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Scott Devine - Online Learning


DavidMcKay
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Guys 'n' Gals


Thinking of taking a 12 month subscription to Scott Devine's online bass lessons. I like his presentational style, he obviously knows his stuff, and I feel I'd get my money's worth.

Any current subscribers who would care to comment/offer feedback?

Any pointers to other alternative online learning resources?

Simply looking for the best source of learning - not looking to start a slanging match.



Cheers,

David

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Watching his left hand makes my hand ache, I just don't know how he does his fingering like that. I am sure many pro's do too, but when I try to mimic those kind of shapes I can't do it at all. But that's probably just me.

Some informative videos, but i'v not been persuaded to join. What do you get for your money? Are the videos and the other free stuff not enough as it is?

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I'm a subscriber. I subscribed primarily to access the workbooks for the lessons and the structured courses. Now I've joined I've barely even touched those because I'm having too much fun with the other masses of content! Obviously it'll depend whereabouts on your bass journey you are. I'm a beginner so I'm getting an absolutely huge amount out of it for the money, however there are many pros and people who have been playing for donkeys years on there, and actually I find most of the content geared towards intermediate and beyond players.

This an example of the things I'm doing right now:

[b]The monthly challenge[/b] - this is where you are given a task with a theme to work on and at the end a winner will be announced. This month's is slap bass, which runs until the end of December.
[b]Bass Hangs[/b] - these are live sessions where you can submit questions to Scott (and Geoff Chalmers, the community manager and double bass demon) and get a reply. They generally run from 1hr30 to 2hrs long. They are recorded so you can watch them at your own leisure. Lots of useful questions being asked by members.
[b]Beginners course[/b] - this is one of the 4 main courses that can be accessed by subscribers. Scott's nearly finished a [b]"Harmonic Layering" course[/b], which covers scales, arpeggios and chord tones and how they work together that's over 10 hours long.
[b]Campus[/b] - this is the forum where there's lots of cool stuff including [b]member-created lessons, transcriptions, and "Feedback Friday"[/b], which is where you can submit a video of your playing for Scott to critique on Fridays. Of course there's also general chat and support from your fellow bassists.
Starting Monday there are going to be [b]live Q&A sessions[/b] with various professionals, hopefully once a week with a varying list including Ed Friedland, Danny Mo Morris and Evan Brewer. I can't remember who the others were, but I think there was a list of 5 with more to come. These will also be recorded.

All this doesn't even count all the free lessons and the advantage of having the [b]workbooks and downloadable audio[/b], plus backing tracks if available. Lessons get released at least once a week. You also have access to several interviews with professional bassists. If you want to join, in December Scott is aiming to release a video every day up until Christmas!

I hope this helps :)

There are other sources, places that do free videos such as Marlowedk on Youtube and a couple of other sites I can't remember off the top of my head. Then there's Jamplay, which is also subscription based; I haven't tried the bass version of this as I didn't get along with the guitar version. Look around because learning from videos is very teacher-dependent.

Edited by Heket
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I'm a subscriber too. The Academy lessons are a good bit better than the free stuff. The newer lessons have a fair bit more structure and follow a more logical line of progression. There is a good level of encouragement to actually progress in your learning, which it's hard to replicate here or if you're self taught.

If you think it sounds expensive, equate the 10s of hours of lessons on SBL to what that would cost you for 1-to-1 tuition.

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David you should at least get your money's worth, especially compared the cost/benefit of face-to-face lessons.

Echoing Grangur, it's the structured approach that helps. Don't be put off by the more simplistic areas. I forced myself to sit through the lessons in order and found something in most of them. The theory approach is the most logical I've seen, and there's technical stuff in there that will stretch you for years (if that route is your thing..).

There's also the motivation that 'I've paid for it - I'm going to damn well make sure I get my moneys worth' (just like you said when you joined the gym:) )

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[quote name='Machines' timestamp='1416717428' post='2612879']
Am I the only one who finds his videos annoying ? I think it's the repetition at the start telling me to go to the website for more lessons on every one.
[/quote]

Nope, I'm with you! Scott mumbles and stumbles through what he is saying far too much for me. I understand the advertising bits as he needs to let people know what he is doing to keep them subscribing but I never found Scott's stuff that useful, engaging or professionally presented (particularly the earlier stuff!). He is a great player but he always seems like he is just recording a lesson 'on the fly' without having thought about what it will involve or having a structured lesson plan. This means I very quickly get the urge to want to skip through the video to the bit where the actual content is.

Obviously this is just my opinion but I went and picked up Janek Gwizdala's online courses and feel like it has progressed my playing massively (although I imagine Janeks style will not be to everyone's taste either).

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[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1416732154' post='2612910']


Nope, I'm with you! Scott mumbles and stumbles through what he is saying far too much for me. I understand the advertising bits as he needs to let people know what he is doing to keep them subscribing but I never found Scott's stuff that useful, engaging or professionally presented (particularly the earlier stuff!). He is a great player but he always seems like he is just recording a lesson 'on the fly' without having thought about what it will involve or having a structured lesson plan. This means I very quickly get the urge to want to skip through the video to the bit where the actual content is.

Obviously this is just my opinion but I went and picked up Janek Gwizdala's online courses and feel like it has progressed my playing massively (although I imagine Janeks style will not be to everyone's taste either).
[/quote]
You're right, the free stuff is like that. Also it annoyed me when he'd be explaining a "simple" thing for beginners, and leap straight to expecting you to know about. Dominant 7th chords, for example.

The signature tune sequence at the beginning of the free stuff also pi$$es me off. It goes on far too long.

You really can't judge the paid-for material from looking at the free stuff. The format is very different. The free stuff was Scotts learning period on the build up to starting the academy.

Edited by Grangur
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[quote name='skej21' timestamp='1416732154' post='2612910']
Nope, I'm with you! Scott mumbles and stumbles through what he is saying far too much for me. I understand the advertising bits as he needs to let people know what he is doing to keep them subscribing but I never found Scott's stuff that useful, engaging or professionally presented (particularly the earlier stuff!). He is a great player but he always seems like he is just recording a lesson 'on the fly' without having thought about what it will involve or having a structured lesson plan. This means I very quickly get the urge to want to skip through the video to the bit where the actual content is.

Obviously this is just my opinion but I went and picked up Janek Gwizdala's online courses and feel like it has progressed my playing massively (although I imagine Janeks style will not be to everyone's taste either).
[/quote]

Fair point. I do find myself skipping a bit, but put this down to it being a slower paced lesson (ie not everyone will pick it up as quick).

Thanks for the Janek tip - just watching his Chords and Reharmonisation, seems excellent

Edited by DanR
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[quote name='Hugh971' timestamp='1416738510' post='2612977']
I'm a subscriber to his premium site and it's worth every penny.

His teaching style is great, I never find myself confused after his lessons.

Most importantly my playing has rocketed ahead since I joined.
[/quote]

It's SBL that I'm signed up to, not the other one. I signed up to the bass academy which includes a load of premium courses amongst other stuff. He's recently released a harmonic layering course which breaks down arpeggios and scales and how to use them in your playing. This new course is over 10 hours long!

https://www.scottsbasslessons.com/bass-academy

It's not just the lessons that are great though, the online community is excellent too, it's great to be able to communicate with others who are also eager to learn. I find it motivates me more.

You can actually sign up for 14 days for $1 to try it out if you want to look around.

[quote name='Tuco' timestamp='1416739922' post='2612991']
One question : whats with the glove???
[/quote]

He wears gloves because he has a medical condition (focal dystonia) which causes him big problems with his hands, the gloves help this. There's actually a page on his website about it.

https://www.scottsbasslessons.com/odds-and-sods/the-gloves

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[quote name='Hugh971' timestamp='1416741419' post='2613012']
It's SBL that I'm signed up to, not the other one..
[/quote]

Cheers. Yep I'm also a paid up member of SBL. After working through 2 Janek lessons I think this might be more my bag..

Edited by DanR
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[quote name='arthurhenry' timestamp='1416748437' post='2613111']
Regarding the glove: Does the condition only affect his left hand?
[/quote]

No, it's a neurological condition to do with nerve signals getting confused and being sent to the wrong destination. The glove on his left hand seems to offset the condition but it still affects him.

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[quote name='DanR' timestamp='1416725406' post='2612888']
David you should at least get your money's worth, especially compared the cost/benefit of face-to-face lessons.
[/quote]

I've never see his lessons, so can't comment on that side of it, but I can't see how one can make that comparison.
[size=4]It's a bit like saying buying a Ford Ka will get you money's worth compared to buying a Galaxy. Both cars, both work, but not quite the same thing.[/size]

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