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Too much info when learning bass?

The Bass Abides

The Bass Abides

Mar 3, 2019
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#1
Hi all,

I humbly request your opinion in choosing the correct path in my journey as a bass player! I am a father of 3 and the only time I have to myself in order to practice the bass in about 30-45 minutes a night after all the kiddos are asleep. So far, in my limited time, I have been working on Ed Friedland's Bass Methods book (It's great so far...I'm only in book 1 and really enjoy it so far!). I have also heard good things about Scott's Bass Lessons. So my questions is, would it be a better use of time to simply focus on Ed's book? Or should I use SBL as well?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!
 
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#4
The Bass Abides said:
Hi all,

I humbly request your opinion in choosing the correct path in my journey as a bass player! I am a father of 3 and the only time I have to myself in order to practice the bass in about 30-45 minutes a night after all the kiddos are asleep. So far, in my limited time, I have been working on Ed Friedland's Bass Methods book (It's great so far...I'm only in book 1 and really enjoy it so far!). I have also heard good things about Scott's Bass Lessons. So my questions is, would it be a better use of time to simply focus on Ed's book? Or should I use SBL as well?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
I used "bass for dummies"and found too much information. I took a few lessons but mainly learned by ear. Endelessly doing scales will kill you. You need to learn where the notes are on the fretboard,you can do that easily by counting down the frets starting from the nut, g a a# etc. learn a few simple patterns like a 1,3,5 blues pattern and have fun with it all over the bass. This will give you a feeling of progress and fun keeping you sharp for the repetitive aspects of practice. Don't obsess about gear,use what you own,if there is a music store nearby make sure your guitar is set up properly,most factory setups are too high making it difficult to play. Remember Rome wasen't built in a day,enjoy. Ps don't engage that 14 year old that walks around the neighborhood with a guitar/bass over his shoulder,he will mop up the floor with you. (Don't ask how I know that)
 
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#5
Learn some songs as well, incorporate them into your practices. Keep it fun. Keep it manageable.
I say do what you can while maintaining progress. If it's more material great,if not don't get discouraged.

It should be fun
 
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#7
Welcome to the forum and to the bass; based on your avatar, you'll find the White Russians most refreshing ;)

You're asking a great question. And yes, I think too much information can be a problem.

One lesson service you might check out is Fender Play, which is new-ish. You can do a free trial for a couple weeks.

The nice thing about Fender Play is that it's oriented toward exactly your situation: those precious few minutes you can grab at the end of the day. The lessons are short, from 5 minutes to about 15. The sound and video is well produced. You can do them on your phone or tablet or computer. The main down side is there are not a huge number of songs (once you get to that point) but they continually add new lessons so I think it could be a nice library. Currently for bass they have two "paths," which are rock or funk. If you like it, it's an annual $89 subscription I think.

I'm a fairly advanced musician, fwiw, with a degree in music, and always enjoy looking through available instructional materials.

I agree with the above comments not to worry about scales or theory at this point. I always find it's best to work on songs you like and to play along, even if it's just with a recording or lesson at first. When you play bass, you'll find you're soon in demand. Playing with others is a real rush, and you'll be able to do so pretty quickly.

Good luck with whatever method you choose, and keep abiding!
 
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#8
IMHO, the single most important thing to focus on first is your physical technique: how and where to hold the bass, how to fret and pluck (or pick) the strings, etc. If you don't do this first you'll likely develop some bad habits that will cause you problems (and possibly injury) down the road. It's hard to learn this stuff from a book, so if a teacher isn't an option then I'd start with some good instructional videos on these topics (including Scott's). Here are a couple good ones by Adam Neely that are often recommended around here:





Once you learn how to play, you can start thinking about what to play.
 
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#9
Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate your time in helping me out!

Anyhow, I neglected to mention that a few years back my wife got me "Rocksmith" for my xmas. I totally get that while playing rocksmith you don't really "learn" how to play bass...bit, ya know, it DID keep me interested enough to keep the bass in my hands! I've finally hit the point in my life where I want to LEARN how to play the bass. Thankfully, I've also reached the point in my life where I understand that the FUN is in learning and the learning never stops! It only took 44 years!

Oh, and I also spent many years abiding with more-than-a-few "caucasians" being imbibed. After having 3 kiddos (with one on the way!), those days are over...at least for now! I've moved on to healthier past times...like the bass!
 
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#10
In limited practise time, good thing is to divide practise time into 'chapters'. Depending on what you want to learn, let's say you would want to practise: 15 mins walking bass (scales accompanied by Aebersold or youtube records), 15 mins rhythm (grooves from some book or records), 15 mins improvisation. If you stick to the schedule, you'll be learning fast.

If there's no teacher available, you need to find yourself what you want to learn. If you know what you are doing, you can learn very fast. For example let's say you learn a groove; next day, when listening to the radio, watch if you can hear that groove and listen to its variations. If you're thinking about it, you're learning; you don't need to focus very hard, just keep your doors open.

I heard good things about Ed Friedlands books. He's got a Bass Grooves book with lot of grooves and their connection to the drums, I think this would be a good way to start learning. There's also Standing in the shadows of Motown book which I haven't seen but which contains James Jamerson transcriptions, which should tell you what bass playing is about. I'm not sure about Scott's youtube lessons - I've seen only the free stuff, and it seems to me a good way to get some inspiration, but it can very easily slip to pointless youtubing.
 
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#11
The Bass Abides said:
Hi all,

I humbly request your opinion in choosing the correct path in my journey as a bass player! I am a father of 3 and the only time I have to myself in order to practice the bass in about 30-45 minutes a night after all the kiddos are asleep. So far, in my limited time, I have been working on Ed Friedland's Bass Methods book (It's great so far...I'm only in book 1 and really enjoy it so far!). I have also heard good things about Scott's Bass Lessons. So my questions is, would it be a better use of time to simply focus on Ed's book? Or should I use SBL as well?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Lessons are optimal...I saw your post about not being able to do them, but that's really the best way.
They are hard for me to commit to as well, but I'll be doing so shortly since Im wanting to boost my playing skill set some more.

SBL: Not bad,I signed up for a year but honestly there was just too much information to keep up with.

Theres a former Berklee prof who has a youtube channel thats pretty good...Honestly I wish I had the time to sit down and go through all of Jims lessons from the start.

Jim Stinnett Bass Lessons - YouTube

james stinnett is creating Real Bass Lessons Educational Videos | Patreon
 
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#12
Yes, the amount of information available to a newbie bassist can be over whelming. The trick is to know where to start and for each lesson to build on what went before. The Bass Method Book is one of the best out there. If you are enjoying and learning from it, then (apart from getting one to one lessons) I would stick with it.

Also, as @Lobster11 points out in post number eight....don't neglect safe technique. It is often over looked and if learned at the beginning will not only have you playing to the best of your physical ability, but will help to prevent potential injury problems further down the line.

Best of luck in your learning journey. :bassist:
 
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#13
1. SBL is too convoluted. Stick to Ed.

2. Then go onto Bass Aerobics or something that forces you to stick to some sort of curriculum. .

3. While you do Bass Aerobics, pick up Ariane Cap Bass Method.

4. After all that then go to SBL.

5. Meanwhile get any introductory book on Walking Bass Lines and learn the fretboard for good. Walking basslines will force you to know the notes and read music.

Trust me. Don't waste time. Don't waste your money. You don't need tid bits of techniques from all over the bass guitar spectrum. What you need is a foundation in WRITTEN form.

Don't waste your time firing up your PC, looking at videos that you need to waste more time once again by printing out the material.

Set your sheet music on the stand. Plug your bass into the amp, turn on the amp. Tune it. Then start playing. Get into this routine. Stand, plug, amp, tune. You should be playing in no less than 25 seconds as you enter the room. Every single second counts. Don't waste it.

Music is a discipline. You can noodle around but make it worth the while. Get into a routine. If you can do this for 3 weeks in a row, you're on track.

I have talked to several people on TB in private and we all agreed on this order.
 
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#15
Whippet said:
5. Meanwhile get any introductory book on Walking Bass Lines and learn the fretboard for good. Walking basslines will force you to know the notes and read music.

Trust me. Don't waste time. Don't waste your money. You don't need tid bits of techniques from all over the bass guitar spectrum. What you need is a foundation in WRITTEN form.

Set your sheet music on the stand. Plug your bass into the amp, turn on the amp. Tune it. Then start playing. Get into this routine. Stand, plug, amp, tune. You should be playing in no less than 25 seconds as you enter the room. Every single second counts. Don't waste it.

Music is a discipline. You can noodle around but make it worth the while.
Click to expand...

If I somehow was to start over with what I know today, this would be what I'd stick to.
Learning reading music for an Instrument you're already familiar with is really hard and a lesson in discipline.
I learned guitar for that reason. I could not bring myself to learn the theoretical foundation for bass. A teacher would have been the only option but the next one lives about 45mins away - and the next one who could actually teach me something closer to two hours.


But the question to the OP is: What exactly are your goals?

When you want to hit the stage with your Ramones Cover Band as fast as possible, don't bother with walking bass lines and chord theory. Build up speed, precision and timing and as soon as you're halfway there, go for it. The rest'll follow.
When you want to play half of the Real Book by heart and the other half from sheets on a Sunday afternoon in an art gallery with a Jazz trio, stick to the sheets.

Playing bass will let you get surprisingly far without touching any of the theory stuff. And every step you take along the way without theory, it'll get harder to learn for you.
For the career of a mediocre bass player, even a quite successful one, that'll do.
But many many steps down the road, you'll hit a wall.
Progress will be slow and you realize that at your level, you're expected to get along when others play music you don't know.

There's that other guy who plays those nice lines you can't come up with on the fly. He does so because at some point he's done the mental woodshedding you now wish you did earlier.
 
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#16
The Bass Abides said:
Hi all,

I humbly request your opinion in choosing the correct path in my journey as a bass player! I am a father of 3 and the only time I have to myself in order to practice the bass in about 30-45 minutes a night after all the kiddos are asleep. So far, in my limited time, I have been working on Ed Friedland's Bass Methods book (It's great so far...I'm only in book 1 and really enjoy it so far!). I have also heard good things about Scott's Bass Lessons. So my questions is, would it be a better use of time to simply focus on Ed's book? Or should I use SBL as well?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Similar situation. Consider talkingbass.net
While both SBL, and Talking Bass have YT channels for example, Mark (Talking Bass) YT cuts directly to the lessons (if you choose the YT freebe route). ZERO chit chatty stuff. Should you choose the pay/join route (which at least I suggest) Talking Bass provides a ground up perspective to advanced chordal studies. Besides, Mark wrote the chord course for SBL. Self-paced, easy study flow charts, etc. I like both Mark and Scott for their wisdom and experience etc., but went with Talkingbass.net because it suits me better.
Basically, if someone chooses a more "free" route, can't recommend Mark enough with his YT channel.
Pay for a single course, or reciprocating monthly deduction for entire site.
-and-
Seeking out a competent well versed player in your area will definitely help with real-time evaluations, guidance, opinions of your own personal techniques and general musicianship. I was lucky living where I lived, Players School of Music was 30 minutes away.
Good luck.
 
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#19
To much information. Yes we eat this beast one bite at a time. Enough to satisfy our huger, but, not so much that we over eat and get sick of the whole process.

Google some fake chord sheet music on the songs you would like to play. This will give you the lyrics and the chords used with those lyrics. Pound root notes. When that gets boring add the 5. The 5 is always up a string and toward the bridge two frets. R-5-R-5 is a safe get you asked back bass line. Is there more? Sure. Throw in the 8 it is just above the 5 on the next string up. The ole R-5-8-5 has played a bunch of bass lines.

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS9QT0aysIt27P2Kqc2sSD5f6USBsmOuHtnlUyw4lZQixVj5QKK.png


Get that down and more will come.

To find some fake chord sheet music use these Google search words; Chords, name of the song. Invalid Link Removed

One bite at a time.... Find the root note of the chord in first position - first 5 frets of the fretboard. If you want more we've talked about where the 5th and 8th are. The 3rd is up a string and back a fret. The 6th is over the 3rd same fret just up a string. The 7 is same string as the 6th, just over a couple of frets. That's enough to get you started...
 
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