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Not Sure What I Need To Learn

BadMonk

BadMonk

Supporting Member
Feb 25, 2006
829
567
Allentown, PA - yeah, THAT Allentown
#1
Bear with me while I explain. I started playing music in grade school. Three years of lessons on a Hammond organ. Great fun! I was taught how read treble clef and play melodies with chords. After stopping music for 10+ years, I started playing a recorder because it was comparatively inexpensive. The recorder became a good recorder which became the flute. That turned into an alto sax and then a tenor sax. All these instruments were fun because I knew treble clef notation So, I played songs once I knew the fingering. Except for the organ, I was self-taught.

Four years ago (I’m 67) I started strumming a uke because medical conditions made it impossible to blow a horn. It was fun but I bought a bass a year ago and I started adjusting to bass clef until I found something new to me…tablature. Now, I’m back to just playing songs. I have 400+ songs – all tab - which I play to some degree or another. However, I feel like I should be learning something. Maybe concentrate on the fretboard? Music theory? A genre of music – the blues, bluesy rock, folk, country?

I’m not interested in (re)learning bass clef. For some reason, my brain reads treble clef like it were English, not so much with bass clef. I’m not interested in finding a band either. Maybe I should learn how to improvise? I don’t know because bass is a different animal compared to what I’ve played in the past.
 
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#2
It all depends on what you want to get out of this. I don't see any point in learning to play bass just to learn to play bass -- whether you're 67 or 7. The question of "what should I learn" depends entirely on the answer to the question "what do I want to accomplish?"

My only suggestion is to not rule out the idea of joining a band too quickly. Bass is not a great choice as a solo instrument: To my mind, all the fun is in playing with a band. At 63 I play in a couple of just-for-fun bands at (different) people's houses and am having the time of my life.
 
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#3
BadMonk said:
.... I bought a bass a year ago and I started adjusting to bass clef until I found something new to me…tablature. Now, I’m back to just playing songs. I have 400+ songs – all tab - which I play to some degree or another. However, I feel like I should be learning something. Maybe concentrate on the fretboard? Music theory? A genre of music – the blues, bluesy rock, folk, country?
Click to expand...
Yep, tab is IMO a dead end. After you have learned the tab to a song that is all you have accomplished - you can play that song.

I’m not interested in (re)learning bass clef. For some reason, my brain reads treble clef like it were English, not so much with bass clef. I’m not interested in finding a band either. Maybe I should learn how to improvise? I don’t know because bass is a different animal compared to what I’ve played in the past.
Click to expand...

OK play from treble clef. Treble clef is telling you this specific fly speck is for a C note. Find a C note on your bass fret board -- your fretboard does not care if you will use treble or bass clef. All the song needs right now is a C note.

Now only problem is finding sheet music in treble clef. Piano sheet music is the answer to your problem. Piano sheet music normally has the treble clef telling you what notes to play for the melody and the bass clef is telling you what notes to play for the harmony,

Ask Google for some lead sheet, or fake chord sheet music and play your treble clef melody from that. Gene Autry "Back In the Saddle Again" Sheet Music (Leadsheet) in C Major (transposable) - Download & Print

The Eagles "Hotel California" Sheet Music (Leadsheet) in B Minor (transposable) - Download & Print

If you want to accompany with bass clef chord tones the lead sheet music will have the chord name. Use that Now all you need is what notes are in a Dm7 chord..... long story and if you are interested we will help, just ask.

Have fun. If that did not help rephrase and ask again.
 
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#4
Lobster11 said:
It all depends on what you want to get out of this. I don't see any point in learning to play bass just to learn to play bass -- whether you're 67 or 7. The question of "what should I learn" depends entirely on the answer to the question "what do I want to accomplish?"
Click to expand...

Maybe you found the crux of the matter in a round-about way. See, I never played music to "accomplish" anything. I simply played the music in front of me, as best as I could. It was never an accomplishment or something to achieve. It was simply something that I personally enjoyed, and that was the point of learning the bass or any other instrument. Accomplishing something in music was never a mindset.
 
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#5
Malcolm35 said:
OK play from treble clef. Treble clef is telling you this specific fly speck is for a C note. Find a C note on your bass fret board -- your fretboard does not care if you will use treble or bass clef. All the song needs right now is a C note.
Click to expand...

This is brilliant. That never crossed my mind, and it should have. The other day i watched a YT from "Become A Bassist" about improvising. He said one easy way to improvise is to play the melody, play with the timing, rhythm, notes or whatever to make it your own. He played melody on an upper register of the bass and it sounded good too. This would really help me get to know my way around the fretboard...never crossed my mind at all. Thank you!

I could kick myself for tossing lots of sheet music years ago. Moving many, many times. But I can surely find some keyboard music again, and actually have a mini keyboard next to my basses. This is just what I need to do to keep from stalling with tab. Thanks again!
 
#7
With your music background, you probably would be interested in bass chord charts.

The chords are familiar to you from the other instruments. A chart poster will just give you the fingering patterns for your bass. You can find charts online to print, or buy a cheap poster at a music shop.
 
#9
Sounds like you need to learn how to apply what you already know to bass. Learn the fretboard, what notes are where, how you do scales on bass, etc. You know what notes are in which chord, etc, you just need to learn how to apply this to the fretboard.
 
#12
I grew up with violin.

2 important things to consider regarding clef question.

1 - the notes are the notes. The reason you want to read is to interpret the meaning of others. The reason you want to write is to share that meaning with other musicians. Unless you’re transcribing in a lower register I’d say you can learn to play bass reading treble clef in “most” cases. “Most” because the keys, the roots aren’t different. A song in C is a song in C. It really comes down to your objective. I play bass and often read guitar tabs because, honestly, that’s going to tell you how the song is intended to sound. I read bass clef too so don’t flame me

2 - the chicken spit bingo symbols we use can be discouraging. But not that difficult if you work at it. I’d highly recommend learning to follow both upper and lower if your goal is to become a complete musician. If you just want to play and maximize your enjoyment and maybe jam with others it’s probably not essential.

My general philosophy is that it is always worth learning something new.
 
#13
This is kinda like eating an elephant - you can only do it a bite at a time. But given your background, I'll co-sign on the idea of learning chord tones/arpeggios.

To boil it down even more, I'd recommend learning to walk a 12-bar blues in C, G, F, and Bb.

Good luck and have fun!
 
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#14
BadMonk said:
Bear with me while I explain. I started playing music in grade school. Three years of lessons on a Hammond organ. Great fun! I was taught how read treble clef and play melodies with chords. After stopping music for 10+ years, I started playing a recorder because it was comparatively inexpensive. The recorder became a good recorder which became the flute. That turned into an alto sax and then a tenor sax. All these instruments were fun because I knew treble clef notation So, I played songs once I knew the fingering. Except for the organ, I was self-taught.

Four years ago (I’m 67) I started strumming a uke because medical conditions made it impossible to blow a horn. It was fun but I bought a bass a year ago and I started adjusting to bass clef until I found something new to me…tablature. Now, I’m back to just playing songs. I have 400+ songs – all tab - which I play to some degree or another. However, I feel like I should be learning something. Maybe concentrate on the fretboard? Music theory? A genre of music – the blues, bluesy rock, folk, country?

I’m not interested in (re)learning bass clef. For some reason, my brain reads treble clef like it were English, not so much with bass clef. I’m not interested in finding a band either. Maybe I should learn how to improvise? I don’t know because bass is a different animal compared to what I’ve played in the past.
Click to expand...
Try learning basslines to songs you like. Some are simple; others are complex. All with teach a beginner something.
 
#15
BadMonk said:
Bear with me while I explain. I started playing music in grade school. Three years of lessons on a Hammond organ. Great fun! I was taught how read treble clef and play melodies with chords. After stopping music for 10+ years, I started playing a recorder because it was comparatively inexpensive. The recorder became a good recorder which became the flute. That turned into an alto sax and then a tenor sax. All these instruments were fun because I knew treble clef notation So, I played songs once I knew the fingering. Except for the organ, I was self-taught.

Four years ago (I’m 67) I started strumming a uke because medical conditions made it impossible to blow a horn. It was fun but I bought a bass a year ago and I started adjusting to bass clef until I found something new to me…tablature. Now, I’m back to just playing songs. I have 400+ songs – all tab - which I play to some degree or another. However, I feel like I should be learning something. Maybe concentrate on the fretboard? Music theory? A genre of music – the blues, bluesy rock, folk, country?

I’m not interested in (re)learning bass clef. For some reason, my brain reads treble clef like it were English, not so much with bass clef. I’m not interested in finding a band either. Maybe I should learn how to improvise? I don’t know because bass is a different animal compared to what I’ve played in the past.
Click to expand...

kind of hard to understand theory ignoring the bass clef, but I get your point. I started with treble clef instruments until I changed to baritone horn. I had to have charts written in treble clef because of the fingering. For instance the fingering for C on a trumpet was now a Bb on the baritone. Major brain farts ensued.

That said I had zero problems reading the bass cleft for bass. The first thing for me to understand was the treble and bass clef is really just one big clef continuing from to another. So you aren’t learning a new clef, you’re just learning the rest of it.

The lines EGBDF (every good boy deserves fudge) of the treble clef is GBDFA (good boys do fine always) on the bass clef with one line between them, which is Middle C. You just need to run couple of scales until you are fluid with it. It’s nothing more than a little time spent in the wood shed.

Ok, still not for you? Moving on.

I can’t imagine improvising without some sort of basic music theory training and agree. Dictation (hearing a note (s) and being able to covert it to written paper, either tab or standard notation form) is usually an important part. Frankly I hated every minute of it, but over the decades has served me in good stead.

The other part is nomenclature, what things are called. This will give you the ability to communicate to other musicians verbally. You probably already know what musical parts are by now. Knowing what to call them is a good thing.

For me, the best thing for growth is listening to other players and emulating what is in their “tool box’. (This is where dictation training comes in handy). The more “tools” you have, the more creative you can be.

Best wishes on your journey to fulfillment.
 
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#16
Killing Floor said:
If you just want to play and maximize your enjoyment and maybe jam with others it’s probably not essential.
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That's a good summation of where I am at. Playing music has always been an enjoyment. No stress, unlike a job or career. I'm not geared for joining a band or jam sessions. Medical things and home responsibilities limit my travel these days. Even in the past, I never sought out bands but people heard me play and asked me to join, which I reluctantly.

Anyhow, it's good to have a plan to better my understanding of the fretboard in a practical way using what I already know. I think it's the coolest idea, ever. :bassist:
 
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#18
The obvious recommendation is to learn reading the bass clef.

But since you mentioned it is not an option for you (regretably), here is simple workaround. Take some music you're interested in playing (eg a Real Book, or whatever you want) in treble clef. Then you simply play an octave lower than the notated music (actually 2 octaves, since the bass is already one octave lower than notation). The C on the first ledger line below the staff is played on the 3rd fret of the A string, etc. Actually since there is much more music available in treble clef, this is not really limiting you possiblities.
 
#20
BadMonk said:
Bear with me while I explain. I started playing music in grade school. Three years of lessons on a Hammond organ. Great fun! I was taught how read treble clef and play melodies with chords. After stopping music for 10+ years, I started playing a recorder because it was comparatively inexpensive. The recorder became a good recorder which became the flute. That turned into an alto sax and then a tenor sax. All these instruments were fun because I knew treble clef notation So, I played songs once I knew the fingering. Except for the organ, I was self-taught.

Four years ago (I’m 67) I started strumming a uke because medical conditions made it impossible to blow a horn. It was fun but I bought a bass a year ago and I started adjusting to bass clef until I found something new to me…tablature. Now, I’m back to just playing songs. I have 400+ songs – all tab - which I play to some degree or another. However, I feel like I should be learning something. Maybe concentrate on the fretboard? Music theory? A genre of music – the blues, bluesy rock, folk, country?

I’m not interested in (re)learning bass clef. For some reason, my brain reads treble clef like it were English, not so much with bass clef. I’m not interested in finding a band either. Maybe I should learn how to improvise? I don’t know because bass is a different animal compared to what I’ve played in the past.
Click to expand...

A decent understanding of where the notes are and octaves is a good start. If you want to learn theory then go for it, but it’s not needed. Bassists tend to stay in the pocket and usually stay there. Just keeping the grove is a important step. You work with the drummer, he’s your favorite person. You’re the Rhythm section. Holding it down is your job.

You can get as fancy as you want, but the basics will always prevail. Some of the best in the world are known for holding it down and staying there. Now if you want to get really good like say victor wooten then you will definitely need theory and a good teacher.
 
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