• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join freeLog in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Which online lesson site is most "structured" for beginners?

I’m working through the Bass Learning Path on TrueFire right now. It took me a bit to warm up to Stu Hamm but I’m digging his teaching style now.
I’ve tried some others, TrueFire is great especially if you also play guitar.
 
I've tried a mix of BassBuzz, Talking Bass and SBL and my thoughts would be:

1. BassBuzz is a great way to get started. It gets you playing quickly and introduces solid technique and basic theory around the songs \ riffs. Watch the freebie videos on You Tube and you'll get a feel for how Josh delivers material. For me it was a great start. Josh \ the material are very engaging and should help keep focus and enthusiasm.

2. Mark at Talking Bass takes a much more academic approach. It is drier; dare I say a duller approach but the courses I did next (Chord Tone Essentials and Scale Essentials) were in depth and very well delivered. Again; what you see of Mark on his free videos is what you get with the courses. He is very professional but I don't know if I'd recommend his courses for "fun and engaging" content.

3. I did dabble with an SBL subscription but I found the number of courses and lack of structure really confusing. And as a beginner it was overwhelming and somehow managed to be less than the sum of its parts. On the plus side; there are some great tutors there who do most of the courses e.g. Damian Erskine, Philip Mann, Arianne Cap and I have since done a couple of the accelerator courses and they have been excellent.

But we are all different. Any of the above (plus others) will offer 30 day money back \ trials on either a subscription or course so I'd always suggest to try them out for yourself and see which fits you way of learning.
This is a long-proven way of teaching students. After all, they try different methods when preparing for classes. Initially, students can use Link Removed to get ideas and samples for preparing their writing assignments. And after that, they try to do independent academic research, study sources, and write their paper without any top 10 essay services reviews samples, but they need to consult their supervisor. Others work independently without samples and consultations, carefully studying all available information.



Good Luck!


I agree with you that you need to try different methods. I also use them in my learning. But, I believe there is no need to focus on one way. Combining both academic studies and more accessible studies is better. They perfectly complement each other. And as a result, we become more knowledgeable about playing the instrument and music.
 
Last edited:
For some odd quirk, I had never looked at Bass Buzz until I found the bass setup video last week. I’m intrigued by the B2B course after watching a couple other videos. Does it ever go on sale? I have plenty of material for the moment but I would buy it on a deal.
 
I've never seen BassBuzz (B2B) go on sale.

For me it was a great introduction to the bass but if you are relatively experienced I'm not sure you'll get a huge amount out of it. For me, it gave me a solid grounding on technique and I loved it at the time but then I used Mark at Talking Bass to progress on my journey towards mediocrity. I keep going back over the Talking Bass courses but I've never gone back to B2B.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bodhammer
For some odd quirk, I had never looked at Bass Buzz until I found the bass setup video last week. I’m intrigued by the B2B course after watching a couple other videos. Does it ever go on sale? I have plenty of material for the moment but I would buy it on a deal.
He does do a payment plan which can take the sting out of the upfront payment! Best beginner course on the market. One of the most engaging forums as well.
 
Ryan Madora's Bass Cafe on Truefire might be a good choice for your friend's daughter - starts out with the very basics and progresses into more complex stuff (and for under $30 for lifetime access, hard to beat!). Would also recommend checking out Ryan's YouTube channel - not as structured as her Bass Cafe course, but worth a look.

I took 1-on-1 Skype lessons with Ryan for a couple of months, highly recommended! (but sounds like that might not be a good option, at least, not right away)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Adagietto