Online Lessons

[Mikich]

Good resources
You can also get a lot of information by regarding yourself in a mirror as you play and making the occasional video
And you could post them here sometimes
I’ve only ever seen encouragement and decent feedback on this and the bassbuzz forum when people do that

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

I am liking Scott's Bass Lessons (SBL). There is a LOT of material there, but you need to be honest with yourself and focus on weak-spots. I never had 1:1, but assume the instructor would focus you on your weak spots. Without an instructor, you need to do that yourself. Something like TalkingBass probably provides more structure, but less variety, but that is only what I read (not a subscriber).

It sort-of depends on what path you want to take:

• Learn to read standard notation and REALLY know your fretboard?
• Tablature?
• Playing by ear?
• A "groove" player, with an uncanny sense of "1e&a", complex poly-rhythms, syncopation, note duration and articulation?
• Knowing the scales/arpeggios/modes inside-out?
• Playing with "patterns" (e.g. pentatonic scales)?
  
• 16th notes at 200 BPM?

If you can indicate what kind of player you want to be, others her can probably advise the fastest way to get there.

 

[Minus]

As always, I can't recommend Joe Hubbard's Bass Foundation Course enough! Well structured, and very informative beginners course with weekly lessons, video instruction, and accompanying PDF's.

Agree on Joe. I haven't taken Joe's Foundation course but I have taken his 2-yr Bass Mastery and II-V-I course both of which were excellent.

 

[Bass]

I just picked up the Hal Leonard Bass Method - Complete Edition: Books 1, 2 & 3 and Ariane Cap's Music Theory for the Bass Player.

Some people recommend focusing on one resource at a time. It could be a little less confusing, and you might reach the end goal more quickly.

Maybe try a chapter of each and see which you like better. Both of these books are great, but perhaps they follow slightly different paths.

 

[SBassman]

I subscribe to Scott’s bass lessons but I find it really hard to navigate. I don’t know where to start and I don’t really feel like there is a logical progression. I sort of log in, look at the lessons a bit and then just go play tabs. I’m sure that there is a structure, I just haven’t figured it out yet.

I won't speak specifically about Scott's, but I will offer that if you choose Any online courses, spend Lots of time looking at the samples and the overall structure of how materials are organized before spending the money. I find that a great deal of online stuff has a few pearls of great stuff, along with tons of other highly unstructured stuff. I also find a couple of the well known online teachers making their videos much longer than they need to be - knowing it increases overall view time and possible commercial selling. I've seen these guys spend 90 minutes on something that was about 5 minutes of information.

There Are good sources out there, but my advice is - spend the time exploring before you choose. And, there is no substitute for a human coach/teacher. Good news is - if you wanted a human, and there wasn't someone local you liked, you can do video lessons with lots of talented teachers across the planet.

I recently found Dan Hawkins, his YouTube videos, and his materials at Online Bass Courses and Fundamental Changes, and I think he has excellent materials.

 

[Snarf]

I agree that a 1:1 lesson is undoubtedly the best way I guess I should have prefaced that time is my lacking factor as the parent of a very active 2-year old and a 10U travel baseball player it's hard to find the time to squeeze a 1:1 lesson in. I usually bring my bass to work with me and tool around on my hour long lunch or tool around with a Vox AP2BS amPlug 2 bass headphone amplifier not to wake anyone. Additionally, 1:1 lessons can be pricey and you can pay for an entire year subscription for what someone would charge for just 2 or 3 lessons hour long lessons.

My personal opinion is that those subscription sites are run by hype men who don't really have the student's best interests in mind. It's just "content" behind a pay wall. You'll never get feedback on your technique, tone, posture, execution, repertoire selection, comprehension of the material, etc. Even if you only do a handful of 1:1 lessons, a private teacher can set you up with material to work on that can keep you busy for a while, and correct any bad habits or misconceptions that Mr. Snake Oil Salesman at Pay Wall Content Inc. can't see.

Disclaimer: I teach through a private agency for a decent chunk of my living. I just think it's the best way.

 

[wazzel]

Try studybass. Andrew is local to me and I have been trying to get in for lessons for months, but he is booked up. Even my brother taking voice lessons from his wife if not getting me in the door.

 

[12BitSlab]

My personal opinion is that those subscription sites are run by hype men who don't really have the student's best interests in mind. It's just "content" behind a pay wall. You'll never get feedback on your technique, tone, posture, execution, repertoire selection, comprehension of the material, etc. Even if you only do a handful of 1:1 lessons, a private teacher can set you up with material to work on that can keep you busy for a while, and correct any bad habits or misconceptions that Mr. Snake Oil Salesman at Pay Wall Content Inc. can't see.

Disclaimer: I teach through a private agency for a decent chunk of my living. I just think it's the best way.

I agree with you, but not completely.

I am 100% sold on one to one lessons - in person as opposed to any other the popular video conferencing apps. I take lessons from a local teacher who is a great player and an even better instructor. He has helped me on many things ranging from fingering to right hand technique that can only be diagnosed and corrected during an in person session.

For some people - not all - taking lessons from an online provider such as Scott’s provides value in a different way. Some of these students might be disabled and unable to attend in person. When I first started with my current teacher I was dealing with some health issues that prevented me from driving even though the classroom is only 6 miles from our home. I was lucky enough such that my wife drove me to/from my lessons. Others may not have that opportunity.

Also, some people live where there aren’t any local teachers and their Internet service is shoddy at best.

Others probably have reasons for using the online, non interactive lessons for very good reasons not listed here.

As to whether some online providers are charlatans, I think that some certainly exist. Charlatans also exist in the person to person teaching world as well. Please note that I am not lumping you in with that crowd. I just wanted to point out that every profession has its share of less than honest members.

Again, you and I agree completely on the value of person to person teaching. I merely thought that you might have gone after the online providers a bit hard since many of them do provide value for certain types of students.

 

[Snarf]

^^ Fair enough. I'm just so tired of people yelling at me on Youtube with their self-promotion. It seems that with some of these people, it's much more about them, and less about real learning.

 

[Mr. Chuffey]

I'm also looking to find the best online bass lessons for my particular situation. I played guitar for about 40 years off and on, so I'm very familiar with the fretboard, and theory. I've played in bands for a long time too. About 6 years ago, I switched over to bass, but have pretty much exclusively done standup bass. Now I'm moving over to bass guitar, and I wanted to get going with the proper technique, and become a better player. I signed up for Nathan East's lessons on ArtistWorks, but I quickly got bogged down there, but he skips right over technique, and hardly even mentions it. And he just doesn't respond to questions in a timely way. I can understand how an A list player like that doesn't have the time. In the course, he jumps right into playing chords way up the neck, and that's not at all what I want to do. I'm the singer in my band, and I just want to do simpler stuff down in the lower registers. No jazz, nothing way out. But I don't want to slog through a lot of material for people who are just starting out. I want to increase my library of bass lines and grooves. And I want to get some good exercises to increase speed. It's kind of a funny place to be. Any feedback would be appreciated.