Teenage daughter wants to learn bass!

[bean52]

Hi. Hope someone here can give me some reassurance or advice. My 13 year old daughter has decided that she wants to learn bass. Now, I'm all for encouraging any musical education in my children. It's one of my greatest regrets that I didnt learn an instrument myself when I was younger. But I've laid out several hundred quid before on a flute for her that has now resided in a cupboard for a couple of years, to say nothing of the lessons. I've given up on her taking it up again because admittedly it's not much of an instrument for a proto-emo/goth adolescent. But even so before I commit to anything else for her I want to be reasonably sure it's a viable option and bass gives me some concerns.

I should explain that personally I love bass and I think it's a great instrument but I just worry about how she would learn it in isolation? Part of a rhythm section yes, but it doesn't strike me as an instrument suited to solitary learning and if that is the case then I'm worried about how she will stay motivated to learn. I'd get her a teacher of course, but she's a bit young to join a band just yet!

I hope I haven't said anything to offend anyone here, because you obviously all love your chosen instrument. Perhaps some advice on how you all got by to start off with would help?

[MythSte]

The only part i would disagree with is the bit about her being too young to be in a band! Your never to young for a band, or even a few like-minded people in the garage.

Its this sociological malarkee that makes something like the bass wonderful for us younguns! you get to make music that you like, with people that you like (with varying degrees of success but thats beside the point, for now!) wheras with the flute theres a much smaller window to do what you like with, she'll have had to learn pieces and play it how it was originally played etc.

I think she'll be fine.

[ahpook]

[quote name='ste_m3' post='203156' date='May 20 2008, 07:09 PM']I think she'll be fine. [/quote]


plus the one.

let her have a go...obviously there's the concern about laying out the money for a bass and so on, but here's an idea...you say you like bass ? you could always take it up if the bass goes the way of her flute !!

[budget bassist]

Quite honestly, i get bored learning bass on it's own. What i'd recommend is that you get guitar pro (pay for it or otherwise) and let her play along to that, then once she's competent at playing to a song on guitar pro, let her play along to the actual track without the guitar pro tabs in front of her. That's how i do it, i much prefer playing to music than not and if she's someone that gets bored easily that's probably the way to do it.

Of course i'm assuming that you play an instrument... if not, drop me a PM or something and i can dig up a guide how to read tabs and a few links to some good tabs/guitar pro file sites and all that stuff if you want her to teach herself (i did it). Oh and i can explain what guitar pro actually IS haha (very useful is what it is!)

Also you're never too young to be in a band, my first band when i was 14 i think had like a 9/10 year old drummer! (we were crap, he was good for his age though )

Edited May 20, 2008 by budget bassist

[lukeward2004]

Hi Bean,

I picked up the bass at 16 with no musical theory and having had very little musical training, apart from some keyboard lessons from 4 to about 12 before I gave up (which I regret to this day).

I learned and played bass solely for well over 7 years now, I dont play any other instruments and ive never once felt like I was wasting my time or my money (and believe me ive spent more than I care to think about on gear!). I play bass because I enjoy it and yes, it comes into its own when you get into a proper band with a rhythm section, but to be honest I find bedroom playing has a place to play aswell in developing skills.

I joined a band at 16 after playing bass for about 2 weeks, and i can honestly say I have learnt more from being in a band than anything else!

[Lo.]

Learning any instrument is just a wonderful thing to do - I know we're all biased here, but I'd never discourage my kids from having a go. You can get some real bargains on instruments, but I would recommend going to a shop rather than buying off the net if you can afford the extra few quid.

My nine year has been playing guitar for a few years - I don't push him - he's often just happy to practise on his own, and he obviously wants to be a bass player - he likes playing chords and melodies, but he often tries to learn the bass line from his favourite tunes, and has even got into copying some of my Motown noodlings. If she's like most of us, she'll get motivated by playing along to her favourite pop tunes I guess - you might be surprised how much she takes to it!

And of course, bass is the best instrument ever invented, so it shows how wise she is!!

[The Funk]

[quote name='bean52' post='203152' date='May 20 2008, 07:06 PM']but she's a bit young to join a band just yet![/quote]

I'd never dream of telling you how to raise your kids but she's not too young to join a band. 13 is the perfect age to get together with friends or acquaintances at school and start a band.

EDIT: I see I'm not the only one to make this point. Ste's 17 and he's playing Glasto this year with his band. Pretty cool, eh?

Edited May 20, 2008 by The Funk

[bean52]

Thanks all for some really helpful replies. Based on what you've said I think I'm prepared to take a chance. I'd rather she had a go than put her off and like someone said I could always try taking it up myself if she gives it up (although I've recently started learning guitar and I'm not sure I could contend with learning both at the same time!)

[Happy Jack]

Hi Bean - bin there dun that.

Three years ago my daughter was 13 and had just decided to give up flute and learn bass. In the event she got bored after three months and gave up, but that had nothing to do with having no one to play with - we're in London and half her friends (at the time) seemed to play guitar.

Silver lining? I picked up her discarded bass, and I haven't stopped playing bass since.

My point is, don't spend a lot of money getting her a "good" bass or even a "decent" bass. Pick up a mass-produced Fender copy second-hand - you'll get something perfectly playable for less than £100. There's a Nevada P-bass on eBay right now with a Buy-It-Now of £70. Alternatively, take a look at the [i]Basses For Sale[/i] on this site; there's a MIM (Made In Mexico) Fender for sale today at £150 ... the Fender name alone is worth at least £50!

Buy her one of the teach-yourself books (I recommend the ones by Stuart Clayton) and see if she does anything with it. If she takes it seriously and gets stuck in, it's easy enough to trade up to a higher-quality bass, and to arrange some lessons before she picks up bad habits.

If she's particularly small, or has very small hands, then you might want to consider buying a short-scale bass rather than a long-scale one. That doesn't mean it's a scaled-down copy of a "real" bass ... just that it has a shorter neck with the frets closer together, and therefore a lower string tension to compensate.

Good luck.


Edit: Oops! That MIM Fender has already sold - I told you £150 was a good price! -_-

Edited May 20, 2008 by Happy Jack

[Alien]

[quote name='bean52' post='203152' date='May 20 2008, 07:06 PM']But I've laid out several hundred quid before on a flute for her that has now resided in a cupboard for a couple of years, to say nothing of the lessons. I've given up on her taking it up again because admittedly it's not much of an instrument for a proto-emo/goth adolescent.[/quote]

If she's really against playing the flute, there's your solution - sell it or trade it in against a bass. If she subsequently decides that the bass is not for her, then you haven't got 2 unused instruments kicking about the house, just 1.

Also, plus yet another one on her not being too young to join a band. You're never too young or too old.

Andy

[Golchen]

I have four kids from 3 to 11. If any of them showed the remotest interest in any instrument my money would be right there on the table. It's potentially one of the best gifts that you can ever give them and well worth a 'gamble'. If it doesn't stick there's always eBay. Despite having hoards of instruments I can't get any of them interested in ANYTHING so far - but my 7 yr old daughter did ask for a pink plectrum when we were in a store last summer.

[queenofthedepths]

[quote name='budget bassist' post='203164' date='May 20 2008, 07:17 PM']Of course i'm assuming that you play an instrument... if not, drop me a PM or something and i can dig up a guide how to read tabs and a few links to some good tabs/guitar pro file sites and all that stuff if you want her to teach herself (i did it). Oh and i can explain what guitar pro actually IS haha (very useful is what it is!)[/quote]
+1 on guitar pro being awesome - as for all that advice, why not start a thread so everyone can see it? That's the kind of thing I wish I'd known when I started

[g1hsg]

Loads of good advice already posted to which I'll add the following. My 14 year old daughter has just started learning bass and the best decision we made was to get her a pro. tutor (Nick Carey - see Tutor section of the forum) I know there are many who advocate going it alone but I think in the early days the basics are best taught before bad habits creep in. My situation is not exactly the same as yours because my daughter is continuing with her other instruments (trumpet/piano). Also gives her loads of street cred with the boys. Downside, guess who gets to lug the rig ? Daaaaaaaad its too heavy ................

[budget bassist]

Good idea, i might do that in a bit actually.

[mewsie]

awesome!

nice to hear of other girls taking up, or wanting to take up bass, for one.

i think that bass is an infinitely 'cooler' instrument to play, and she will hopefully get a few friends who play too and torment you with band practise in her bedroom!

i think that anything to get anyone into any kind of musical instrument is totally worth every penny spent.

x

[Bilbo]

The flute wasn't a waste of time, mate. She tried it, she learned some stuff about music (reading?, listening, playing in time, bits of theory - there's loads of transferable skills here). She decided she didn't like the flute - could be because she didn't connected with it. Could have been a bad teacher (there are LOADS out there), could be that the teacher only threw classical stuff at her when she wanted to learn more popular music forms, could be that she couldn't identify with the genres she was being introduced to. She may find out later that she does want to play the flute (or saxophone?).

There are 1,000s of top notch musicians out there, professional players and celebrity musos alike, who started on one instrument and later changed to another, sometimes several times. Its a journey and many kids don't get the instrument right the first time. It woudl be a shame to ditch the whole idea on the basis of one bad decision. I know its a pisser when you are spending money but, as someone said, you could sell the flute (or play it yourself). The gift of music is priceless and the outlay relatively cheap (what does an ipod cost? Or a weeks holiday?).

[Bass_In_Yer_Face]

I'm fast approaching the big 40 and one of the biggest regrets my old school mates and I said was that we never started a band. We all love music and if we had the chance to be 13 again and join a band we'd jump at it!.

[obbm]

My neice keeps saying she wants to play bass everytime she visits and sees my collection. I felt that the right thing to do was to buy a cheap bass and amp for her 13th birthday and see what happens.

In particular she wanted a pink bass. Careful scrutiny of eBay for pink basses lead me to Swift basses who do a 32-inch scale P-bass for £59 new. Eventually I found a used one for £41. It needed a good set-up, the fret ends filing and a better set of strings (a discarded set of DRs) and now it plays really well - see pic of Dood with it at the Northampton Bash. Ebay also delivered a Stagg practice amp with line in and headphone out for £10. Total outlay £51 plus a bit of my time.

If she really gets into it then we'll see about something better. If it's a 5-minute fad then no real loss.

[pete.young]

+1 to finding a good tutor. My son decided at 13 that he wanted to learn guitar, having had no joy with piano or trumpet, so we sorted out an axe, found an excellent teacher and he's never looked back - 3 years later he plays every day, is in a band with his mates from school and loves it. He's not bad on bass either!

ste_m3, many congratulations on Glastonbury. That's a great achievement.

[geilerbass]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='203476' date='May 21 2008, 08:48 AM']The flute wasn't a waste of time, mate. She tried it, she learned some stuff about music (reading?, listening, playing in time, bits of theory - there's loads of transferable skills here). She decided she didn't like the flute - could be because she didn't connected with it. Could have been a bad teacher (there are LOADS out there), could be that the teacher only threw classical stuff at her when she wanted to learn more popular music forms, could be that she couldn't identify with the genres she was being introduced to. She may find out later that she does want to play the flute (or saxophone?).

There are 1,000s of top notch musicians out there, professional players and celebrity musos alike, who started on one instrument and later changed to another, sometimes several times. Its a journey and many kids don't get the instrument right the first time. It woudl be a shame to ditch the whole idea on the basis of one bad decision. I know its a pisser when you are spending money but, as someone said, you could sell the flute (or play it yourself). The gift of music is priceless and the outlay relatively cheap (what does an ipod cost? Or a weeks holiday?).[/quote]

YES! Bang on the mark with this post. I played recorder when I was about 5 and gave that up after a year or two. I then started playing trombone at age 11. I was able to pick up the trombone much more quickly and grasp many of the concepts a lot more easily than I would have done, had I not played the recorder, since the latter gave me a rudimentary but fundamental grasp of the basic concepts of music.

A few years later I picked up the bass and got to grips with it very quickly. I already read music (bass clef, no less!), had played in a brass ensemble, so knew about playing in a group and was generally a lot more comfortable with many of the more abstract concepts of music.

Every little bit of exposure that I've had to playing has contributed to the player that I am today and nothing has been wasted. Especially not the recorder lessons! So while it may not seem that this is the case now, if your daughter does end up getting on well with the bass and goes on to play in bands, she will not look back on her brief experience with the flute as wasted.

Bilbo's comment about good/bad teachers is also a very valid point. I had 4 trombone teachers in my school days. Two just went through the motions and I could quite easily have quit while being taught be either. Though one teacher, who only taught me for a year, showed me music in a totally different light and completely changed my approach to playing. I'm certain that without his inspiration, I would not be posting on a bass guitar forum today... Sorry that was a bit melodramatic...

[bean52]

Thanks everyone for some excellent replies and great advice - I'm convinced and the search for a bass and practice amp has started. In fact you all sound so committed I can see me having a dabble with it myself!

[mewsie]

[quote name='bean52' post='203531' date='May 21 2008, 09:57 AM']- I'm convinced[/quote]

haha, you asked at the right place for that!

x

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

I think its important to let her choose her bass, so she gets something that she can't wait to pick up. My daughter is twelve and doesn't seem to be able to walk past her purple burst pearloid topped daisy rock bass without picking it up. She's talking about forming a band with her pals as well.

[lonestar]

I can't add much more to the good positive comments here other than playing bass and getting in to a band with her mates or even just getting together and making a racket is probably going to be more fun for her than learning the flute which is a fairly solitary excercise for a teenager.

My boy is 12 and having drum lessons, his mate who is learning guitar came around the other day borrowed my Strat and practice amp. I could hear them upstairs struggling through Teenage Kicks. It brought a tear to my eye especially when I was invited to come and join in. What a laugh.

Find her a good teacher, buy her a decent cheapo bass and amp and if it doesn't work out there is always ebay. there is loads of stuff on basschat about bargain gear.
I met OBBM from this forum at a recent bass bash and he had a brilliant bargain P bass copy PM him and I'm sure that he'll tell you what it was.

mike

Edited May 21, 2008 by lonestar

[OldGit]

[quote name='Golchen' post='203236' date='May 20 2008, 08:49 PM']I have four kids from 3 to 11. If any of them showed the remotest interest in any instrument my money would be right there on the table. It's potentially one of the best gifts that you can ever give them and well worth a 'gamble'. If it doesn't stick there's always eBay. Despite having hoards of instruments I can't get any of them interested in ANYTHING so far - but my 7 yr old daughter did ask for a pink plectrum when we were in a store last summer.[/quote]


Yeah I'm there too. My 10 year old lad doesn't want to learn anything musical.
If he did I'd be right there helping in any way I could.

It's cheap to get started on a bass but let her choose one (and an amp) for a set budget. There's no way you'll get it right if she's 13 so don't even bother trying. Google will sort her out and check with the people on here if you are concerneed at all.

Then there will be lessons at school, school groups, saturday schools in adult ed and arts centres, or just jamming along with mates and records.

If she retains any of here flute music training that will help. Bass is also a "one note at at time" instrument (unlike piano or guitar) so the converstion should be easier.

and if she bails after a few months you'll still be able to sell teh gear to the next kid ...