Hey! So I got my first bass 3 and a half weeks ago. I'm 15, I've tried playing guitar a few times, but never caught on. It seemed almost impossible. 2 years later here I am with more dedication than anyone you'll meet. In the 3ish weeks I've had it, I've played at least 6-8 hours everyday and theres been 3 days where I played 12 hours straight with a piss break as my only rest. I cant read music (trying to teach myself). I can play paranoid, Californication, seven nation army, for whom the bell tolls, anesthesia(besides the last transition), orion, back in black, highway to hell, iron man, sweet child o mine, I've made a couple of my own songs just using power chords and what not. Anyways, give me tips on what to do...Please?! Input: am I on a good track? Am I taking my learning the wrong way? Any constructive criticism would be amazing. Thanks!
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Tips?!?
- Thread starter T.O.G
- Start date
Learning licks & tunes is OK but you need to know
the notes on the bass and proper fingering to progress
and avoid bad habits. Yup, I'm pushing the get a good teacher route.
Take advantage of your age, free time & dedication.
the notes on the bass and proper fingering to progress
and avoid bad habits. Yup, I'm pushing the get a good teacher route.
Take advantage of your age, free time & dedication.
You are me, when I was 15. From the vantage point of being 40+ years further down the line, I would say learn about music theory, learn how chords are constructed, learn scales, modes, learn your fingerboard and learn to read...all of the building blocks that will be useful in whatever musical genre you care to use them in. These are transferrable skills that will enable you to understand how the basslines of the songs you have learned by rote, so far, have been constructed.
If only I had followed my own advice at your age...but then, living in a rural location with no bass teachers, no money for lessons anyway, being too young to drive to where there were bass teachers, and having no money for public transport was quite a barrier for me. Even if you can't get to a teacher, or afford one, there are a huge number of internet based teaching resources available to you these days...
Oh, and play as many genres as you can...don't fool yourself into being a rock bassists, or a country bassists, or a blues bassist or an R&B bassist...just strive to be a musician, who happens to play bass.
If only I had followed my own advice at your age...but then, living in a rural location with no bass teachers, no money for lessons anyway, being too young to drive to where there were bass teachers, and having no money for public transport was quite a barrier for me. Even if you can't get to a teacher, or afford one, there are a huge number of internet based teaching resources available to you these days...
Oh, and play as many genres as you can...don't fool yourself into being a rock bassists, or a country bassists, or a blues bassist or an R&B bassist...just strive to be a musician, who happens to play bass.
I have much of the same problem. I live in a very small town. The closest lessons are an hour and a half away and I'm not old enough to drive. I've just been using tabs, a lot of Internet teachers to learn some different things, I look up chord charts, and I've learned every note on my fretboard. I love classic rock, I'm a 70s kid at heart. My biggest influences are Roger waters, Jack Bruce, geezer butler, and Cliff Burton (I know Cliff and geezer werent classic rock...lol). My point is I love rock, but I want to be a versatile bassist who can play jazz, blues, Rock, country, you Name it. I try not leaving out any Genre. Thanks for all the responses! Very helpful, I'm going to follow up on what you've all said
