Hello, introduction here, first time poster, first time bassist

[red_rhino]

Yes, most.
View attachment 4194615

Pretty sure I never said "Most flatwounds are expensive." (although they often are). What I said was "Bass strings aren't cheap".

 

[Patrice B]

Welcome!

I’m a newbie too: a little more than 1 year of playing. Don’t be discouraged at first, it took me at least 8 months to get an acceptable level and technique.

Practice slowly and watch a couple of basic technique videos. It’s way better to learn properly than to unlearn bad habits (yes, I am guilty).

 

[godofthunder59]

Congratulations on your new bass! Honestly it is amazing what you can get for under 200 bucks theses days. To get started for practicing I recommend a headphone amp a great tool for learning material, you can play along with YouTube and your spotify play list, lots of online lessons as well. Were practically neighbors I'm right down the road in Rochester and pre covid played Buffalo often. PM me if you want to talk. Link for the headphone amp, they are a little delicate but work great! VOX AP2BS amPlug 2 Headphone Mini Practice Guitar Amplifier Amp for Bass AP2 BS 4959112125087 | eBay

 

[Tom Kinter]

Hey fellas, my name is Matt Willard, I am 40 years old, and I live in Buffalo NY. I just bought my first bass guitar. My brother is a guitar prodigy and has been playing guitar since he was 6 years old. He’s the only true professional musician I know. He plays in multiple bands, and teaches lessons, and a couple of his songs have had some mild commercial success. He does not have another job. My dad also plays guitar, and has for 50 years, but he’s nowhere near as good as my brother. My mom died recently, and it got me thinking, I’m not close enough with my family, so I thought learning the bass could be a cool fun experience to share with them.

I do not, and have not ever played an instrument. I played alto sax in 5th and 6th grade, but I wasn’t much good, and it never stuck. I didn’t know what bass to buy, and I didnt want to spend a lot, because this hobby may not stick, and if it ended up in the closet after 2 weeks
I didnt want to have a huge investment in it. So, I asked my good buddy Tom who has been a bass player for 40 years what to buy. I wanted new, not used. We looked on ebay and amazon, mostly at Squire basses, but they were still kind of pricey. We found a knockoff brand that looked pretty similar. Its called Sawtooth. There’s a sticker on the back that says made in China, engineered in the USA…lol. Anyways, this is it.

Hello Matt and welcome!

So much great advice up above... see, that's what you get here! TB is different! Bassplayers are by nature generous human beings.

I'll throw this in especially because you are starting at 40... make sure you start out right now with your hands, wrists, fingers, arms etc. in proper positions. Doing this now will make things so much easier later one when you get some chops going, but more important, it's a serious health/injury issue - you want to still be playing pain-free 30 years from now.

There are many good vids up there, I recall a couple by orthopedic pros who play bass. As has been said, however, Scott Devine is a good place to start:


This reminds me of how quickly i picked up golf as a teenager, and how many decades it took me to unlearn the bad habits and lose the wicked slice.

Good luck!

 

[jd56hawk]

Pretty sure I never said "Most flatwounds are expensive." (although they often are). What I said was "Bass strings aren't cheap".

You're right, you didn't.
Don't know why I thought you did.

 

[VolverseLoco]

You should check out 'Rocksmith' for bass guitar. It's highly addictive and its the closest you will ever come to playing in a real band without the actual band. You will never get bored of it because there is an entire online community that makes our own songs for it, like I do, to load into it and play on your real bass, any song you ever want to play can be made. Just look it up on YouTube.

 

[red_rhino]

You're right, you didn't.
Don't know why I thought you did.

LOL! No problem. I think I did start to type exactly those words and then changed it. We probably had a moment of Talkbass Telepathy there.

But your point is well-taken. If OP decides to experiment with flats, there are plenty of less expensive alternatives to TI's.

 

[Joshua Pickenpaugh]

Welcome to TB!

 

[jd56hawk]

I

LOL! No problem. I think I did start to type exactly those words and then changed it. We probably had a moment of Talkbass Telepathy there.

But your point is well-taken. If OP decides to experiment with flats, there are plenty of less expensive alternatives to TI's.

I blew it with those Guild strings.
Found them three or four years ago, "new"
35-year-old strings found in an attic, a dozen packs. Should've bought every pack.

 

[VolverseLoco]

Hey fellas, my name is Matt Willard, I am 40 years old, and I live in Buffalo NY. I just bought my first bass guitar. My brother is a guitar prodigy and has been playing guitar since he was 6 years old. He’s the only true professional musician I know. He plays in multiple bands, and teaches lessons, and a couple of his songs have had some mild commercial success. He does not have another job. My dad also plays guitar, and has for 50 years, but he’s nowhere near as good as my brother. My mom died recently, and it got me thinking, I’m not close enough with my family, so I thought learning the bass could be a cool fun experience to share with them.

I do not, and have not ever played an instrument. I played alto sax in 5th and 6th grade, but I wasn’t much good, and it never stuck. I didn’t know what bass to buy, and I didnt want to spend a lot, because this hobby may not stick, and if it ended up in the closet after 2 weeks
I didnt want to have a huge investment in it. So, I asked my good buddy Tom who has been a bass player for 40 years what to buy. I wanted new, not used. We looked on ebay and amazon, mostly at Squire basses, but they were still kind of pricey. We found a knockoff brand that looked pretty similar. Its called Sawtooth. There’s a sticker on the back that says made in China, engineered in the USA…lol. Anyways, this is it.

View attachment 4193968
310×742 18.4 KB
I wanted to post the amazon link, but wasnt sure if it was against the rules. Anyways, I got it for $142 shipped to my door. It had like 200 reviews with 4.4 out of 5 stars. I showed it to my dad, and my bass player buddy, and both proclaimed it to be a pretty decent playable bass for a beginner for the price. 2 of the frets sit a LITTLE high, but not bad. I plan on filing them down. My dad also convinced me to get a clip on tuner for it, so I did. It works, but not great. He also gave me a real little 10 watt guitar amp he garbage picked that works fine. It has a tiny speaker in it though that over drives easily at more than half volume…but it makes noise and works good enough for me to practice with. I am going over there tomorrow to pick up a couple bigger amps that are busted. I am good at fixing electronics.


I had a couple introductory lessons from my buddy, and he introduced me to the G-major scale, which I’ve been practicing forward and backwards. I feel like I have lead fingers. I also have trouble remembering and understanding the notes, so I downloaded these fret labels.

View attachment 4193969
299×672 40 KB
Hopefully it makes it easier.


I learned how to play the most basic beginner song I could find by looking at tabs and watching videos, albeit slow and clunky like. 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes…lol Can anyone recommend some other really easy songs with a cool bass line for a total noob with lead fingers?
I’m leaning toward learning Pink Floyds Money, or Queens Another One Bites the Dust, next.

Any advice, or good learning tools I need to be aware of? As a member of many forums online, I hope this thread is in the correct category, though I suspect that its not. I looked for an introduction thread and either missed it because I'm a bonehead, or there isn't one.

I took up the bass guitar at 48, 8 yrs older than you. Never touched it in my life. Its NEVER too late to start. I have gotten very good (totally subjective) in 4.5 years from then, I think to myself. You have musicians in your family, especially your brother. That is a huge plus right there. If you actually do like it, stick with it. It becomes obsessive, it really does. A girl I work with, 3 years ago started saxophone lessons, she really loved that horn. I told her that time flies, before you know it, it will be X number of years later and you will look back and say, wow, where did the time go and #2, I sound pretty good!. She quit 1 year after she started and now its 3 years past her starting point. If you like it, stick with it and put the time into it, it's SO worth it! Things have changed since the old days of Mel Bay music book music lessons and no internet. People lost interest real fast back then. Its rather exciting now, even at 52 yrs old for me!

 

[BOOG]

Hey fellas, my name is Matt Willard, I am 40 years old, and I live in Buffalo NY. I just bought my first bass guitar. My brother is a guitar prodigy and has been playing guitar since he was 6 years old. He’s the only true professional musician I know. He plays in multiple bands, and teaches lessons, and a couple of his songs have had some mild commercial success. He does not have another job. My dad also plays guitar, and has for 50 years, but he’s nowhere near as good as my brother. My mom died recently, and it got me thinking, I’m not close enough with my family, so I thought learning the bass could be a cool fun experience to share with them.

I do not, and have not ever played an instrument. I played alto sax in 5th and 6th grade, but I wasn’t much good, and it never stuck. I didn’t know what bass to buy, and I didnt want to spend a lot, because this hobby may not stick, and if it ended up in the closet after 2 weeks
I didnt want to have a huge investment in it. So, I asked my good buddy Tom who has been a bass player for 40 years what to buy. I wanted new, not used. We looked on ebay and amazon, mostly at Squire basses, but they were still kind of pricey. We found a knockoff brand that looked pretty similar. Its called Sawtooth. There’s a sticker on the back that says made in China, engineered in the USA…lol. Anyways, this is it.

View attachment 4193968
310×742 18.4 KB
I wanted to post the amazon link, but wasnt sure if it was against the rules. Anyways, I got it for $142 shipped to my door. It had like 200 reviews with 4.4 out of 5 stars. I showed it to my dad, and my bass player buddy, and both proclaimed it to be a pretty decent playable bass for a beginner for the price. 2 of the frets sit a LITTLE high, but not bad. I plan on filing them down. My dad also convinced me to get a clip on tuner for it, so I did. It works, but not great. He also gave me a real little 10 watt guitar amp he garbage picked that works fine. It has a tiny speaker in it though that over drives easily at more than half volume…but it makes noise and works good enough for me to practice with. I am going over there tomorrow to pick up a couple bigger amps that are busted. I am good at fixing electronics.


I had a couple introductory lessons from my buddy, and he introduced me to the G-major scale, which I’ve been practicing forward and backwards. I feel like I have lead fingers. I also have trouble remembering and understanding the notes, so I downloaded these fret labels.

View attachment 4193969
299×672 40 KB
Hopefully it makes it easier.


I learned how to play the most basic beginner song I could find by looking at tabs and watching videos, albeit slow and clunky like. 7 Nation Army by The White Stripes…lol Can anyone recommend some other really easy songs with a cool bass line for a total noob with lead fingers?
I’m leaning toward learning Pink Floyds Money, or Queens Another One Bites the Dust, next.

Any advice, or good learning tools I need to be aware of? As a member of many forums online, I hope this thread is in the correct category, though I suspect that its not. I looked for an introduction thread and either missed it because I'm a bonehead, or there isn't one.

Welcome aboard, Matt! Your transparency and honesty is refreshing. I started playing just after my 45th birthday after being away from saxophone and piano for 30+ years. You are in good company at TalkBass!

The one thing that I think is most important in learning anything is, mindset. Adopt (if you haven’t, already) the mindset that you can and you will get better from now, until you stop trying. The other part of this mindset (particularly with music) is to always remember that it’s a journey and not a race. Otherwise, most fall victim to “burnout”. Also, embrace the fact that it is part of your life and kind of defines who you are, now.

Another thought... Especially in my first couple of years learning, I consciously reminded myself that the musicians that I enjoy and want to play like, have been doing this stuff for a lot of years. Thereby, reminding me to maintain that “mindset”.

You sound like you’re approaching the whole endeavor realistically. I have no credibility to give advice and I hesitate to give any. We all have different levels of aptitude and ability mixed in with different goals and conditions. What I do know is, how to systematically learn and teach once those goals and conditions are identified and accepted.

Enjoy that new bass! You’re gonna dig this scene.

 

[Matt Willard]

Welcome. Enjoy the journey. Playing an instrument is good for you. Especially when the volume is dimed. Congrats, that’s a cool green. Have fun, learn at whatever pace suits you. Don’t get discouraged. I’d say bass guitar is as easy or as difficult as you make it. Sounds like you’re on a good path. Welcome to TB.

Haha, glad you like the green. I HATED it when I was looking at it online considering buying it. I tried to select ANY other color the seller had available, and as soon as I did, the cost nearly doubled! They were really pushing this sale with this color only. When I first got it I hated it a little less. Now that I been playing around on it for a couple weeks, I just feel like its "my bass", and I dont even think about the color anymore. When I do think about it, I feel it has grown on me....hah.

 

[electricGstring]

I’m 55 and just starting out (again... I used to play when I was in high school but that was a lifetime ago, lol!!). I have a Squier CV 1960’s with a rumble 100. Plenty good enough to learn on and I’ve been in the fence about Scott’s lessons... the general consensus is that it’s not necessarily for everyone and that there are possibly better (and less expensive!) options out there. I’m going to go with Roy Vogt’s Teach Me Bass Guitar, mainly because it’s only $80 and seems like a complete “total beginner to competent player” deal, which at this point is all I’m looking for.

 

[Matt Willard]

Thanks for all the replies and encouragement fellas! That's why I joined your forum. Tonight, I practiced my G-major scale again, forward and backward about 20 times. I'm still slow and clunky, but at least by now I remember where to put my fingers for the notes. Also learned my 2nd song tonite, well, MOST of it....lol. Got the first half of Another One Bites the Dust down, also slow and clunky, and practiced my first song I learned 7 Nation Army about 20 more times, so I don't forget it. I'm still slow and clunky on that too. I'm learning though, and having fun! Thanks for all the advice and feedback, dudes!