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Started private lessons, found it how bad I am lol
- Thread starter jdthaddeus
- Start date
I should go back to taking lessons. I mostly like how I play, but Im finding out I have a tendency to slip out of the pocket and not noticing it, could really use someone to point it out in real time and give me better tools to work on it.
I'm 53, I picked up the bass cold 12 years ago. I've played in bands, enabled by the wide availability of tabs, and have always gotten the job done pretty well.
I just don't have a lot of musical context in my playing though. Get me away from rote memorization and the songs I "know" and I'm lost. It's not for lack of trying (I've bought tons of books and online courses), but I haven't been able to synthesize the bits and pieces into a bigger picture that will allow me to just play.
Outside of learning tunes from tabs, I also spent an absurd amount of time churning through gear and screwing around with it. I think that kind of compensated for some of the gaps and frustration with my playing.
This year I reassessed things. GAS has petered out, and memorizing tabs has started to feel kind of empty. I want to finally learn to play, so I've started zoom lessons with a well-known artist and great, great teacher. My progress in a few months has been huge. It's interesting because I still watch the videos, but having a teacher to bounce those videos off of makes those videos much more valuable.
I have a long way to go, but finally being able to "just play" with some intention and knowledge behind the technique is a new experience, and having a good teacher has been transformative in that regard.
I just don't have a lot of musical context in my playing though. Get me away from rote memorization and the songs I "know" and I'm lost. It's not for lack of trying (I've bought tons of books and online courses), but I haven't been able to synthesize the bits and pieces into a bigger picture that will allow me to just play.
Outside of learning tunes from tabs, I also spent an absurd amount of time churning through gear and screwing around with it. I think that kind of compensated for some of the gaps and frustration with my playing.
This year I reassessed things. GAS has petered out, and memorizing tabs has started to feel kind of empty. I want to finally learn to play, so I've started zoom lessons with a well-known artist and great, great teacher. My progress in a few months has been huge. It's interesting because I still watch the videos, but having a teacher to bounce those videos off of makes those videos much more valuable.
I have a long way to go, but finally being able to "just play" with some intention and knowledge behind the technique is a new experience, and having a good teacher has been transformative in that regard.
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Had my first real bass lesson yesterday. Been "slopping around" on bass for 35 years and really wanted to know more about
over-coming boredom and my feeling that I was never going to be better than I started back when. As an ex-guitarist,
I have quite a few methods to "fake it" in a garage band, but I'm retired now and have time to work on becoming better,
even though at my age, I don't have another 35 years to get it done!
My 30 minute lesson turned into a 2.12 hour troubleshooting lesson with a superb and highly professional player who
has taught a lot of big names and big egos. I started out very self conscious but the whole deal is to do what I did for 40 years in
my career: deal frankly with issues and address problems. Since I'm too old to care about impressing anybody anymore,
I don't mind constructive criticism as much as I used to when I was a kid. Plus, the approach by this teaching pro is very straightforward, but
has more positive reinforcement than a puppy training class!
Hopefully, most of you folks can overcome vanity and get down to business: esp if you're young enough to develop good
habits rather than bad ones. A good teacher can help immensely with that. Spend the money if you have it: your entire playing
future will benefit. Just make sure you get a suitable teacher that makes you want to work and makes it fun. They're rare, but they're out
there.
over-coming boredom and my feeling that I was never going to be better than I started back when. As an ex-guitarist,
I have quite a few methods to "fake it" in a garage band, but I'm retired now and have time to work on becoming better,
even though at my age, I don't have another 35 years to get it done!
My 30 minute lesson turned into a 2.12 hour troubleshooting lesson with a superb and highly professional player who
has taught a lot of big names and big egos. I started out very self conscious but the whole deal is to do what I did for 40 years in
my career: deal frankly with issues and address problems. Since I'm too old to care about impressing anybody anymore,
I don't mind constructive criticism as much as I used to when I was a kid. Plus, the approach by this teaching pro is very straightforward, but
has more positive reinforcement than a puppy training class!
Hopefully, most of you folks can overcome vanity and get down to business: esp if you're young enough to develop good
habits rather than bad ones. A good teacher can help immensely with that. Spend the money if you have it: your entire playing
future will benefit. Just make sure you get a suitable teacher that makes you want to work and makes it fun. They're rare, but they're out
there.
This is the absolute best thing you can get out of an experienced teacher, and it's why I always recommend beginners get in-person instruction rather than just relying on YouTube or video courses like Bass Buzz. As good as some of those are, they can't spot the mistakes and bad habits you might be making without realizing it. And recognizing those areas is a crucial step towards correcting them.
Instruction like this can really strip down the ego, which is hard for a lot of folks - but I think it's really important. Good on you for going through with it and sticking to it! And I appreciate your perspective that you're never too experienced to improve and learn more. Good, constructive feedback is always helpful, no matter how long you've been playing.
I hate to say it, but I improved a lot when that same teacher made me play ... ugh ... Jazz.
record your playing. That is what everyone hears, and the truth of your playing. Record yourself playing to a click or drum loop. Load in an MP3, and play / record along with that, then listen to yourself solo'd. That will get you real humble real quick - Groove? Locked in with the drummer? Ahead of the beat? Good solo ideas? Clean execution? There it is. While no sub for a good teacher, recording and listening to your self is a real wake up call.
LOL I knew I needed a teacher found one but the Distance proved to be an issue.
I am still looking for a teacher locally hopefully I can find one soon.
I am still looking for a teacher locally hopefully I can find one soon.
Teacher watching everything about your technique - GOOD! Just be yourself and get the truthful feedback and advice...that's what you're paying for. Everyone who gets lessons, whether you're a beginner or seasoned player, benefits from the time spent.
The real issue is I live in a rural part of Canada and there are no teachers here. I play well for someone self taught but I know that I need some proper lessons to be able to improve.
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Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
I don't recall a time when jazz wasn't one of my musical passions. Why was it an "ugh" experience for you?
It can be a rude awakening, but so totally worth it in the long run! Thanks for sharing your experiences here!
As a guy who has had many hours of expert hands-on instruction in both woodworking and bass, I couldn't agree more.
One important form of feedback live instruction can provide that other mediums can't is the ability of an instructor to move a student through a physical motion, or place hands in a correct position, for the student to learn how something should FEEL when performing the motion. Musical instruments and woodworking hand tools can both feel weird until we learn the muscle memory to use them well.
People certainly can, and do, learn on their own. But, as has been said several times already, the feedback you get from a good teacher will likely help you get farther faster than you would on your own.
"Good teacher" can mean a lot of things and some of those things for me included the ability to read your student, to understandyor students stage in life (don't talk to me like you would talk to a 13 year year old student!)to determine your student's goals and help lay out a plan to reach those goals, the ability to occasionally demonstrate to the student the progress he/she has made while teaching the student, the ability to help the student become a better musician rather than just a better bassist, and the ability to keep the joy and fun in the lessons to help ensure that the lessons don't get stale and boreing to the student.
And don't be afraid to say so if you find that an instructor and you don't fit, nothing wrong with that. I started with a teacher who was 21 when I was in my late 40s. He taught me - and spoke to me - like I was a typical 13 year old student and he didn't really have the ability to teach me to be a musician. It didn't take long for me to realize it just wasn't going to work and I was planning to tell him that I was going to try finding an instructor who fit me better. He surprised me and beat me to it by referring me to another instructor, who had a much bigger impact on my playing. I guess he did eventually help me and I give him credit for seeing that we didn't fit together. And maybe his experience with me taught him to be a better teacher?
"Good teacher" can mean a lot of things and some of those things for me included the ability to read your student, to understandyor students stage in life (don't talk to me like you would talk to a 13 year year old student!)to determine your student's goals and help lay out a plan to reach those goals, the ability to occasionally demonstrate to the student the progress he/she has made while teaching the student, the ability to help the student become a better musician rather than just a better bassist, and the ability to keep the joy and fun in the lessons to help ensure that the lessons don't get stale and boreing to the student.
And don't be afraid to say so if you find that an instructor and you don't fit, nothing wrong with that. I started with a teacher who was 21 when I was in my late 40s. He taught me - and spoke to me - like I was a typical 13 year old student and he didn't really have the ability to teach me to be a musician. It didn't take long for me to realize it just wasn't going to work and I was planning to tell him that I was going to try finding an instructor who fit me better. He surprised me and beat me to it by referring me to another instructor, who had a much bigger impact on my playing. I guess he did eventually help me and I give him credit for seeing that we didn't fit together. And maybe his experience with me taught him to be a better teacher?
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That's more a comment on my own inadequacy as a listener than anything, but I don't get along with Jazz and never have. Perhaps it's some messed up Freudian thing where my Dad was a trad Jazz aficionado and I have unresolved Oedipal anxieties, who knows, but my passion is firmly in the rock and classical realms. As my previous post implied, though, playing those standards really helped me refine my transitional notes between chords; as my teacher put it, we're doing Jazz cuz Jazz has rules goddangit.
BobDeRosa
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Freud notwithstanding, jazz comes in many more colors than just Trad. And, as you've seen, it can be the gateway to lots of other learning and skill-building.
I'm a retired college woodworking instructor. One piece of feedback I consistently received from my students was about the value of the personalized feedback I provided; they could read until they were blue in the face, and watch videos all day long and still not see their shortcomings. The trick, as I learned over a few decades, is to deliver personalized feedback truthfully AND compassionately. Not always easy, but always worthwhile. I am glad you're finding the experience worthwhile.
The other item related to personal feedback is that good teachers know how to give you a few things to work on rather than overwhelming you with every possible thing you are doing wrong. Fix or fixate on one or two things at a time.
Oh, I know. I was exposed to quite a bit of it in grad school. It just didn't take. I respect the heck out of the players. The drummer in my Dad band is all about Jazz these days. I love that passage in Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" about bebop; I get the attraction, I really do. I just don't feel it.
I mean, when I play Cattle Decapitation for that same drummer, he doesn't get it. It just sounds like a bunch of screaming to him. He says he appreciates the musicianship but just doesn't feel death metal. I get it!
