What course after BassBuzz?

[lark_z]

I really enjoyed StudyBass. I like that while it's online, you can work through it more like it's a book. It's not a lot of videos, which I like. The yak-yak on some videos can get rather tedious for me. It's logically organized (IMHO) with clear definitions of many topics. For me, I sit and read the text of each lesson with coffee, then move to my tablet on the music stand with the bass to work through the exercises. He also includes popular songs where the bass part he just explained is used. You almost have to buy "Bass Tab White Pages", as many of the songs are included in that text. It's a great book, albeit a heavy beast. Interpreting ALMOST correct TABS from the internet can get old. The book is great.

StudyBass - Free interactive online bass lessons

 

[WrapRough]

Yeah, I just bought Bassic Fundamentals as it seems it'll overlap with BassBuzz a bit, but also fill some holes for me. I think the courses after that will be all new to me. Having said that, I have no way of judging how my skills are progressing. For example, "The House of the Rising Sun" in 6/8 time is killing me a bit because of the variations of the quarter, dotter quarter and eight notes across the measures. Should I be able to get it easier at my level? No idea. I think this is where an in-person teacher would help for sure.

Just to say, if you are not happy with the course, drop Mark a mail and he may let you swap it out. I did that with the slap course and he switched it to the second one for me which was more my level

 

[OldSchoolFlats]

Yep, you’re looking in the right places. Talking bass is good. Scott now has a lot more beginner stuff, including the players path which is good. Ariane Cap (who also teaches with Scot and is on here occasionally) has some great bite sized (waffle free) videos and excercises that I wish I’d seen when I was starting out. Pick whichever one you like to watch. These three are all sound.

+1 for Ariane Cap

 

[knight of ni]

+1 for Arianne Cap as well (music theory book). But before that the crucial question is : where do you want to get ? What kind of music, do you want/need to read musci score etc.

 

[overit]

If you're a committed self-studier, I'd recommend Joe Hubbard:
Joe Hubbard Bass Online Bass Courses · Joe Hubbard Bass

I didn't take the foundation course and I don't know what the overlap will be vs the course you took but the 2-year bass mastery course is great and will keep you very busy.

 

[Horgh]

+1 for Arianne Cap as well (music theory book). But before that the crucial question is : where do you want to get ? What kind of music, do you want/need to read musci score etc.

That is a good question. I'd like to be well-rounded and competent, I don't believe I'll ever be "good". That's not a self esteem issue, that's just being realistic, seeing how I'm in my 40s already and have a lot of other things going on in my life. If I had to shoot for the stars, I would say my ultimate goal would be to play like @DistortedBass does in his demo videos, for example:



But that's never going to happen.

If you're a committed self-studier, I'd recommend Joe Hubbard:
Joe Hubbard Bass Online Bass Courses · Joe Hubbard Bass

I didn't take the foundation course and I don't know what the overlap will be vs the course you took but the 2-year bass mastery course is great and will keep you very busy.

That looks pretty complete, however... if I'm not mistaken, his sales/pricing model involves access to a particular course for a year, correct? That doesn't work for me as I don't want to be time rushed. Some days I can practice for 2 hours, some days I only have 15 minutes. I need permanent access like Mark offers.

 

[mrcbass]

Well, you really don't state your specific goals which would be important for your "next". But a couple of observations:

Sounds like you're at a level where you have some confidence and it could be time for you to start learning songs and playing with other people as your next step. This doesn't have to be exclusive form academic pursuits, but is an important step to start applying your lessons to practical applications.

Regarding more lessons:
First my background, because to me it matters how we get to this stage in being a bassist. I've been playing music at some level since I got my first guitar at about 7. Piano at 10, horns in middle, high and college, guitar after that. Came to bass guitar late in life (56). So my needs for "lessons" was about technique, not so much general musical information or theory.

I've been a member at SBL for about 5 years (got in very cheap), and IMO, he has a lot of great content for ALL levels of players, starting with "this is how you hold a bass". Since you've seen some of his YouTube stuff, you know that he can be a little folksy in his approach which can get a bit grating after while. (Scott, we don't care about what your dog is doing!) But his instruction is good for the most part, and the quality of his guest presenters is typically top notch. I liked some more than others but as a rule, very good stuff. I will say that I didn't care for Scott's presentation of theory. He was kind of confusing and I already knew what he was trying to present. Some of his guest presenters are better with that.

 

[WrapRough]

But that's never going to happen.

Yes it is, and you will look back at this post one day with a smile

 

[Yonni]

I don't believe I'll ever be "good".

Nonsense! I didn’t pick up a bass until I was 49. I’m not saying I’m good yet. But I’m getting gooder (sic) every day. You’ll get there, you just need to practice.

 

[knight of ni]

It's not the music I play/listen to (although I'm always amazed by the technical and musical level) so I can't be of much help. However music is music whatever the genre. Consider also music teaching software such as EarMaster. It's especially good for working your timing as it detects when you plucked a string and tells you if you're correct or ahead/late. I find it invaluable to progress on sixteenth notes.

 

[Swipter]

https://www.basseducation.com/

This is from Damian Erskine is jazz focused. The fee is monthly at $10.

I did it for several months. Even though you may not be in to jazz what he presents will immensely improve your skills. I can recommend him. He also two times per month live feeds that are stored on the site so you can rewatch as many times as you want.

Give him a try for one month. I can't say enough about his site or training. He has a trial.

 

[Horgh]

Yes it is, and you will look back at this post one day with a smile

Nonsense! I didn’t pick up a bass until I was 49. I’m not saying I’m good yet. But I’m getting gooder (sic) every day. You’ll get there, you just need to practice.

I appreciate the votes of confidence, but I have trouble even imagining being that good. A lot of people like that (and people in this thread) have been playing music in some form for 30, 40, even 50 years. That is essentially a lifetime, and I don't think it's a reasonable goal for me to try to ever match their skills. I think I can get gooder (), maybe even "good" by some measures, but I think natural talent has a lot to do with a person rising above average. I'm not sure I have that as far as music goes, but I suppose time will tell.

 

[MrLenny1]

Scott's Bass Lessons.
Really like the way he teaches and it
helped me as a gigging bass player.
Also highly recommend a private teacher.
There's nothing like a one on one lesson.

 

[Horgh]

Well, you really don't state your specific goals which would be important for your "next".

That's fair. I mentioned above that I'd like to be well-rounded, which doesn't mean much. What it means in my head is that I'll progress in all relevant areas equally. So, for example, I don't want to focus on being a really good player if I can't read music. I also don't want to focus on sight reading fluently if in the end I can't play any of it. I figure music theory and practice go hand in hand, and that is what seems to work for me. I need theory to satisfy my curiosity for WHY I'm playing something, and I need practice to know HOW to play something. Does that make sense?

 

[makanudo]

Janek Gwinzdala's books are really cool. So are his videos and classes up on the tube.

So is Rufus Philpot although I dont' know if he has any sort of "courses" per se. I might want to look it up.

Rick beato is great for music theory and concepts too. Although not bass specific.

 

[fretlessman71]

That's fair. I mentioned above that I'd like to be well-rounded, which doesn't mean much. What it means in my head is that I'll progress in all relevant areas equally. So, for example, I don't want to focus on being a really good player if I can't read music. I also don't want to focus on sight reading fluently if in the end I can't play any of it. I figure music theory and practice go hand in hand, and that is what seems to work for me. I need theory to satisfy my curiosity for WHY I'm playing something, and I need practice to know HOW to play something. Does that make sense?

It makes a lot of sense. It's why TAB has very little value to me; if I don't know why I am putting my fingers somewhere, I won't memorize it and be able to use it.

So, what do YOU consider to be "relevant areas" of study? Maybe you mentioned it earlier in the thread?

 

[Horgh]

It makes a lot of sense. It's why TAB has very little value to me; if I don't know why I am putting my fingers somewhere, I won't memorize it and be able to use it.

So, what do YOU consider to be "relevant areas" of study? Maybe you mentioned it earlier in the thread?

Precisely, you and I are the same in that regard. I think BassBuzz taught me the basics I never understood but always wanted to understand, namely WHAT a bass "should" be playing in the most basic form (root notes), what that actually means (chord structure), intervals (hey, I can use those for fills!), diatonic chords (now I know when I should play a major and a minor in a given scale, and how that relates to intervals), Nashville numbers and basics of keys and reading sheet music. Those were all HUGE to making me go "Oooooh, so THAT is how that works!", which in turn made me want to practice more and learn more. So I just want to build on those basics.

I think TalkingBass is going to give me some of that, especially in the courses beyond the fundamental one. There are a ton of other good suggestions here, it'll just take me some time to get through them obviously.

My goal is to spend as much time learning from courses as I do learning songs. I have that 50 Song Challenge from BassBuzz, and now someone pointed me to the Bass White Pages, and TalkingBass has some of that as well. As much as I like sites like Songsterr, I'm always weary of random tabs and I really want to focus on sheet music, not tablature. So having reputable and "correct" sources of bass sheet music is certainly helping my confidence.

 

[fretlessman71]

So it sounds to me like you're getting a good grasp of theory and reading. Terrific!

However - and it took me nearly 30 years to truly embrace the truth of this statement - what really makes a great bass player is their sense of TIME. How to place a note right on the downbeat (or any beat or sub-beat), how the length of the note is almost as important as the starting note, how to keep your place in the rhythm whether you are playing or resting, that sort of thing. So maybe it's time to find different lessons that get you to flex that particular muscle. Remember: a poor note choice played in time could still be an interpretation; a great note choice played out of time almost always sounds like a mistake.

 

[Horgh]

So it sounds to me like you're getting a good grasp of theory and reading. Terrific!

However - and it took me nearly 30 years to truly embrace the truth of this statement - what really makes a great bass player is their sense of TIME. How to place a note right on the downbeat (or any beat or sub-beat), how the length of the note is almost as important as the starting note, how to keep your place in the rhythm whether you are playing or resting, that sort of thing. So maybe it's time to find different lessons that get you to flex that particular muscle. Remember: a poor note choice played in time could still be an interpretation; a great note choice played out of time almost always sounds like a mistake.

Yes! Oh how right you are about that. So, BassBuzz teaches an approach where you play a basic (or more complex) bass pattern to a drum track, and then you mute the drum track for N number of measures. The bigger N is, the more you play without the drums. When the drums finally do come back in (they're on a loop), you can easily tell if you sped up or dragged behind the (now silent) drum rhythm, to help you develop an inner sense of time. I actually did really well with that exercise, so I think I have a good inner sense of rhythm.

BUT... I mentioned above, I'm currently trying to learn House of the Rising Sun, which is in 6/8 time, and has a lot of note variations between the measures. I'm finding myself having to actually count in my head to try and hit all the note durations correctly. I'm starting to "feel" the song more and now that the initial panic is dying down, I'm trying to pay more attention to the drums and guitar to make sure I'm holding each note the appropriate amount of time. Still, it's going to take me a few more days to nail this one. I think once I feel it, I'll be able to keep good time, but it's always challenging playing someone else's music, because you're essentially learning how they felt the time when they recorded the track.

 

[Snipehunter]

The problem with the Bass White Pages is that the song selection is heavily slanted toward music from the era the book was created (like 20 years ago) and limited by the rights the publisher could obtain.

To me, Invalid Link Removed is the better modern resource for tabs and music. Just ignore the user submitted tabs. I think it's like fifteen dollars a year and they give you access to this giant catalog of "Official" versions of the tab/music for each song. Not only that but it will play the music for you, let you isolate instruments, slow down, etc. Be sure to click the button to download the backing track so the music doesn't sound so synthesized.

My current method for learning songs is to first try and figure it out by ear with the assistance of software such as Transcribe!. Then I will check my work with what's on Ultimate Guitar. On occasion I will find that the official version at Ultimate Guitar has a wrong note but for the most part it's pretty accurate. You can let them know if something is wrong in the music and they can correct it. The publisher can't do that with a book.