100%. The academic studying is also important but it's really supplemental. Gotta get with some people who know what they're doing and learned from them.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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 free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Would you spend $2000 to learn to play jazz online?
- Thread starter tb-player
- Start date
100%. The academic studying is also important but it's really supplemental. Gotta get with some people who know what they're doing and learned from them.
Pretty soon no one will need to "waste" so much time listening to, transcribing, and dissecting the recorded works of the true jazz masters, and practicing will be a similarly inefficient use of valuable time that could be better spent staring at a screen. The next wave is AI! ("Artificial Improvisation") Yay! More time to watch TinkTonk videos and internet salespeople!
That's a lotta dough. I'd probably get a nice recording preamp instead. I mean it wouldn't matter who the course was from, but in particular, this chap's vibe has always repelled me for some reason.
Period.
Even trying to be a good boy by working out the fundamentals alone has pretty limited scope, because other than doing hard listening, playing along or transcribing, there's not much good you're going to do alone that will sound remotely listenable
The hardest of truths about jazz- sucking a lot and getting embarrassed early on is an unavoidable right of passage. As a kid I was touted as a 'talented and a natural' young player- there are MANY moments from those early years that keep me up at night to this day.
There's no shortcut to learning jazz, and it's certainly not something you can do by watching 8 videos. The idea of paying $2k for this would be funny, except it's clear that enough people have done it that it's more … concerning than funny
I take comfort in this! I've had my share of train wrecks but it's important, hard as it may be, that this is part of the process. Honor the process!
i've had several adult bass students come to me after "a year/years of using SBL" and they have nothing to show for it.
im sure there's good info but i've never seen it get through to the student.
i suspect they probably go too fast with content. or we may have a user bias, the most serious students hook up with good teachers and the slightly curious sign up on a website?
i'm glad it exists but have yet to see it bring students from one level to the next. i've only seen a small sample size, but nonetheless this is my experience.
im sure there's good info but i've never seen it get through to the student.
i suspect they probably go too fast with content. or we may have a user bias, the most serious students hook up with good teachers and the slightly curious sign up on a website?
i'm glad it exists but have yet to see it bring students from one level to the next. i've only seen a small sample size, but nonetheless this is my experience.
For me, I am not paying Scott for his absurdly long winded explanations. However, I much appreciate Ian's concise explanations without telling me his life story. 
I don't mind Scott's "over enthusiasm", but I hate the constant spam and everything presented as the best thing since sliced bread, just scroll, scroll, scroll to the bottom. It must work for him.
I long ago put SBL in my spam folder. I'm probably still registered so I can download the free stuff if I'm interested. The SBL videos that I get shown by YouTube's algorithms are all the bro-fests over this bass vs. that bass, etc. Where's the stuff about uses of the whole tone scale in classic rock and why phrygian mode crushes everything?
Prolly not on a remote teacher, but I'd at least humor the idea before saying no if it meant the videos behind the paywall weren't those overly sensationalized algorithm chasing "10 reasons you should NEVER buy THIS BASS!!" *accompanied by gawking goofy face pictures. If they were like the old vids. Or if it were Adam Neely.
I can chime in as a professor who has done years of teaching in-person and online. Both ways of learning can be excellent, especially if an online course is well-done. For some people, particularly those with some learning difficulties or mental health struggles, online can be much better too. Now I don't know how their course is organized, so I can't speak to that, but it could be an ideal option for some. A lower price would be nice, but there's a real tendency to underpay musicians and educators, so I can't really be mad at the price.
I have issues with anything that starts off with, "Why Jazz Sucks," "De-Mystifying the Jazz Fretboard Iceberg," or "Secrets to Hack Your Jazz (Bass Edition)." SBL and others are presenting a problem we didn't know we had, which is why it's a good thing that they also have a solution. I know I could be such a better bass player if someone would just mystically de-ice my suck hacks secretly... fretboard?
