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Jazz, blues, reggae, and rock bassists: the absolute beginner's guide?

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DrowninSymphony

Mar 3, 2008
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#1
Hi all. I am tired of sucking. Plain and simple. I want to become a good bassist. Not necessarily an AWESOME bassist, just being good would suffice. Problem is, I can't seem to find where to start. I want to learn how to play jazz, blues, reggae, and rock, as I think those genres would allow me to play anything else I would want to. So, I want to ask all of you guys to help me (and other people in my situation) progress. I want to know what bass players to listen to in each genre, which albums to go by, where to start my learning all around?!

I really hope to get help, I really love playing bass, but I don't know how to get better. By the way, right now I don't have time to take bass lessons, so please don't suggest that. I just want to get the overall feel for the instrument, to understand it and be able to dominate it decently.

Thanks in advance, any help is much appreciated.
 
#3
I don't have a teacher, as I said, I don't have time for lessons... And I didn't mean just listening, I meant learning songs and listening to bassists that would help me develop my technique... Thanks for the quick response, by the way. Hope you can help me.
 
#5
DrowninSymphony said:
I want to become a good bassist.By the way, right now I don't have time to take bass lessons.I just want to get the overall feel for the instrument, to understand it and be able to dominate it decently.
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#6
There are no specific songs to learn to become a better musician, just learn what you like and expand from there. It's OK to get suggestions from others to expand your horizons, but I assume that you have some musical tastes of your own to draw from.
 
#7
Oh boy... you guys are not getting me. I just want to know good bassists to learn from, I do have my own taste. But I have no idea what bands to listen to. I just want suggestions, because my musical knowledge in those genres is basically non-existent. I know very little of each, and you guys know LOTS of great bassists. I just started playing a little while back, and want to learn from good players. So please, just suggest some players for me to listen to, some songs you think would help me understand the genre, to help me build my technique. Hope this makes things clear now.
 
#8
check out Ed Friedland's book 'Bass Grooves'

The whole premise of the book is that it provides you with enough information to be able to play any genre just by making some common sense adjustments to your bass line.

It is centred around a drum machine (he tells you how to programme it to practice the tracks), but that's also a *great* investment towards becoming a better bass player.
 
#10
DrowninSymphony said:
I just want to know good bassists to learn from, I do have my own taste. But I have no idea what bands to listen to.
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:confused:

DrowninSymphony said:
...and want to learn from good players. So please, just suggest some players for me to listen to...
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Will Top 30 do ?

DrowninSymphony said:
So please, just suggest some songs you think would help me understand the genre, to help me build my technique.
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:mad:

Review point n°1 & n°2.
Read TB.
Think "Google" &...

Be Patient! :)

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=28
 
#12
So far, the only person who gets my point is ba$$. If he allows it, I will post the PM he sent me. He RECOMMENDED (key word) me to listen to the band Sublime, for various reasons. He said their stuff is easy to learn, fun to play, they mix rock with reggae, and have a great groove influence. THAT is what I want. Hopefully this will clear things up.

And regarding this:

LowDown Hal said:
I strongly suggest you find a teacher. Many lesson plans are 1/2 hour a week. You do have the time if you want to find it.

Otherwise there are tons of genre books...
Jon Liebman has an entire series, I have the Blues Bass book and like it.
http://forbassplayersonly.com/
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I am a high-school junior, and have 5 AP classes, plus a programming-oriented study plan. I swim 6 days a week, twice on Saturdays. I get home every day at 8:30 PM, or later, do a BUNCH of homework, and only get to play bass by myself at about 10:30-11:30, and SOME Sundays for 1 or 2 hours when schoolwork allows it. When I say I have no time, I mean it. I also live in the Dominican Republic, a Caribbean island where music is limited almost completely to rap, merengue, salsa, bachata, and other local genres I despise, so most of the books I have found are oriented towards those genres, and online stores charge too much shipping if I wanted to have them delivered here. So yeah... :help:
 
#13
Looks like you're screwed until you graduate then because there's so much more to learning bass than JUST listening to CD's and playing along. That helps but it helps even more when you can sit down and get into the theory and musicality of bass playing.
 
#14
I know it sounds like I will suck forever, but really I just want to get the feel for the instrument right now, so when I have time (perhaps next year: my school's junior year is a lot more intense than the senior year) I can learn theory and apply it better. I want to know what jazz, rock, blues, and reggae bass sounds like according to different artists. Anyways, here's the messages ba$$ sent me:


ba$$ said:
Sure, post away. These artists are not "the best", but they will be easier for you to hear/learn to start off.

Listen especially to the CD "40 oz of freedom" and Self Titled album.

Other fun rock bassists to learn from:

311 - Funky, some slap, usually thoughtful basslines

Chili Peppers - Flea is one of my favorite bassists. Might be a little too hard for some of his songs, but a good reference point to hear great basslines

Rage Against the Machine - Good rock/grundy bass lines that are also tasteful and sometimes melodic

CAKE - Very fun basslines that are usually easy but sound awesome with the song

The Flaming Lips - Some examples of rock influenced bass with effects and definitely some creative lines

Rancid - Fast, punk bass with very tasteful lines, a good solid tone and lots of use of scales and fast walking ska-type basslines

Slightly Stoopid - Similar to Sublime basslines

Tool - Rock/grundy basslines kind of like Rage, but definitely different in style



That'll cover a lot of mainstream rock/funk/reggae/hard rock stuff. Most of these bassists are well respected and talented musicians. They are not "the best", but at your level, I'd say they are great starting points.

ba$$
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And:

ba$$ said:
Listen to a lot of Sublime basslines. For me starting out, 8 years ago, it was really helpful. They aren't too hard, and are filled with a great blend of rock and reggae and just general groove influences. A lot of laid back stuff. Trust me, I know you're heard of Sublime before - listen to those basslines. Message me when you're a master at it and I'll give you some more recs
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#17
Well first of all stay away from tabs, youre better off looking at the guitar chords of the song and playing the root, then adding upon it to make it more interesting. http://www.studybass.com/ is a great start for beginners, just do a couple of lessons a day and practice practice practice. Another way to learn faster is by making a band. Make sure they are all at your level so that you all can learn from each other and eventually play some listenable music. An experienced drummer can help you stay in sync with the rest of the band, if you dont have a good drummer, make sure to get metronomes (for yours and your neighbors sake :D). Also, don't play the song note for note, its called jamming for a reason. Jamming gets a lot easier after learning music theory. Although you may get better quickly, don't expect to be Flea after 2 months of practicing. Make sure you have a loud enough amp to be heard. Why even start playing if no one can hear you?
 
#19
DrowninSymphony said:
I know it sounds like I will suck forever, but really I just want to get the feel for the instrument right now, so when I have time (perhaps next year: my school's junior year is a lot more intense than the senior year) I can learn theory and apply it better. I want to know what jazz, rock, blues, and reggae bass sounds like according to different artists. Anyways, here's the messages ba$$ sent me:
Click to expand...

You'll be alright. You're young and you have an entire life ahead of you. There's plenty of time to get better but just remember that there's a lot to learn in the bass world than playing to CD's. Don't rush yourself. Your priority should be school right now anyway so you're doing the right thing.
 
#20
your ear will be different then mine so what worked for me may be ****** for you. i have to no real training, i can not read music but i play by ear. i took guitar class in school but our teacher was the schools only music teacher till my later years when we got voice and orchestra teachers (by then i was independent study) so mostly i learned from friends. i got tabs from the library computers to get started but they really didnt help as much as i wanted.

i hear a line be it bass or synth and i can repeat it. i listen and hum it. i get single lines stuck in my head all the time. BUT i still want to learn theory after all these years, im just glad i can play by ear instead of needing aids like sheet music.

the players that caught my ear when i first started were guys like Les Claypool, Victor Wooten (i do not slap at all but i listened to the notes), Jaco Pastorius. but most important was the whole band, ALL the instruments. the bass might sound great but if the rest is generic then the bass loses life. even now i dont really try and find new bassist to listen to but good bands with good bassists so i can enjoy it.

to answer your question, here is a small list of some bands
Weather Report
Primus
Sonic Youth
Frank Zappa

buuuuut bass players are not the only ones that make me play better its everyone and everything. you can not limit yourself.

disclaimer: none of this may make since but i tried
 
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