This is an excellent thread and I'm so glad I found it.
I bought my first bass about two weeks ago but I learned to read music at the age of 11, played trumpet, baritone, tenor sax (but didn't stick with any of them) in my early teens, then moved onto guitar. Walking bass lines are the reason I want to learn bass. It's a goal I set for myself and I'm surprised at the progress I've made watching youtube videos and learning to play some of my favorite pop songs like "Stray Cat Strut".
I appreciate the frankness of some of the more serious members here but I also value the encouragement of some of the others who are affirming that some of us (I'll be 50 in a few weeks) can achieve some level of proficiency if we put in the time and study.
This is one of the first videos I watched and I found this so helpful. After following all the exercises in the video, memorizing all the lines and playing them repeatedly I found I was able to start improvising, which added to my sense of accomplishment and self esteem.
Also, one video I was watching (I think it was Josh Fossgreen) compared chord changes to a palette of colors, an analogy I understand completely being an oil painter. So you have a key signature and chords like colors which harmonize together in a precise way so that in mixing them you don't end up with mud (or noise in this case). It takes a while to learn to mix colors effectively and have them harmonize in a work of art. It's the same with a musical palette.
I'm going to get a few of the books mentioned but for now I'm going to take it slow and have fun with it. If it gets too technical and overly complicated I'm apt to just give up. Marc from the TalkingBass youtube channel has an excellent multipart series for FREE on the subject of walking bass lines. I'm so grateful for it. I'm so grateful for the resources this website offers too. So many helpful people here.
I'm finding that learning simple chord tones and walking runs, memorizing them (muscle memory) and then allowing myself the freedom to experiment with different flourishes of my own is enabling me to get further than I thought I would at this time. ..and I'm not good by any means. My expectations for my abilities were low to begin with. I think that's where a lot of beginners get frustrated and forget that these bass players they look up to spent untold hours/days/weeks/years in order to make what they do seem effortless.
I bought my first bass about two weeks ago but I learned to read music at the age of 11, played trumpet, baritone, tenor sax (but didn't stick with any of them) in my early teens, then moved onto guitar. Walking bass lines are the reason I want to learn bass. It's a goal I set for myself and I'm surprised at the progress I've made watching youtube videos and learning to play some of my favorite pop songs like "Stray Cat Strut".
I appreciate the frankness of some of the more serious members here but I also value the encouragement of some of the others who are affirming that some of us (I'll be 50 in a few weeks) can achieve some level of proficiency if we put in the time and study.
This is one of the first videos I watched and I found this so helpful. After following all the exercises in the video, memorizing all the lines and playing them repeatedly I found I was able to start improvising, which added to my sense of accomplishment and self esteem.
Also, one video I was watching (I think it was Josh Fossgreen) compared chord changes to a palette of colors, an analogy I understand completely being an oil painter. So you have a key signature and chords like colors which harmonize together in a precise way so that in mixing them you don't end up with mud (or noise in this case). It takes a while to learn to mix colors effectively and have them harmonize in a work of art. It's the same with a musical palette.
I'm going to get a few of the books mentioned but for now I'm going to take it slow and have fun with it. If it gets too technical and overly complicated I'm apt to just give up. Marc from the TalkingBass youtube channel has an excellent multipart series for FREE on the subject of walking bass lines. I'm so grateful for it. I'm so grateful for the resources this website offers too. So many helpful people here.
I'm finding that learning simple chord tones and walking runs, memorizing them (muscle memory) and then allowing myself the freedom to experiment with different flourishes of my own is enabling me to get further than I thought I would at this time. ..and I'm not good by any means. My expectations for my abilities were low to begin with. I think that's where a lot of beginners get frustrated and forget that these bass players they look up to spent untold hours/days/weeks/years in order to make what they do seem effortless.
