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Scott's Bass Lessons - review for those curious
- Thread starter DarkStar90
- Start date
At least he doesn't say "slap like now".
Im a fan of Josh Fossgreen. Bassbuzz is for beginners. And then his main channel is more intermediate. Ymmv
Thanks for the list of resources! I'm getting after that.
Actually, when I was a beginner, that flea video was perfect. To this day, I know how to play blackeyed blonde, get up and jump, skinny sweaty man just from that video. Back then, Flea didnt know too much theory, but neither did I. But I had a great time watching and playing the lines Flea plays. After all, that video is supposed to be focused on improvised jamming, i believe the phrase 'spontaneous improvisation' is in the title of the video. The jams with Flea and Chad are scattered throughout the entire lesson, so unless you watched a pirated copy on youtube (you cant complain about free content), the interview parts with River Phoenix aren't that bad. If anything, that video just proves you don't need complicated instruction to get started. Before youtube was around, I watched that video many times.
Also, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from trying SBL on their own. I understand it works for some people, but marketing doesn't always work on me. As I stated, I studied bass in college and university. So, I may be more aware of the educational material that is NOT needed. Less studied musicians may not be as resourceful, but if you learn to analyze tunes, solos, basslines, melodies, arrangements, grasp the fretboard, listen to a wide variety of music, and can play with good time feel, you don't need SBL, you need to keep studying on your own. If you are at the point where you feel like you have an intermediate knowledge of theory and bass playing, you DONT NEED SBL, you need a private instructor to help you hone in on your own playing.
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I have also been on the fence about Scott's lessons. I have signed up for the 14 day trial twice now, and I truly want to love it. I think I'm more in need of a structured, linear program- no fault of Scott's. He's super nice (but chatty for those with limited time).
That said, I favor & can highly recommend Roy Vogt's Teach Me Bass Guitar course. Roy is a natural teacher and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. The practice option is excellent, and so is the section where you jam with the band. The lessons are huge so I recommend chunking.
I also love Ari's bass theory course. Her book now comes in spiral bound which helped a lot. The online lessons also have a "practice with me" section that reviews and applies concepts learned.
To learn reading, I use the Hal Leonard Bass Method books by Ed Friedland because method books are really how I've learned music since I was 9.
So yes, I enjoy watching Scott's lessons, but I feel the three I mentioned have been my go-to instruction with my bass education. Hope this helps.
That said, I favor & can highly recommend Roy Vogt's Teach Me Bass Guitar course. Roy is a natural teacher and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. The practice option is excellent, and so is the section where you jam with the band. The lessons are huge so I recommend chunking.
I also love Ari's bass theory course. Her book now comes in spiral bound which helped a lot. The online lessons also have a "practice with me" section that reviews and applies concepts learned.
To learn reading, I use the Hal Leonard Bass Method books by Ed Friedland because method books are really how I've learned music since I was 9.
So yes, I enjoy watching Scott's lessons, but I feel the three I mentioned have been my go-to instruction with my bass education. Hope this helps.
one of his lessons with 'The Beast' credited to Billy Sheehan, really helped me move around the fret board.
I'm glad it helped you improve. I'm just trying to say that I learned all that stuff without SBL or a college program, way before youtube was even a thing. I can prove it.
Sightreading, you don't need video instruction for that, you just have to do it. Learn the notes on the staff, learn subdivisions and go. Pick up any bass clef book, and read through it without memorizing and without stopping while a click plays. Theres a sightreading lesson.
Chords and arpeggios can be learned once you understand that a scale can be harmonized, and chords are built in thirds from each degree of a scale. Each of those chords will be compatible with the chords scale (mode) that is built from the same root. Understand inversions and voicings (arrangements of chord tones), and learn to apply fingerings to the bass. You just learned how to build chords. Is it really necessary to now be shown all those chords on the bass? Or to have to sit through an eight hour course to learn what i just said? No, fingerings have multiple possibilities on a fretboard and if you know the chord tones in a given chord, its not hard to figure out different fingerings and you will learn more if you figure it out yourself. Once you have a few fingerings for each arpeggio, play through a few permutations a day to build up vocab. Thats what the SBL site will teach you in regards to chord tones.
Thats real instruction, learning how to learn. It cost 45$ CDN per month. I can think of other resources.
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That is just how Joe is and how he talks. He was the guest of honor here in Houston on Veterans Day 2019 (his father was killed in action) and his speech was really good and very moving, along with a good dose of humor. Personally I admire the man and I love his playing and his considerable body of work. I just never saw him as a teacher.
I have instructed in person for years and I don't have any Youtube videos.
I have sampled Scott's bass lessons and I agree with the OP's assessment that they are too long for the content delivered. I think there is an entertainment factor and channel building factor that is not nec. in the student's best interest.
The channel owner is interested in keeping you watching for longer and longer periods of time.
That's how they make their money, or at least some of it.
IMHO- You can always find the answer faster on your own. There is great value in real person to person instruction that Youtube cannot touch.
If and when we can return to teaching in person will be a great day for potential bass students.
I have sampled Scott's bass lessons and I agree with the OP's assessment that they are too long for the content delivered. I think there is an entertainment factor and channel building factor that is not nec. in the student's best interest.
The channel owner is interested in keeping you watching for longer and longer periods of time.
That's how they make their money, or at least some of it.
IMHO- You can always find the answer faster on your own. There is great value in real person to person instruction that Youtube cannot touch.
If and when we can return to teaching in person will be a great day for potential bass students.
That's all well and good that you learned those things on your own....and I'm afraid there's a bit more to learning sight reading then telling someone to in essence "go pick up sheet music and play through it without stopping "...sure, I guess that is sight reading...but what if you can't read music..? Do you give a six year old the latest Stephen King novel and tell them to "open the book and keep reading" to get better or so the need to get more of an understanding of reading concepts first..?( I wouldn't suggest giving a 6 year old a Stephen King novel to read, btw...although I'm sure it would be hilarious to me to see one do it someday)....
I'm sure I could have picked up sight reading somewhere else as well had I found the right vehicle...SBL happened to be the right vehicle for me at the time...sure there are other resources out there that will help you get the job done...it's been that way since before Mel Bay...I'm saying I didn't find it a complete waste of time and learned quite a bit...there seems to be some bs with how everything works, but hey, there some bs with how the world at large works...for about $100 a year, I'm ok with occasionally sitting through some bs to find nuggets of info that I can use to help me perceive a concept in a different way..that's where I found the value...it's more of a complementary tool to taking private lessons the way I see it...
Fair enough, but im really trying to tell you that the nuggets of information that are improving your playing, that you pay for, are not exclusive to SBL. You're paying because you bought into the marketing. My point is that, you don't need to sign up for some program for tiny music lessons like that. Music is public domain, dig a little deeper, use some of your own resourcefulness, and you could have found all that info for free. My university professors reminded me of that all the time. Good Professors know better than most people that students are taught how to learn, they aren't going to memorize every lesson. Public Domain analysis on Bach's music have literally been around for more than 300 years. Nothing on SBL will teach you more than material already freely available. In my opinion, disagreeing with that truth is just laziness.
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I started playing bass in earnest about 3 years ago. A year into it, SBL had a good introductory price, so I tried it out for a year. I feel that it got me to a new level of playing and helped me to offer more for my bands. Not so much by teaching me new things (which it did) but by kinda guiding my exploration. He'd mention something interesting so off I go to explore.
When renewal came 'round at full price, I declined. I got what I wanted. I appreciated what it had to offer, but for the price, I had have way more time to devote to it than I do.
... and yeah, I think most any other online learning tool can do what he does. I liked his demeanor and approach. It worked.
When renewal came 'round at full price, I declined. I got what I wanted. I appreciated what it had to offer, but for the price, I had have way more time to devote to it than I do.
... and yeah, I think most any other online learning tool can do what he does. I liked his demeanor and approach. It worked.
MAFbass1992
Bass Player / Low-End Reviews
I think that these kind of instructors can give you valuable information, but I find it weird to be dependent to one 13 minutes video just to learn one lick or whatever... In the end you lose so much time end simply end up watching videos instead of actually PRACTICING! And i just avoid those clickbait videos on YouTube. I hate the aesthetic on the thumbnail of these videos. SBL, Davie504, Adam Neely to name a few.
I watched the interview on Janek Gwizdala's channel with Adam Neely and I really liked his vibe and his music concept. But what stroke me was that YouTubers have to speak the YouTube language to grow their channel. At this point your primary goal is not music related. My two cents.
I watched the interview on Janek Gwizdala's channel with Adam Neely and I really liked his vibe and his music concept. But what stroke me was that YouTubers have to speak the YouTube language to grow their channel. At this point your primary goal is not music related. My two cents.
Music lessons and marketing have worked hand in hand from the beginning of the rock-music era. All of the instruments that birthed rock music were designed to be easy to play and fast to learn on... so you need marketing to convince people to pay for lessons... 
Your little comment about how the SBL forums is serving the same thing as Talkbass gave me a giggle.
For many SBL users, Talkbass is almost like the 4Chan of bass players. There are new players that have been disappointed with the way TB users answered their "n00b" questions over the years.
I haven't seen that happening on the SBL forums - in fact, their forums are basically an afterthought - a kind of community hang with some lesson interactivity. It's not the same as a decades-old forum like TB and it doesn't have the same entrance vibe, either.
I'm also willing to bet that hardly any of the learners he has watch the videos all the way through, from beginning to end. Some come to hear from their bass idols, some DO feel that hearing theory lessons from their favourite bass players make it better for them. Sure, some of them do, but I bet many are shuttling around looking for nuggets and knowledge. Scott would know, as I believe he tracks how people watch the videos.
I liked Nathan East's approach which was much more intimate. I believe he's still doing it on one of the non-bass-specific learning sites. You got materials from the site he was on, backing tracks and opportunities to play along with him or be critiqued by him. Especially a custom lesson (or lessons) for anyone interested.
Fun stuff... But there are a lot of options out there.
But, yeah, I learned the old-fashioned way... books, professors, etc...
Your little comment about how the SBL forums is serving the same thing as Talkbass gave me a giggle.
For many SBL users, Talkbass is almost like the 4Chan of bass players. There are new players that have been disappointed with the way TB users answered their "n00b" questions over the years.
I haven't seen that happening on the SBL forums - in fact, their forums are basically an afterthought - a kind of community hang with some lesson interactivity. It's not the same as a decades-old forum like TB and it doesn't have the same entrance vibe, either.
I'm also willing to bet that hardly any of the learners he has watch the videos all the way through, from beginning to end. Some come to hear from their bass idols, some DO feel that hearing theory lessons from their favourite bass players make it better for them. Sure, some of them do, but I bet many are shuttling around looking for nuggets and knowledge. Scott would know, as I believe he tracks how people watch the videos.
I liked Nathan East's approach which was much more intimate. I believe he's still doing it on one of the non-bass-specific learning sites. You got materials from the site he was on, backing tracks and opportunities to play along with him or be critiqued by him. Especially a custom lesson (or lessons) for anyone interested.
Fun stuff... But there are a lot of options out there.
But, yeah, I learned the old-fashioned way... books, professors, etc...
ok....I learned valuable lessons that I couldn't get anywhere else I looked for free and didn't mind paying 12 whole dollars a month for a resource that I found valuable....call me lazy...I'm a better musician..
Exactly!!! I would be waiting for the answer from Bobby....and it was like some "slang" only a few people know
People teach things with different methods for different reasons...some people charge money, some people give the information away for free...it doesn't matter if you get it for a small fee or if it's free as long as you get it...SBL is not for everyone, but it does work for some..
Yeah, but remember, these guys were at the vanguard... A lot of them invented things to make the sounds their bosses (producers, fellow musicians) wanted them to make.
A lot of the bass technique out there that's considered advanced hasn't had the same length of time or study to take that virtuosic playing and define it. Having videos certainly helps - you can ignore the talk and SEE what's happening, even years after the guy stops doing it.
300+ years ago there were virtuosic string players that did things they couldn't really explain well, just the same.
You putting these to words validated my gut feel meh reaction to SBL. Discover Double Bass -- that site actually has something substantial but I digress.
