How many hours to learn bass?

[Justinian]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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"Mastering" is the more appropriate word

I've been making bagels and playing bass for almost 14 years and I'm still learning.

It takes a lot of time, mental focus and some luck/talent!

 

[k5koy]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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I would answer a lifetime. Koy

 

[Funky Ghost]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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Steve Norman had been playing 1 year when he supplied the solo for True by Spandau Ballet.

Ability and aptitude as much as practice and application determine a persons leaning/playing level. Some people take to things like a fish to water. Others take a long time but the end results can be similar.

 

[DrMole]

I am thousands of hours from ultra- high-level playing, regardless of how the hours are broken down.

Being really good though; a few hundred hours of focused practice and live playing. Maybe.... Fortunately, not starting from zero in the musical world. Aptitude, focus and desire seem to be common traits in the mist successful.

 

[mrcbass]

5.. I mean 3! Ahhh
hhhh
hhhh!..
....
….
..

 

[dpbass66]

Your whole life... as is true for any musical instrument. You never get to a point where you just say, "OK, I got this now...". If you do, you're just giving up, but that doesnt mean you dont have a lifetime of stuff to learn. You may get to the point where you are satisfied for how/what you want to play, but again, that doesnt mean you have "learned to play the bass" in the sense that you are finished with the learning part.

 

[Sputter]

It's a brave and fair question. I think it's best to answer the question this way - What can accelerate the learning process?

1. Lessons from a good teacher. Emphasis on good teacher for you, not necessarily a bass genius. This saves hours of doing the wrong things.
2. Practice the right way.
3. Practice a LOT.

It's like how long does it take to fly a plane? It's not about what you know, so much as how much flight time in the cockpit. When you see a great bass player, you are seeing at at the culmination of hours of practice.

 

[armelind]

Depends on if the person has an ear for music. If they do, it will be sooner. If they dont, then it could take longer. It also depends on if they are doing it because their parents make them or if they want to do it on their own. It can also depend on the type of music and their schedule.
A kid can be good enough to play live in 6 months probably if they are dedicated. An adult can take longer due to family matters and work schedules.

 

[ruju]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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It's not a finite number. Hopefully like any craft you can continue to learn and develop...I've been playing for 25 years and I'm still learning

 

[bassdude51]

Let's see. E chord, E string. A chord, A string. D chord, D string. G chord, G string. There's songs that can be played with just those 4 open strings. About 10 minutes to learn how to play bass? Ain't that hard.

Other than that, learning how to play bass is a never ending lesson.

 

[Kevin Lynch]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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I too have been playing for decades (3 to be exact) and I never stop learning. I would say it depends on ones dedication level and commitment to learning.

 

[Old man]

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book 'Outliers' claims that, to master most any instrument or profession it takes approximately 10,000 hours of devoted practice and engagement. I think this may be where the 10,000 hour claim comes from. It is a good book, by the way.

 

[40Hz]

Everyone attributing 10,000 hours to a Gladwell mistake misses the point he makes about all the other factors that went into the timing of it. 10,000 hours, plus the perfect combination of environment, place & time, demand, resources, etc.

Not to mention the fact that the Gladwell study has been largely debunked by modern researchers. More about that research and its findings can be read here.

That’s the problem with broad sweeping conclusions of many such studies like the “10,000 hours to mastery” myth or the “fishbowl effect.” They sound so ‘right’ despite being flat out wrong.

There’s a word for that. It’s called: truthiness.

Truthiness is the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals, without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts. Truthiness can range from ignorant assertions of falsehoods to deliberate duplicity or propaganda intended to sway opinions.

 

[Mike Whitfield]

Let's see. E chord, E string. A chord, A string. D chord, D string. G chord, G string. There's songs that can be played with just those 4 open strings. About 10 minutes to learn how to play bass? Ain't that hard.

Other than that, learning how to play bass is a never ending lesson.

Yeah, but unless the song is played in 4/4 time where the second '4' is minutes, most of us aren't going to be playing actual songs in ten minutes unless we already play a fretted stringed instrument.

My theory is that the rounder the large number, the higher the probability that the number was plucked from thin air if not, um, from some place considerably less fragrant. Therefore virtually every rule quoting 10,000 hours (or minutes, days, furlongs, Smoots, furlongs per fortnight, firkins per Svedberg, seriometer per jiffy, etc.) can safely assumed to be highly inaccurate. Time was even historians operated this way, so that one might chronicle an army of 10,000 men which actually consumed 800 meals at a sitting. Took us a long time to realize that the "10,000" was thrown out for a certain affect rather than as an attempt at accuracy, even though far as I can tell we as a species have never stopped doing it. Therefore "It takes 10,000 hours to learn sax" merely means "It's hard to learn sax", but with a government grant consumed.

 

[bassdude51]

Yeah, but unless the song is played in 4/4 time where the second '4' is minutes, most of us aren't going to be playing actual songs in ten minutes unless we already play a fretted stringed instrument.

My theory is that the rounder the large number, the higher the probability that the number was plucked from thin air if not, um, from some place considerably less fragrant. Therefore virtually every rule quoting 10,000 hours (or minutes, days, furlongs, Smoots, furlongs per fortnight, firkins per Svedberg, seriometer per jiffy, etc.) can safely assumed to be highly inaccurate. Time was even historians operated this way, so that one might chronicle an army of 10,000 men which actually consumed 800 meals at a sitting. Took us a long time to realize that the "10,000" was thrown out for a certain affect rather than as an attempt at accuracy, even though far as I can tell we as a species have never stopped doing it. Therefore "It takes 10,000 hours to learn sax" merely means "It's hard to learn sax", but with a government grant consumed.

LOL............"what he said!"

 

[lfmn16]

How much paint do you need to paint a house? That question makes about as much sense.

If you really want to learn the bass, get started. The only "fact" you can count on is that the more time you put in, the quicker you'll learn.

 

[micguy]

If you want to sound like a complete hack, you can "master" that in a few months. If you want to sound like you're naturally talented, that takes years of hard work.

 

[999Brent]

I guess what also needs to be taken into account is inventiveness on the instrument.
A lot of the bass masters while mastering their bass came across a new technique or sound that came naturally and that also pushed the instrument and music along where others copied them.
I am not sure how you fit into the model when you do your own thing and that inspires others as well.
I am not saying these players did not have a good grounding before their new discoveries, just that it is really outside this model to a degree.
I guess that is a good thing about the Bass is it is a young instrument so while there is a lot of learning there is also a lot of discovery to be had.
Violins for example have had many 100s more years of discovery on them...

 

[bassdude 1979]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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I started playing songs when I picked up the bass. I had bought a bass and an amp and I had no idea how to play, but I had a very good ear for music. I had taken piano in school a few weeks prior.
I never learned how to read music, or studied music theory. I don’t count, I play by feel. I also play drums, some guitar, and some piano. It comes naturally to me. I have been playing 40 years, and don’t have any intention of stopping. The first song I learned was Big Eyes by Cheap Trick. The first Album I learned was Rush 2112.

 

[Durham52]

So has six pages of responses confirmed that there is no exact (or even approximate) length of time which can be identified?
Firstly it depends on how each of us defines "learn to play bass". Garage band level?, all round session muso?, modern jazz wonder kid?, major orchestra classical bassist? Then factor in innate musical ability, or lack there of, previous experience with another stringed instrument, or any other instrument. Then there's the "how much do you want it" factor. Does every player with the same number of years playing under their belt as their idols, match their idols ability and virtuosity? Of course not. (some might actually surpass them.... But most of us won't....)
I'd argue that all musicians have an inquiring mind and a degree of creativity, or they wouldn't bother picking up an instrument in he first place, so the learning process never ends, as we all know we won't ever know everything.