Scott's Bass Lessons - review for those curious

[logdrum]

Regarding Bobby Vega, I learn from the guy even if he does not have a bass in hand.

 

[Jack Butler]

Everyone has what works for them. Andy Irvine's free stuff on YouTube inspires and teaches me better than anything at the moment. Ymmv.

 

[MCF]

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.

Exactly this. Vogt's TMBG course is the best resource for someone seeking a structured, step by step approach to progress from a beginner/intermediate player to a very good player. I too highly recommend it. Get through that and supplement with Mark Smith's Talkingbass videos to strengthen certain skills you want to work on. Paul Wolfe's How to Play Bass site and videos posted by Constantine (@Constantine) on his You Tube channel are great resources to learn songs. While I enjoy some of Scott's videos, I don't think it's the greatest resource for learning new things.

 

[Ryno1330]

I tried to do a trial but couldn't get through all the fluff and drawn out explinations to really get through it. And hearing him nose breathe into the mic drove me nuts too. Nice guy though.

I really enjoy Jayme Lewis's approach and subscribe to his lession site and series.

 

[Timmah]

Hm, I guess Scott's stuff isn't as universally liked as I thought it would be around here. I'll offer my two cents:

I signed up last July and kind of had the same experience as a lot of people here: he chats a lot in his videos and he seems to have lots of near-duplicate courses in the Academy. I kind of got sidetracked and busy for a while and didn't use my subscription for a while. I think that in part I was overwhelmed by the time commitment of the lessons and the sheer volume. That being said, I signed up for the practice accelerator program he offered separately (additional cost) and I've already found it to be super helpful in not only my ow practice but understanding his method and the way he structures his academy/courses. I think I'll be getting much more use out of my subscription as my practice becomes more guided/purposeful. I realize that's not an issue a lot of people here have, but it's helped me get away from "practice" as a highfalutin term for drinking beer and noodling along to my favorite records and really started to focus my approach.

And to the point about his repetitiveness and similar courses- I think that's part of the beast of on-demand or remote lessons. There's only so many core concepts to teach, but there are zillions of variations on how to apply those things and even more ways to teach or explain them. I kind of look at it as phrasing the material in different ways so that students can hopefully find an explanation that makes sense to them, or an instructor whose teaching method fits their learning style. Plus, I'm not from his part of the world, so there's a certain novelty to the Leeds accent that hasn't worn off yet, for me.

I don't mean to sound like a shill or anything, just happened to see this topic after about 9 months of wasted subscription time and a month of solid progress.

 

[4StringTheorist]

It costs about 40$ per month. I can think of many books covering way more information that could be bought in one year as an example of other sources of education. I can think of a jazz theory text book that took me all through university, which I purchased for 30$ that can easily replace all of the theory courses on there. I can keep them too.

Just for anyone's edification, Every few weeks for the last month or so Janek Gwizdala knocks about 30-40% off the price of one of his books for a week. This week it's All the Good Stuff. Nice way to build up a library cheaply.

Between these Janek books, Ariane Cap's beginner theory book, Right Hand Drive by Damian Erskine and package 1 of Jeff Berlin's course, I've got enough material to keep me busy for years and teach me to read music, and I've spent less than I would have on 5 months of a website.

 

[AngelCrusher]

Its tough for me to believe that a beginner couldn't get something out of SBL. His harmonic layering course is something every bass player should gave a complete grasp of, but it seems that so few actually do.

As one of many alternatives, now is a really good time to just pay your favorite bass player for one on one lessons, imo.

 

[jerry]

If you can play what's in that book well and understand it, you will be a much better bass player.

The absolute worst video is Fleas Starlicks, in which he does an opening jam with Chad Smith then tells the audience he knows nothing about music theory, demonstrates aboutc30 sec on slapping and talks bs with River Phoenix for 50 minutes

Joe Walsh was borderline coherent in his Starlicks video

I remember a few that tried to be funny and wasting time, Jeff Berlin and some pro-wrestler, Tony Franklin doing some weird stuff etc. This was way before YouTube and these videos cost about fifty bucks, pretty disappointing stuff.

 

[Hambone70]

I understand your critique of "Scotts". I find talkingbassnet addresses some of your criticisms. Not as fluffy. More direct.

Same. I found SBL overwhelming, disorganized, pretentious, and with too much off-topic "fluff". I'm finding talkingbass.net much more to my liking. Simple, clear, concise, organized, uncluttered, efficient, to-the-point.

We all learn in different ways!

 

[DarkStar90]

Hm, I guess Scott's stuff isn't as universally liked as I thought it would be around here. I'll offer my two cents:

I signed up last July and kind of had the same experience as a lot of people here: he chats a lot in his videos and he seems to have lots of near-duplicate courses in the Academy. I kind of got sidetracked and busy for a while and didn't use my subscription for a while. I think that in part I was overwhelmed by the time commitment of the lessons and the sheer volume. That being said, I signed up for the practice accelerator program he offered separately (additional cost) and I've already found it to be super helpful in not only my ow practice but understanding his method and the way he structures his academy/courses. I think I'll be getting much more use out of my subscription as my practice becomes more guided/purposeful. I realize that's not an issue a lot of people here have, but it's helped me get away from "practice" as a highfalutin term for drinking beer and noodling along to my favorite records and really started to focus my approach.

And to the point about his repetitiveness and similar courses- I think that's part of the beast of on-demand or remote lessons. There's only so many core concepts to teach, but there are zillions of variations on how to apply those things and even more ways to teach or explain them. I kind of look at it as phrasing the material in different ways so that students can hopefully find an explanation that makes sense to them, or an instructor whose teaching method fits their learning style. Plus, I'm not from his part of the world, so there's a certain novelty to the Leeds accent that hasn't worn off yet, for me.

I don't mean to sound like a shill or anything, just happened to see this topic after about 9 months of wasted subscription time and a month of solid progress.

Progress is up to you. Progress is not happening because you subscribed. Progress is happening because you are buckling down on practice. Perhaps by joining his accelerator program, you have discovered how to direct your practice sessions, and thats great, but a simple search for practice routines on this forum will inform just as well. All im trying to say is that as young music student before the advent of youtube and social media musicians, I didn't have a problem accessing the information SBL offers. I listed alternatives that I have used that are supplemental to most of the material on SBL, and they are more than sufficient. Some of the books I listed were curriculum books in university. Therefore, the subscription was not attractive to me.

 

[SteveCS]

...

Between these Janek books, Ariane Cap's beginner theory book, Right Hand Drive by Damian Erskine and package 1 of Jeff Berlin's course, I've got enough material to keep me busy for years and teach me to read music, and I've spent less than I would have on 5 months of a website.

I have a good paper-based (books and sheet-music) library, accumulated over 35 years, that I find far more valuable that any personality-based video lessons. After a while you get to know what is where and can get to any information in minutes and without any tech-faff...
YMMV

 

[Timmah]

Progress is up to you. Progress is not happening because you subscribed. Progress is happening because you are buckling down on practice. Perhaps by joining his accelerator program, you have discovered how to direct your practice sessions, and thats great, but a simple search for practice routines on this forum will inform just as well. All im trying to say is that as young music student before the advent of youtube and social media musicians, I didn't have a problem accessing the information SBL offers. I listed alternatives that I have used that are supplemental to most of the material on SBL, and they are more than sufficient. Therefore, the subscription was not attractive to me.

Oh absolutely. It's all information that's accessible in myriad other places, I just found that it's formatted in a way that works for me. You didn't progress as a musician because you bought a book, you progressed because you followed a system of practice that worked for you. Same with me and the "buckling down" thing- I found that SBL is just a good motivator and gives me direction on what to work on, same as any other book or lesson pack or subscription you might buy. A simple search of practice routines in this forum will give TONS of often contradictory answers and one gets bogged down sorting them out, especially as discussion devolves over the course of a thread.
So of course I'm not paying because I feel the need to buy information that's free in a zillion places on the web- I'm paying for the organization, formatting, and streamlining because it works for my learning style.

 

[DarkStar90]

Oh absolutely. It's all information that's accessible in myriad other places, I just found that it's formatted in a way that works for me. Same with the "buckling down" thing- I found that it's just a good motivator and gives me direction on what to work on, same as any other book or lesson pack or subscription you might buy. A simple search of practice routines in this forum will give TONS of often contradictory answers and one get bogged down sorting them out, especially as discussion devolves over the course of a thread.
So of course I'm not paying because I feel the need to buy information that's free in a zillion places on the web- I'm paying for the organization, formatting, and streamlining because it works for my learning style.

Cool, good for you. It seems you know what you want, and you've backed it up. Keep practicing!

 

[IamGroot]

I remember a few that tried to be funny and wasting time, Jeff Berlin and some pro-wrestler, Tony Franklin doing some weird stuff etc. This was way before YouTube and these videos cost about fifty bucks, pretty disappointing stuff.

Yes! I bought that pos and remembered what the pluck.

 

[IamGroot]

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.

I was using the YouTube version . Thanks for the heads up.

 

[DarkStar90]

Actually back in the VHS days, I thought Juan Alderete's Contemporary Bass method video was pretty good. He looks glam hair metal, but the info is concise. He takes you through all the modes, fingering positions, slapping, tapping, tonal and equipment considerations. I thought it was pretty cool for an hour long video.

 

[tb-player]

Whenever I see a criticism that Scott Devine is too 'chatty', it makes me wonder if the person has mostly watched SBL's YouTube channel. The majority of Scott's instructional videos in the course are nothing like the flashy YouTube vids, which are blatantly designed to get you to sign up for the 14-day trial (nothing wrong with that).

Even though I've played bass on & off for 31 years, in the 2 years I've been an SBL member, I have found his curriculum tremendously helpful. I've been introduced to new concepts, different approaches to theory, new musical genres, and most importantly, a reason to sit down and practice every day. Of course, as an accomplished player, some of what I've encountered has been review for me. But sometimes, it's given me language for techniques I've been playing for years.

I pay $168 a year (that's $3.23/week... cheapest lessons anywhere!!). I have access to a ton of learning material, practice pdfs, some of the best teachers in the industry and a ton of informative and inspirational interviews with some of todays biggest players. It's really fun!

Granted, I don't just scroll through willy-nilly. I methodically go through the courses as they're laid out. Within a single course, there may be 8-12 subdivisions. I'll do a subdivision every day or two and work on the concepts in between... even if I am already familiar with them. That's the main reason I've benefitted from SBL. It has taught me how to practice intentionally. And I'm picking up a lot along the way. Sometimes I'm refreshing things I already know. But in the end, I can truly say my bass skills have taken the largest leap in the last 2 years with SBL, than they did with 30 years jumping from one instructional book to another.

Count me in as one of the (apparently few) SBL fans on TB. Scott Devine is an excellent teacher, a good businessman and an effective influencer. I, for one, am a fan.

 

[DarkStar90]

Whenever I see a criticism that Scott Devine is too 'chatty', it makes me wonder if the person has mostly watched SBL's YouTube channel. The majority of Scott's instructional videos in the course are nothing like the flashy YouTube vids, which are blatantly designed to get you to sign up for the 14-day trial (nothing wrong with that).

Even though I've played bass on & off for 31 years, in the 2 years I've been an SBL member, I have found his curriculum tremendously helpful. I've been introduced to new concepts, different approaches to theory, new musical genres, and most importantly, a reason to sit down and practice every day. Of course, as an accomplished player, some of what I've encountered has been review for me. But sometimes, it's given me language for techniques I've been playing for years.

I pay $168 a year (that's $3.23/week... cheapest lessons anywhere!!). I have access to a ton of learning material, practice pdfs, some of the best teachers in the industry and a ton of informative and inspirational interviews with some of todays biggest players. It's really fun!

Granted, I don't just scroll through willy-nilly. I methodically go through the courses as they're laid out. Within a single course, there may be 8-12 subdivisions. I'll do a subdivision every day or two and work on the concepts in between... even if I am already familiar with them. That's the main reason I've benefitted from SBL. It has taught me how to practice intentionally. And I'm picking up a lot along the way. Sometimes I'm refreshing things I already know. But in the end, I can truly say my bass skills have taken the largest leap in the last 2 years with SBL, than they did with 30 years jumping from one instructional book to another.

Count me in as one of the (apparently few) SBL fans on TB. Scott Devine is an excellent teacher, a good businessman and an effective influencer. I, for one, am a fan.

When I was speaking of the banter and long videos, I was indeed referring to the lessons on SBL. Not all, but some. I'm referring to some of the videos where a simple concept is over explained. For example, in the 'harmonic layering' course, scott takes nearly 20 minutes to explain how to play an arpeggio in three positions, and the 10 videos on scales compiled are about 2 hours long, then this culminates in learning to play a continuous scale exercise. Yet on his YouTube channel, years ago when Youtube had a 10 minute time limit, he uploaded a three part series with the exact same exercises and info, 30 mins. It doesn't take 2 hours to explain scales in a video that can be rewound infinitely. Again, great for a beginner, NOT FOR ME. The pdf files for each of those courses were supplemental, and quick reading. Because I preferred using the pdf's to sitting through a video, I can only recommend buying books instead, just my logic. Sometimes I'm just looking for refresher instruction, and long videos on simple concepts is like watching children's television.

When you buy a Janek Gwizdala book, it comes with individual video clips for each exercise, played slow and fast. Thats all you should need, and the accompanying explanations in the book are never more than a paragraph. No BS.

 

[IamGroot]

I am glad to see an open discussion on SBL. I wish the guy well, but I am glad to see it just wasn't me that had issues.

SBL showed me the correct plucking fingering for What is Hip. You lead with index finger and play the high and low octave hits using the middle finger. Very helpful. See how quick that was.

 

[4StringTheorist]

I remember a few that tried to be funny and wasting time, Jeff Berlin and some pro-wrestler, Tony Franklin doing some weird stuff etc. This was way before YouTube and these videos cost about fifty bucks, pretty disappointing stuff.

Yeah, Jeff Berlin and Rowdy Roddy Piper in the 80s. You can find those on YouTube if you look. I think Jeff was younger than I am now when he made that video. His educational approach has certainly matured since then.

Also R.I.P. Mr. Piper.