig how he plays.

 

[stephanie]

Originally posted by IVIudvayne
stephanie.... by any chance is/was you teacher a buitar player???? most bass players dont tell there students to play stuff by ear... the reasoning behind that is that when you hear something you like you will most likeley end up playing it unconciosly and decide that you came up with it and it also tends to get people stuck in a particular key....

My teacher doesn't play guitar as far as I know. He was trained in upright bass. I'm not sure I understand your reason for asking the question. Transcribing songs from CDs is all part of my ear-training. I actually picked a CD at random, and a song that I never really paid much attention to the bassline before.

 

[IVIudvayne]

i just wondered because playing by ear is ussually a more common guitar practice than it is with bass... i just found it odd that you and your teacher did that... i wish my teacher did that i just wondered, most of the time bassits and bass teachers seem more intent on modes, scales and more indepth music theory... i.e. "jazz theory"

 

[stephanie]

Originally posted by IVIudvayne
i just wondered because playing by ear is ussually a more common guitar practice than it is with bass...i just found it odd that you and your teacher did that...i wish my teacher did that i just wondered, most of the time bassits and bass teachers seem more intent on modes, scales and more indepth music theory...i.e. "jazz theory"

I do learn "jazz theory"...lots of it...learning how to read chord charts and such. Learning scales, modes, chords, interval recognition, etc. is all helpful when learning music by ear.

All the regulars on TB here, I'm sure, know how theory obsessed I am.

 

[moley]

Originally posted by IVIudvayne
stephanie.... by any chance is/was you teacher a buitar player???? most bass players dont tell there students to play stuff by ear... the reasoning behind that is that when you hear something you like you will most likeley end up playing it unconciosly and decide that you came up with it and it also tends to get people stuck in a particular key....

Nah. Learning to play by ear is something any musician would benefit from. And learning by ear doesn't make it more likely that you'll unconsciously plagiarize something. The unconscious-plagiarism thing isn't to with playing something by ear, it's to do with playing something that came into your head, that you've actually heard before but you don't realise you've heard it before.

And, IME, it does not get you stuck in a particular key. Why should playing by ear get you stuck in a particular key any more than playing from notation?

In fact, I've found that what I've learned from playing by ear has made it far easier for me to transpose things.