bass guitar help

[savasalpai]

Dear brothers,Dear sisters,Lord and Masters;

im very new in bass guitar and i haven't taken any course or education about bass,i've tried to learn on my own by using internet,nevertheless, i couldn't make remarkable progress in thisv issue.

i know major and minor scales in shape but dont know all their real names on fret.We know we could play 1,3,5 degree notes of this scales but it is obvious that it is not enough.For example i cant play %99 of songs sufficiently.



And also look at this ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_uFQUFnjdY ) i can play only 4 or 5 upon this track(which are related A major blues scale) i cant play any solo nor different particular riffs...I will be waiting for your guidements

in addition,i cant memorize songs;therefore,i cant play songs correctly even if they are easy.For illustrate,probably you know''Twist and Shout''composed by beatles icant memorize although it has simple chords such as A D G A7 i cant catch maccartney's pattern already the song flows very fast he change songs pattern in particular stages....

im very upset with bass i cant play it and cant understand theory i hope you will help me with simple english thanx

[Dan Dare]

Your enquiry is slightly unusual. You refer to not being able to "memorise songs". I would suggest that, until you can do that, there is little point in attempting to learn to play any instrument. Can you sing, even to a limited extent? Do you sing along with the radio, etc? You need top develop your ear and appreciation of music (not intellectual understanding or theory - it's pointless attempting to learn music theoretically without practical application, which it appears you may be trying to do).This is vital and is especially important for playing the bass - because the bass is responsible for laying down the harmonic and rhythmic foundation of any piece, the player must have an appreciation of those things. Until you have developed your ear, you cannot really learn any instrument. I'd suggest taking some basic singing lessons to start you off.

[ubit]

Try very simple bass lines and so your muscle memory will develop. I can't remember exactly what I was like the first time I picked up a bass, but don't try to run before you can walk. It all takes time and you must start small and gradually memory and ability will develop

[leschirons]

Hi, and welcome to Basschat. When anyone begins to learn an instrument, it can be very confusing and difficult. I think you are trying to learn too much, too quickly and you are getting frustrated.

I would suggest (if you can afford it) that you try to find a teacher who can teach you the basics of learning to play bass.

Take it slowly, but enjoy it. Good luck.

[Coilte]

[quote name='leschirons' timestamp='1418312358' post='2629067']
Hi, and welcome to Basschat. When anyone begins to learn an instrument, it can be very confusing and difficult. I think you are trying to learn too much, too quickly and you are getting frustrated.

I would suggest (if you can afford it) that you try to find a teacher who can teach you the basics of learning to play bass.
[/quote]

+1 to all of the above.

OP, IMO your main problem is impatience. You say you are "very new" to the bass. So relax, slow down and take things in small manageable size chunks.

As quoted above, I think your best bet is to get a teacher. Even a dozen or so lessons would get you off to a great start. The main problem with learning through the likes of You Tube is that the lessons are often "one offs", i.e. knowledge wise, it starts somewhere in the middle. This results in the beginner becoming frustrated because he does not understand parts of the lesson because the ground work has not been done. What is needed is where one lesson builds on what went before, and progresses from there.

If you decide to go it alone then a great site is Studybass. My advice is to start at the beginning and go through the lessons SLOWLY without skipping.

http://www.studybass.com/study-guide/

Here is a link to the site :

[savasalpai]

and what about my video?
pls mention about chords and accompanying to chords or tracks

[Paul S]

Never mind that.

Get a simple record you like. For me it was Status Quo... there I admitted it...

Play it in Windows Media - right click and you get a little box appear with 'enhancements' as one option. Click on that you'll see 'Play Speed settings' Click on that and you will find you can slow the track you are listening to down as much as you like without altering the pitch. Play along at a slower speed, then gradually get it back to the correct speed as your technique improves. It is how I still learn tricky passages.

[billfaro]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1418313934' post='2629099']
Never mind that.

Get a simple record you like. For me it was Status Quo... there I admitted it...

Play it in Windows Media - right click and you get a little box appear with 'enhancements' as one option. Click on that you'll see 'Play Speed settings' Click on that and you will find you can slow the track you are listening to down as much as you like without altering the pitch. Play along at a slower speed, then gradually get it back to the correct speed as your technique improves. It is how I still learn tricky passages.
[/quote]

Well i did not know you could do that. Will def give that a try. Anyway the Quo are OK. Should be after all these years.

[Twincam]

I have a suggestion that you look up simple bass lessons on you tube. Things like, Walking on the moon by the Police, and other easy to follow lessons. This will help you build your memory up. Then go from there. I memorized 50 fairly easy songs before i moved onto trying to remember more complicated songs.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqFWDMPjKJU[/media]

And the same song but with tabs you can jam along to.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_28XIVn7Zw[/media]

[Coilte]

[quote name='Twincam' timestamp='1418318876' post='2629161']
I have a suggestion that you look up simple bass lessons on you tube. Things like, Walking on the moon by the Police, and other easy to follow lessons. This will help you build your memory up. Then go from there. I memorized 50 fairly easy songs before i moved onto trying to remember more complicated songs.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqFWDMPjKJU[/media]

And the same song but with tabs you can jam along to.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_28XIVn7Zw[/media]
[/quote]


IMO those are not really lessons.... but demonstrations. No doubt it is good to develop your ear by playing along to songs. It is also a good idea when trying to play along, to try to figure things out for yourself.

It all depends on what the OP wants from, and how far he wants to take his bass playing.

[billfaro]

Just on about the Quo. I watched the Roundhouse AQUOSTIC LIVE! - 2015 It seemed funny to see an Accordion playing away in the back ground, but have to admit the guy was good.

[Coilte]

[quote name='savasalpai' timestamp='1418303534' post='2628949']
im very upset with bass i cant play it and cant understand theory
[/quote]

Why are you upset with the bass ? You cant understand theory because you are new player and have not learned any yet. Surely you did not think that you could just come along, pick up the bass and proceed to play like... (insert favourite bass idol here).. ? It takes lots of [u]time, patience, and practice[/u] to become accomplished on ANY instrument.

Solution to lack of basic theory......work on the "Studybass" site I linked earlier



[quote name='savasalpai' timestamp='1418313572' post='2629093']
and what about my video?
pls mention about chords and accompanying to chords or tracks
[/quote]

You said earlier that you have no knowledge of theory, so mentioning chords is not going to do you much good. That video requires you to make up your own bass lines. You cant do this without some basic theory knowledge.

Why dont you pick a fairly simple song that you like and try to pick out the bass lines by trial and error ? This will be a good exercise in developing your ear. Combine this with fifteen minutes to a half an hour a day on the "Studybass" site and you will have a good practice schedule to start you off.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Coilte

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='savasalpai' timestamp='1418303534' post='2628949']
i hope you will help me with simple english thanx
[/quote]
[list=1]
[*]Have some lessons and learn to read music
[*]Get the sheet music (or tabs) for the bass-lines to some songs you know
[*]Press 'play' on your musical reproduction device of choice and play along with these songs.
[*]Play the correct notes in the correct order and in time with the music
[*]Congratulations. You are now a bass player.
[/list]

[Twincam]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1418323226' post='2629211']
IMO those are not really lessons.... but demonstrations. No doubt it is good to develop your ear by playing along to songs. It is also a good idea when trying to play along, to try to figure things out for yourself.

It all depends on what the OP wants from, and how far he wants to take his bass playing.
[/quote]

Well someone shows you how to play something by telling you what notes to play then on the bottom one the same song is jammed with tabs. So the first is indeed a lesson, and the second will help you develop this by jamming to the actually track. I would say these to a pretty good representation of a lesson.
The op said he has trouble in all sorts of areas one of which is remembering notes so i used this as a starting point to get him going for a beginner anymore is confusing. Being still a relative newbie its fresh to me how it feels to first pick up the bass.

[Musky]

[quote name='Paul S' timestamp='1418313934' post='2629099']
Never mind that.

Get a simple record you like. For me it was Status Quo... there I admitted it...

Play it in Windows Media - right click and you get a little box appear with 'enhancements' as one option. Click on that you'll see 'Play Speed settings' Click on that and you will find you can slow the track you are listening to down as much as you like without altering the pitch. Play along at a slower speed, then gradually get it back to the correct speed as your technique improves. It is how I still learn tricky passages.
[/quote]
Another handy program is [url="http://bestpractice.sourceforge.net/"]Best Practice[/url]. Much like the Amazing Slow Downer it appears to be modelled on, it allows you to slow stuff down and loop sections so you can practice just one section of a song. Quite handy if you have trouble remembering the whole song.

[Bloodaxe]

[quote name='billfaro' timestamp='1418324274' post='2629231']Just on about the Quo. I watched the Roundhouse AQUOSTIC LIVE! - 2015 It seemed funny to see an Accordion playing away in the back ground, but have to admit the guy was good.[/quote]

<Threadjack> The mighty Geraint Watkins. Usually found bolted to a piano:—

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nD-0xpcHlA[/media]

But, as you noted, knows one end of a squeezebox fom the other:—

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_qdXi899c8[/media]

</Threadjack>

[Phil Starr]

You don't say how new you are to the bass so let's assume you are an absolute beginner.

Twist and Shout is too hard for a beginner to play at the original speed.

Improvising Funk bass is[b] much[/b] too hard for someone in their first couple of years unless they are seriously talented or are putting in some very serious practice time.

You will be able to do all these things eventually. When you start it feels like you are getting nowhere but stick at it and you will get there, it isn't rocket science but it is down to hard work.

It may take you weeks or even months just to get your hands working independently. So start with really simple songs. With or Without You by U2 is very simple, just four notes which you can play on just one string, but it will get your hands and fingers moving and you'll have the satisfaction of playing a whole song within a day or two. Seven Nation Army gives you the satisfaction of playing an iconic bass riff without posing too many difficulties for a beginner but there are hundreds of these.

You don't mention Tab, most bassists (and guitarists) use tab to communicate what they do, most of us can't read music or read it poorly. Nearly everything on the internet uses tab so you need to know this to make any headway without a teacher. Here's With or Without You on the most popular tab site [url="http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/u/u2/with_or_without_you_btab.htm"]http://tabs.ultimate...ut_you_btab.htm[/url]

Hal Leonard do the best books for beginners, if you can't find/afford a teacher then they make a good start. I used the Fast Track Bass series [url="http://www.halleonard.com/search/search.do?subsiteid=7&keywords=fast+track+bass&searchcategory=00"]http://www.halleonar...archcategory=00[/url] it took me six months to learn six songs but it gets easier once you reach this stage.

On the internet this guy does some of the better lessons and some are aimed at new starters http://www.how-to-play-bass.com/songs-group.html

Be patient, it is really slow at first but six months after learning those six songs I was performing on stage.

Good Luck

Edited December 12, 2014 by Phil Starr