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Best jazz bass course out there?

10emmanuel

10emmanuel

Sep 2, 2021
455
419
world
#1
Hello mates!

What is your favourite jazz bass course in your opinion? I have bass teacher but I like to complement my learning by doing extra homework. I have tried Scott's course, which I think is good, but It lacks of exercises IMO.

I would like a course in which not only shows me what is jazz and walking bass but also that contains examples, tracks and exercises that I must do in order to achieve goals. I feel that the most of the courses out there explain a lot of theory, which is essential, but let the student alone for the practicing.

Thanks!
 
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#4
Hey there Emmanuel.

Two books that have plenty of exercises to practice:

The Ray Brown Bass Method (Ray Brown)
The Evolving Bassist (Rufus Reid)

Your teacher can help design what you're calling a course, right?

As far as practicing itself - yeah man you're on your own!

I do think the Christian McBride vids on Open Studio are great, and one of his courses has an assistant teacher to guide you through practicing.
 
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#5
ProbablyTooLoud said:
Hey there Emmanuel.

Two books that have plenty of exercises to practice:

The Ray Brown Bass Method (Ray Brown)
The Evolving Bassist (Rufus Reid)

Your teacher can help design what you're calling a course, right?

As far as practicing itself - yeah man you're on your own!

I do think the Christian McBride vids on Open Studio are great, and one of his courses has an assistant teacher to guide you through practicing.
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My teacher does good I think, but I am a book's fan.
 
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#11
bigdaddybass12 said:
Yes on this with a lot of talking. I hate when the instructor talks and talks. Just show me some stuff!
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We are in a period of music instruction where the self-proclaimed "instructor" is more concerned with his fame and internet click-generating business model than the conveyance of knowledge and wisdom. It seems to lead to a lot of bloviating obfuscation.
 
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#13
InhumanResource said:
Books are great and a good teacher is greater but the best thing you could do is go and find a way to play it with other people.
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Pretty much this. Find a guitar or keys player and start going through the Real book. My bass teacher when I was in high school would pick up a guitar and we'd just play through different standards practicing whatever particular concept he was teaching at the time.
 
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#15
I’m guessing you’re approaching jazz on a electric bassist, but correct me if I’m wrong. I played electric for 20 years before I started playing upright and it was then I figured out why I struggled with the Ray Brown, Ron Carter and Buster’s books because these are two different instruments. Most upright players stick to the three finger fretting and electric bassist should play it as a one finger per fret, four finger fretting.
I’d suggest concentrating on knowing the neck from top to bottom first playing through every Major, Minor and Diminished triads 7, 9, 11, 13 chords and playing just though those triads from the bottom of the neck, to the top of the neck then back down in every key. Make sure to connect all the dotes moving across the fretboard as you climb the neck. ... To be honest it'll take about a year of every day practice until you're moving around the neck like a pro and at that point you'll be able to make up your own bass lines and not just rely on other's ideas.
 
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#17
Acoop said:
electric bassist should play it as a one finger per fret, four finger fretting.
Click to expand...

You'll wear your hand out if you're always playing that way. The hand should be relaxed as much as possible, so a more Simandl-esque approach in the lowest positions is what I find to be best. If I have to play an F minor triad, I shift my hand over for the Ab rather than do that awkward stretch. And I have giant hands. Most of the time my hand spans 3 frets and only expands when necessary during the course of playing bass parts. Scales and arpeggios are a different story, those will require an expanded hand more often than not. But I don't play too many scales on gigs.
 
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#18
Acoop said:
I’m guessing you’re approaching jazz on a electric bassist, but correct me if I’m wrong. I played electric for 20 years before I started playing upright and it was then I figured out why I struggled with the Ray Brown, Ron Carter and Buster’s books because these are two different instruments. Most upright players stick to the three finger fretting and electric bassist should play it as a one finger per fret, four finger fretting.
I’d suggest concentrating on knowing the neck from top to bottom first playing through every Major, Minor and Diminished triads 7, 9, 11, 13 chords and playing just though those triads from the bottom of the neck, to the top of the neck then back down in every key. Make sure to connect all the dotes moving across the fretboard as you climb the neck. ... To be honest it'll take about a year of every day practice until you're moving around the neck like a pro and at that point you'll be able to make up your own bass lines and not just rely on other's ideas.
Click to expand...

Probably should have quoted this whole post initially. I agree that you should know all the technical things that you describe. But I take issue with your last sentence about "not just relying on others' ideas." Ray Brown, Ron Carter, Jimmy Garrison, etc played ALL THE BEST STUFF. There is a limit to what is possible in the idiom of walking bass, and they found exactly what worked the best. So practicing all your upper extensions at the expense of learning "others' ideas" would be to ignore the most important avenue of study. And I can say this because I made the mistake of following your prescribed method for learning this style at first. It lead to my playing sounding "forced" and a bit lost. There is a tendency among bassists in particular to forego transcribing bass lines, and that's a huge mistake. You've got to LISTEN to the music, not just apply scales and arpeggios to badly written lead sheets.
 
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#19
It’s been a little while since my busy jazz gigging days, but aside from transcribing lines and solos from the greats and studying with good teachers - the Ray Brown book was one of the best things to get me thinking idiomatically. Also John Goldsby’s book is a fantastic resource for understanding the essence of some great players’ styles through history.
 
#20
I'll be in the minority (on this thread at least) and encourage you to research some online courses and teachers. There ARE good instructors and courses online. Without a firm grasp of the fundamentals, just picking up a book on theory or walking, or transcribing recordings, isn't going to give you what you need in terms of a structured approach to learning and practice. You'll end up with a lot of holes in your knowledge base. Plus, you'll be wasting a lot of time trying to re-invent the wheel of what to practice and how. Things that have already been discovered and honed by teachers out there. Finding a good bass teacher locally is not easy, and sometimes impossible, unless you happen to live in an area with a strong musical educational base. Most of the time the great players are either too busy playing, aren't good teachers with no real pedagocial approach, or have been playing so long they've completely forgotten what is needed to get started and to focus on as a beginner. There are some really great online courses from professional TEACHERS that have it all: video explanation, printable material/workbooks, guided practice sessions, etc...everything you would need to develop a structured approach that will take you from complete beginner to mastery levels. Professional courses that some of these guys have put a lot of time and effort into. Keep in mind that the good stuff and full courses are almost always behind a paywall, since there is literal years of effort into developing the courses and materials.
I've had personal experience using Joe Hubbard's Bass Mastery course and highly recommend him. Joe Hubbard Bass
I have recently been taking online piano lessons too on OpenStudioJazz.com, and they have a really good methodology for that. They also have a bass instructional series that I glanced through, and it seems to be based on the same approach (though not as in depth as the piano side), so they are worth looking into also. Most sites offer a trial period or money back guarantee if you find it isn't for you. Good luck!
 

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