New to learning bass and was taking some lessons through Long and Mcquade but wasn't getting my $'s worth. Any suggestions for someone still green for learning on their own
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New bass player
- Thread starter Killz74
- Start date
Hey- welcome to the club! My suggestion would be Youtube. lots of great stuff there. Hope that helps.
YouTube and listen to and play along with music you enjoy. Bass tabs are helpful. Focus on timing or “groove”.
how green. Where are you in your journey? Can you figure out parts by ear playing along with recordings? Do you want help learning technique? Do you want music theory as part of the lessons? What kinds of things are you looking for for instruction? Is this a hobby or something you want to take much more seriously?
Find a good teacher. Avoid tablature. Try to learn to read music as soon as practical. Learn some simple songs you like by ear to keep it fun. Most methods usually begin with triads and then 7th chord arpeggios and major scale and its modes. Put some time into this up front. It builds the foundation that makes everything to follow easier. It’s easy to gloss over, but harder if you do. If at all possible start playing with other people right away.
All the knowlege of the cosmos is contained in these three chords…
I think diatonic "major" scalesare much a a part of "western music, and therefore are built in to almost every "westerners' musical brains. playing/practicing them requires no visual or notational aid, but only matching the sound with the "unconscious brain map" is a way to match the hands/ears/ with the mindless brain . Eventualy, playing music bypasses the brain (or conscious thought, and becomes automatic. It is wonderful to know what and why you are plaing what you are playing, but such consciousness is unnecessary to playing well. An afterthought if you will. Let the storm begin!
Some people probably think you’re being facetious, but there’s a huge amount of truth in that statement.
Long & McQuade means you're in Canada. Most cities big enough to have an L&M will also have a music scene with independent teachers. If you know people in your local music scene, ask them who teaches bass in your area that they can recommend.
Finding a good teacher can really help in the initial learning phase... while you can learn a lot from YouTube (e.g. Rich Brown - The Brown'stone), getting someone who can set you on the right path early will help you avoid all the bad habits that you're otherwise likely to develop. In person they can spot all of the minutia of your left and right hand, assess your posture and your ear, give suggestions for how to wear your bass and your bass tone and setup... Just lots of value getting out of the gate.
I agree with a previous poster who urged you to avoid tab and learn to read music. A little theory goes a very long way, e.g. from root notes, to roots and fifths, to triads, to walking bass. And when you learn to read music, you can apply it to all kinds of instruments, whereas tab is very limiting.
There's tons of free "learn to pay bass" content on YouTube and some of it is even good! You can supplement in-person lessons with what you find online and see what your teacher thinks when you show them what you learned.
If you move on from in person teaching but still need something more structured than the YouTube jungle, I'm a fan of Pickup Music. You pay one price to access all of their content (including guitar and piano as well as bass) for a year, and they have learning pathways for beginner through advanced, along with special pathways for topics like jazz, blues, slap, etc. The main pathways mix technique and theory and lead you pretty gently but thoroughly through the material. Oh, and you can upload a video of yourself to get feedback from a coach on your performance. So there's a bit of accountability as well, if you benefit from that.
D
Some good advice already. Make sure your bass has been setup PROPERLY!! If it plays like a brick, the bass will become a closet queen. Learn the neck! Practice daily, and don't rush things. Play to some easy stuff (music) at first. If you get stuck trying to learn any part of this, take a break for a few hours. Then go back to it. Learning this takes time and practice. You get out of it what you put in!
Find someone or something to play along with. For me playing the bass without other instruments is as entertaining as watching grass. I use the Chordify app which gives access to play along with songs. Songs come with chord charts and it’s library is huge.
As I writing this, the message above was posted. So, I'll say that I agree, and add this...
The biggest difficulty is maintaining motivation. Regardless of whatever path you take to learn, any opportunity you have to have fun while playing will inspire you to keep learning. That's where playing with others comes in.
The biggest difficulty is maintaining motivation. Regardless of whatever path you take to learn, any opportunity you have to have fun while playing will inspire you to keep learning. That's where playing with others comes in.
There are great online helps, but there is something that can't offer vs. being in a room with an experienced player who can watch you, you can watch him. There's no online method that can watch what you're doing and coach you up.
I'd look for a degreed musician, and learn at least basic reading. FORGET TABS: There is NO professional job that would feature charts of any kind that would be in tab. It's can be a complicated notation that's supposedly a 'short cut' for people who don't want to learn standard notation. Don't fall for that.
You want an experienced hand that will stretch you, but not set unreasonable goals or make you feel like an idiot as a matter of course. And it's a 2-way street: You can have the greatest teacher in the world, but if you are not willing to at least practice what he's laid out for you, you need to save your money. If you're not willing to honestly try to steadily do the work, don't waste your time. Or his either.
I'd look for a degreed musician, and learn at least basic reading. FORGET TABS: There is NO professional job that would feature charts of any kind that would be in tab. It's can be a complicated notation that's supposedly a 'short cut' for people who don't want to learn standard notation. Don't fall for that.
You want an experienced hand that will stretch you, but not set unreasonable goals or make you feel like an idiot as a matter of course. And it's a 2-way street: You can have the greatest teacher in the world, but if you are not willing to at least practice what he's laid out for you, you need to save your money. If you're not willing to honestly try to steadily do the work, don't waste your time. Or his either.
How long did you take lessons for and how many lessons did you take. In that time/number of lessons what were your expectations that made you feel like you weren't getting your money's worth? I mean if you're not nailing Victor Wooten solos after 30 days...
