im a super newbie, any suggestions?

[ZBbass]

Biggest thing? LISTEN.
Listen to records you like and pay attention to what the bass is doing.
Lots of other good advice around getting comfortable with the instrument. Lessons are a good idea, and even in the burbs there are usually teachers around. Look on craigslist, at music stores, here, etc.
Also, there are plenty of angry kids in the burbs; I was one of them. You will find folks to play with, even if they're not angry.

 

[mambo4]

+1 to lessons (from a real bass player not a guitar player -the technique & mentality is different.) )
+1 to Hal Leonard Bass Method

for online resources I prefer Mark J Smith's Talkingbass.net.
He does not waste any time with marketing speak click bait BS unlike Some Bass Lessons.
His you tube channel has many useful and well organized playlists.
Including a beginner series:


If you are doing anything resembling "self teaching"
You'll want to avoid bad technique habits, so
consult the holy trinity of safe bass technique videos

 

[Dom Amato]

Practice your tail off and dont get discouraged!

 

[Bass]

The first thing is to make sure the bass is set up properly, with special attention to the proper height of the strings above the fretboard. Take it to a shop if necessary. This will help prevent you from pressing the strings too hard.

Next, learn how to hold the bass with the proper arm and wrist angle. This means the bass should hang at the right height, the arm and wrist should be nicely curved so the fingers land on the notes. There are lots of good videos on this, get a teacher to show you or double check if necessary.

Third, learn how to press strings against the frets with just barely enough pressure to make notes with good tone. There is a technique that involves pulling with the whole fret arm from the shoulder, while pressing against the bass body with the wrist of the plucking hand.

Finally, it would be good for a beginner to work through the Hal Leonard Bass Method. There is an advantage to reading from page music.

I'm repeating what others have already said because it's important.

 

[fearceol]

The first thing is to make sure the bass is set up properly, with special attention to the proper height of the strings above the fretboard. Take it to a shop if necessary. This will help prevent you from pressing the strings too hard.

Next, learn how to hold the bass with the proper arm and wrist angle. This means the bass should hang at the right height, the arm and wrist should be nicely curved so the fingers land on the notes. There are lots of good videos on this, get a teacher to show you or double check if necessary.

Third, learn how to press strings against the frets with just barely enough pressure to make notes with good tone. There is a technique that involves pulling with the whole fret arm from the shoulder, while pressing against the bass body with the wrist of the plucking hand.

Excellent advice.

OP, before you start on anything else, make sure your technique is solid ...and safe. This way you will avoid potential injury problems later.

The link below contains lots of useful information, including some on safe technique which I touch on in post #5.

Best of luck and welcome to the low end.

T

Thread 'How to get started?'

Aug 24, 2014

Hi Everyone,
I'm Toby, and I'm about as new to this forum as I am to learning bass guitar! I picked up a bass for the first time a few days ago (its a friends 4-string, and his amp that I'm borrowing). So far, just to keep me occupied, I've tried learning the bass lines to a few songs (so far I've done Smells like Teen spirit, Rock me like a Hurricane, Seven Nation Army, Kryptonite (3 Doors Down)). However, I wanted to know what the most sensible approach to actually learning to play this instrument is. Should I just keep learning and improving bass covers, or should I divert from those...

• TStorm
• Replies: 106
• Forum: General Instruction [BG]

• 

 

[LordRyan]

Practice bass lines that outline the chords. One good example that is not too difficult is " Eight Days a Week" by The Beatles. Many of The Doors bass parts outline the chords. A simple one that often throws many bass players at first is "Riders on the Storm". A hint on this one is don't the open A string.

 

[turf3]

Play time.
Play time.
Play time.
Play time.

All else is commentary.

 

[BassDaddySky]

All the above advice is great!
One thing I don't see mentioned and that saved my ass while still having fun, was Rocksmith. Seriously, the you tube thing can be a black hole of interacting with the laptop or your phone. In person lessons are amazing but obviously not available 24/7.
And books are a treasure trove of knowledge, but often times read like untranslated ancient tomes.
While Rocksmith (for me on the Xbox) allowed me to become familiar with the instrument and it's fretboard in short order and was great fun as well.
Obviously practice in isolation can get you stuck with some bad techniques.
So the best advice is to take advantage of any learning opportunity you can.

 

[pepj]

TL DR.

The first thing that concerned me was that you've had the bass for 14months and 'haven't really played it'
That points to motivation so I am not convinced you'll be able to progress yourself.
As others said, you need lessons to give you targets ..but choose the teacher carefully and don't waste their..and your..time.
You need to commit quite wholeheartedly or find something else.
Harsh, but true, ime.