Where to start? (Other than taking lessons)

[AspiringBassMan]

As a fellow self-teaching beginner, I've found my computer to be another useful learning tool. I'm on a Mac laptop, and I use it for a tuner, a metronome, and a drum machine, as well as for playing the CDs that came with my instruction books, the unfortunately titled "Bass Guitar for Dummies" and "Building Walking Bass Lines" by Ed Friedland (who lurks around this forum and posts occasionally). I expect there's similar software available for Windows machines.

Good luck!
Chas

i agree! i honestly don't think that Progressive can go far wrong if he gets that book. i have it too and its probably among the best books a beginner can have.
i think it may be useful to buy/rent a bass dvd too to get some of the important things like correct posture, correct way to position the left/right hand, etc. its best to get things right to begin with than spend months unlearning bad habits picked up early.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

...Ed or any of the fine teachers of bass guitar, there are reasons for working alone. Here are mine: I'm a middle-aged guy and I don't intend to be anything more than a "bedroom" player. I picked up the instrument for stress relief and my own enjoyment. I'm having fun with it. Reporting to a teacher on a regular basis works against my ambitions (or, perhaps more accurately, my lack of ambition).
...It ain't a competition. I don't mind plodding along in the slow lane, playing along with my CDs.
Chas

That's generally why I preface my advice with the caveat that only YOU can decide to what depth you want to pursue music. There are people for whom doing the work to get deeper is a frustrating experience and there are those for whom NOT doing the work and not making any (or very slow) progress is a frustrating experience. The only problem seems to come when somebody wants the RESULTS of putting the work in without actually DOING the work.

FUN - most people have fun playing music. The QUALITY of fun that you have depends on your ambitions, desires and your current situation. Buncha guys who play softball every other Saturday can have just as much fun as the NY Yankees, but what each set of players needs to do to deal with the level of play they inhabit is vastly different. But each ball player needs to decide which level they want.

And just in the interests of full disclosure, I am NOT a teacher. In fact, after almost 30 years of playing (performance major, Berklee for a couple of years, professionally, the last 18 in NYC), I have been studying with my current teacher for about 9 years.

 

[Progressive]

Well, I decided to start on Ode To Joy. It's interesting, being all on one string. I'm just doing this for speed, of course.

 

[chasfr]

The only problem seems to come when somebody wants the RESULTS of putting the work in without actually DOING the work.

Buncha guys who play softball every other Saturday can have just as much fun as the NY Yankees, but what each set of players needs to do to deal with the level of play they inhabit is vastly different. But each ball player needs to decide which level they want.

Yeah, that's always the rub, ain't it?

One more point to make is that us every-other-Saturday players, of either baseball or bass guitar, often have a greater appreciation of the level of artistry achieved by a Derek Jeter or a Will Lee (or an Ed Fuqua). Before I started playing, I could say "Hey, that's a great bass player!"

Now, since I've picked up a little bit of knowledge, I can say "Hey, that's a 12-bar blues and the bass player is making really interesting note choices."

Works for me.

Good luck!
Chas