Online lessons…again. (I know, ugh)

[singlemalt]

SBL is solid. Get past the click bait stuff and into the courses, players path, and various genre pathways and you’ll have plenty of road.

And the more casual stuff can be fun as well. It’s a very big site, and getting bigger and better all the time.

SBL is also a relentless marketing machine. You’ll need to tune your preferences and subscriptions.

I’d would suggest you take them up on the free trial. My bet is that you will start to get better deals thrown at you. Discounted memberships, lifetime, or stand alone courses like the accelerators. (Accelerators are not included in membership… one of my pet peaves)

I bought in long ago with lifetime membership. It’s been getting better and better over time. It’s always there, remembers what I was doing, and there’s still so much more i could get into.

The instruction is calm, and includes lesson notes, charts, video, audio, and a ton of other tools.

TLDR: try the free trial and be on the lookout for discounts.

The other sites are also fine. Books with audio support are nice.

A personal instructor seems to be the gold standard, but can be hit or miss for area, and busy schedules. And expensive.

Good luck!

 

[somatose]

BassBuzz is a solid course, but geared toward beginners like others have said. Josh is an engaging teacher and there are still opportunities to learn and challenge yourself if some of the lessons are simple for you. I highly recommend it.

The real struggle is when the course ends and you have to pick your next path. I jumped into SBL’s Jazz Accelerator and learned so much from it, I’m going to go through it a second time to pick up things I may have missed. Their player’s path looks awesome if you are able to get it at a discount.

Agreed with not just playing songs. I’ve spent the last year working through the BassBuzz 50 song challenge and it feels like it came at the cost of continued learning. Working with a teacher or structured course is better IMHO.

Lots of great options in this thread, make sure you’re setting the time aside and enjoying whatever you choose!

 

[singlemalt]

I live in the sticks. There’s nobody around here teaching. I have time when I have time. These conditions are perfect for online learning.

I also have many years of playing in, so I’m not starting from scratch.

I like the content at SBL. There’s plenty to keep me busy. And I really wanted to learn to read. Having tons of material with standard notation, plus the reading courses has been a huge help.

One thing I’d really recommend, if you are doing lots of online, or YouTube learning, is the Vidami Blue pedal.

Yep, I’m saying go out a spend $200 on a pedal.

This thing lets me start, stop, rewind, forward, GRAB A LOOP, and control speed of video content. With my big toe. No more poking at the iPad, grabbing the mouse, keyboard commands… I don’t have to look away or let go of the guitar.

Seriously, my best pedal purchase ever.

The usb Vidami is even less $$$.

If it could hit the skip ad button it would be perfect.

I’ve got another trick for that.

 

[RicheyLather]

A good way to improve your skills is to attend an open mic/jam. You will improve your ear and ability to follow along with songs you are not familiar with. I did this several years ago and it was one of the best things I ever did to improve my playing ability. Good luck.

And they’ll always welcome a bassist! Got in many many bands that way (you play bass? You’re in!), NTM the fun, and the learning experience.

 

[Hurricane Jimmie]

So Anyway, I've bought The Bass Bible by Paul Westwood some years ago. It's got theory, examples of many styles and bass lines from iconic songs. There's also a couple of CDs, tab, and notation. It's about $40 new.
If I could play all the examples in the book (there's about 1000), I'd be an insufferable blowhard. Or maybe more of an insufferable blowhard.

I hope the OP will also seek out other people to play with. You might be surprised with the opportunities for someone starting out on bass.
For me, playing in a group is where The Magic happens.

Good Luck to you!

 

[KevInDaBassment]

I'm certainly not a pro bassist like most of you guys are and I'm neither gigging or really have any plans to....for now at least.

The fact is I feel confident I'm learning songs pretty well and having a ball. But I think I want to learn the bass....not just songs. I'd like to be able to get the chords for a song...no matter what the genre and come up with a respectable bass line and improv on that skill. I'm thinking about some of the more technical aspects of learning like modes and developing enough skills to be able to do some original fills during songs.

Well, there are discussion threads on here about what qualifies someone as a "Pro", but saying most of us are "Experienced" is irrefutable.

Sounds like you want to be proficient in general, not having to pass on a jazz gig or prog rock band because there's gaps in your fundamentals. Definitely a solid goal to have, I would throw in a couple bits of advice though...

- Never stop learning songs entirely. To me, it's the difference between proper grammar/spelling and writing literature. Since good improv skills is one of your goals, having the context of different genres or what the connotations mean to other musicians is essential. To paraphrase Victor Wooten, "We learn a technique and just play it as a technique...but the goal is to make music." Mr. Wooten is full of excellent advice on a near transcendent level of music understanding (not theory, understanding). I would check out some of his workshops and seminars if you can.

- No matter how much it sucks at first, start recording some songs. Even if you're just doing covers, grab some premade drum beats and then throw your guitar and bass tracks on there. Really opened up my understanding of dynamics (not just playing at one volume), arrangement, and developing as a better bandmate, instead of just a bassist. USB audio interfaces, free recording software, and other tools have come a very long way in the past 20 years.

- Play with people, even if you're/they're terrible, play with a set of human beings. Sometimes this can help as much as a teacher can. If you're playing too far ahead of or behind the beat, rig is too loud, or your verse/chorus transitions need work...this stuff tends to come out quickly in a band setting. Don't let it discourage you though, everyone has to start somewhere and most of us began our bass journey with a lot to learn.