Beginner learning bass

[vernon7026]

Hello all

I am very new to bass, i have a couple mates who are musicians, and they said to start learning 12 bar blues and do finger excercises !

Now i have copied a 12 blues bass lesson on youtube in the key of G ! I also bought a bass for beginners book at a music shop and the the 12 bar blues in the book is slightly diffirent to the one on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcGVwwQFCzo that is the link for the lesson on Youtube ?

and this is the link for the book

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Beginner-Bass-Gary-Turner/dp/1864691646

Basically i am just confused to what 12 bar blues is, are there various(combination) ways to play the notes

this is what confuses me in the book it starts with the E string and fret 3 pick that string twice then A string fret 2 pick string twice then
open D string play twice then fret 2 of D string play once then lastly open D string once and that is all one bar ?

Diffirent to the video ?

Any advise ??

Regards

[HowieBass]

What you'll be learning to begin with are a few different patterns of notes for each bar and the complete pattern of 12 bars can start with various notes depending on what key the song is in. To start with play whole notes with 4 to the bar (counted as 1,2,3,4) but as you gain in ability you can play faster runs (such as 8 notes to the bar, counted as 1,and,2,and,3,and,4,and). There are variations on the note patterns but the relationship between the bars usually follows something like A,A,A,A,B.B,A,A,C,B,A,C where the A, B and C letters denote bars/patterns (not the actual notes you'd be playing). There are many different ways to construct bass lines for songs - have a look at this http://www.dummies.com/how-to/music-creative-arts/music/Bass-Guitar.html

[Coilte]

As you are "very new" to the bass, I would not worry too much for now, about the theory side of things. For now, get used to the feel of your bass and [u]listen closely [/u] to the twelve bar blues. Try to see/hear how the bass "fits in" to the music and how it grooves. It is important to develop your ear. If you can hear the bass clearly, then try (with trial and error) to play along by figuring out things for yourself. IMO the blues is a great form of music for learning bass lines.

As for the theory side of things, obviously it is best to start at ground zero. Otherwise you will find yourself back tracking because you neglected to learn something along the way, resulting in frustration setting in.

I would suggest that you start by learning the notes on your fret board. Then learn the major, minor and pentatonic scales for now. Learn how CHORD TONES are derived from scales. Chord tones are very important to the bass player. These are what we play 75% of the time. With theory, it is important to learn a little at a time, as otherwise the brain shuts down telling you....."too much Information ...!!!" [size=4] Spend about fifteen minutes to half an hour on the theory for now.[/size]

[size=4]I would recommend taking even a half a dozen lessons from a good teacher. This will get you off to a good start. If you decide to go it alone, then one of the best sites is "Studybass" :[/size]

[size=4][url="http://www.studybass.com/study-guide/"]http://www.studybass.com/study-guide/[/url][/size]

[size=4]Start at the beginning and go through the lessons slowly. With time and patience, those twelve bar blues will give up their secrets.[/size]

[size=4]Practice for about an hour or so at a time. Take a break and come back to it. A half an hour every day is better than four/five hours at week ends. [u]Regularity [/u][/size][size=4]is the key.[/size]


One final thing....dont neglect safe technique. Below are some clips that deal with safe right and left hand technique. Also, warm up first by gently stretching. Check You Tube for .."hand stretches for bass/guitar".

Best of luck with it !!



[size=4][url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVMBPmrblU"]https://www.youtube....h?v=PPVMBPmrblU[/url][/size]


[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRkSsapYYsA"]https://www.youtube....h?v=VRkSsapYYsA[/url]

Edited December 7, 2014 by Coilte

[Musky]

Another recommendation for studybass.com, as well as the recommendation not to skip bits! Sorry, but I did notice that the book you linked to does have info on how to read the notation.

And to answer your question, yes that seqeuence of notes is just one bar.

[red rooster]

Hi im also a newbie also learning 12 bar blues ,i find breaking it down into little bits and learning them seperately helps me blues is simply a set pattern so learn the patterns then you can play the same patterns any where on the neck,a good book i found is bass guitar for dummies,Also worth looking at major triads just playing the the 1,3 and the fith note also a really easy pattern to learn and would get you jamming with your mates as long as you know the note there playing in you can play along and sound ok with just those 3 notes ,basically your root note then the third note of the scale then the fith note honestly it sounds hard but its really easy and you can play them in any order to mess things up a bit ,hope it helps .stuart

[ambient]

Find a decent tutor in your area, you'll save yourself loads of hassle in the long run, just explain to him or her what you want to get out of playing.

Have a look on here, or ask at your local music shop.

[url="http://www.musicteachers.co.uk"]http://www.musicteachers.co.uk[/url]