Bass tutor advice

[The Goatreich]

Hey guys,
I've recently had a friend's younger brother coming over the house for some basic bass lessons. He started playing less than a year ago, and basically wants a hand in learning some of his favourite tunes, and also some pointers in theory and other methods such as slap.

I've been playing for 15 years on a non-professional level but during that time have had extensive experience of playing in a rock/metal style, which is luckily the genre he's into and wants to learn from, at least for now.

About a month into the lessons and I'm discovering that since I'm entirely self-taught I'm struggling to give him decent lessons that will help him in the areas he needs to work on that don't simultaneously bore him to tears and want to give up. The main problem area at the moment is time-keeping and following a beat. I have him playing major and minor scales up and down the fret board, along to a metronome set at various speeds, which feels like a proper lesson, but I can tell that he's quickly getting bored of it and his mind wandering and so we always move on to learning whatever song we're in the middle of learning at the moment.

Now, of course, I'm not asking any tutors on here to give up precious trade secrets and lessons, but does anyone have any advice on good ideas that I can show him to help him learn and nail the very basics? I try and think back to when I was at the same level and he is, and I pretty much just listened to songs and copied them, never really struggling with playing along to a beat (not saying I didn't, and still don't struggle in other areas ).

I would appreciate any advice people can give.

Cheers!

[Doddy]

[quote name='The Goatreich' post='936129' date='Aug 25 2010, 04:31 PM']About a month into the lessons and I'm discovering that since I'm entirely self-taught I'm struggling to give him decent lessons that will help him in the areas he needs to work on that don't simultaneously bore him to tears and want to give up.[/quote]

I'm picking this particular bit,because it stands out the most to me.
If you feel that you are struggling to give him decent lessons,then it is maybe better to pass him on to somebody who
can. I know that's not what you want to hear,but it's true. Also,if he is totally into his playing then nothing should bore him.

You say that you've got him playing scales to a metronome. That's cool,now apply them to actual musical ideas. If his mind
is wandering,you are not conveying the ideas well enough-Sure,scales can be boring but they don't have to be. I don't particularly
like to teach songs,but if a student is really keen on learning a certain tune i'll do it,but I'll also break it right down and pick things like
scale patterns and arpeggios within the tune.Over the next few weeks we will then study these areas in more depth.

Other than songs (presumably rock)and major/minor scales what else are you teaching him? Does he know the notes on the neck?
Can he read(notes not tab)? Does he understand chords? Can he walk? There are so many things that you can be teaching him that
do not revolve around playing his favourite songs,but will improve his play exponentially.

[The Goatreich]

Thanks for the reply.

I agree with what you're saying, and I do think that he would definitely learn from a more theoretical tutor and I will very likely pass this onto him to see what he thinks. 99% of my bass playing experience is practical based, and have mainly learned through just playing along to other peoples' songs and of course being part of several bands writing music over the years. It's highly likely that I could do with lessons myself, if I could only afford them.

He started with me under no pretence that I would walk him through exams etc, he just wanted to be taught some of his favourite songs and also be introduced to new techniques, mainly slap.

Since starting with me I can see that he has improved his left hand positioning ten fold and his ring and little finger have definitely increased in strength, which I'm very happy about. The main struggle at the moment is playing along to the metronome, maybe it is time to point him towards someone that can help him out long term. I only hope that he can afford the cost of professional lessons.

[OliverBlackman]

Iv recently been teaching myself and i think the easiest way to make scales fun is by challenging them to play it around the cycle of fourths or fifths or playing them over chord progressions. Then once they have a small grip on what makes a scale (intervals) i went through songs that they like to show them how the bassline was constructed using intervals from the chords/ scales and how it all fits into theory. This will really help them to improvise as they will be able to take ideas form songs and put their own spin on it.

I think this is a much easier process if you know everything yourself although my dad didnt know any theory and picked it up through books ect, just to help his teaching so it can be done.

[skej21]

[quote name='The Goatreich' post='938118' date='Aug 27 2010, 02:28 PM']The main struggle at the moment is playing along to the metronome, maybe it is time to point him towards someone that can help him out long term.[/quote]

Don't get fooled into thinking that a student's failings are due to the standard of your tuition.

The chances are, it is partly your fault (for allowing him to have free lessons based entirely on his terms - learning songs he likes and teaching him techniques that he requested, such as slap) but the main cause of this problem probably lies with him.

Because he has learnt on his own terms, he is obviously going to resist when you ask him to do something tedious and easy yet VERY time consuming (as progress will only come through a lot of practice.)

Unfortunately, students will do ANYTHING to learn the cool stuff and avoid the hard work and as the tutor/experienced musician, you have to find a fun way to engage them so that they will do both.

Good Luck!

Edited August 28, 2010 by skej21