How did you learn to play bass?

[highwayman]

It's getting on for six months since I bought my bass. In that time I've had some lessons and also self-studied using books + CDs.
Funnily enough I feel like I know less about mastering the instrument now compared to when I was first shown how to play the riff to one of my favourite songs by a tutor!
I'm motivated to press on as: I love music; I love the texture and power of the bass; nothing worth doing is ever easy, and finally, it can't be impossibly complex, otherwise this site would be far less inhabited.

So, I'd like to know how you've learnt please (as opposed to how you suggest I [i]should [/i]learn - the former is based on experience and of greater use to me).

[RhysP]

By listening to records & trying to copy what I heard.

[Lozz196]

I suppose I was quite lucky in the fact that my fave band was The Sex Pistols. I bought a bass, went to lessons to learn what notes were what on the fretboars, then from there taught myself to play along to Never Mind The Bollocks, as I`d got hold of the song-book. And this would be my tip, find some easy songs with not too many fret changes and get used to playing along, getting timing right etc, and also perfecting fretting without buzz/dead fret sound. From there, well once that`s ok then speed up, attempt lines with more fret-changes in them. Theres nothing so frustrating as hearing fret-buzzing and dead-fretting when learning, really soul destroying, so going slow and getting the rhythm right and fretting, even on just on one string right, well it brings a sense of getting it right which spurs you on.

[ezbass]

I came from guitar so the rudiments were already known to me. However, I did take some lessons which corrected some technique faults. The way I seem to improve the most is by learning lots of new songs and playing along to the originals and then gigging them with a band.

[bubinga5]

Listening. And more listening.I never stop listening. Learning bass lines. Then spent many years learning the theory behind those bass lines, which I think is really important. Learning theory slowly put the puzzle together.

Edited September 29, 2016 by bubinga5

[itsmedunc]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1475173079' post='3143792']
I suppose I was quite lucky in the fact that my fave band was The Sex Pistols. I bought a bass, went to lessons to learn what notes were what on the fretboars, then from there taught myself to play along to Never Mind The Bollocks, as I`d got hold of the song-book. And this would be my tip, find some easy songs with not too many fret changes and get used to playing along, getting timing right etc, and also perfecting fretting without buzz/dead fret sound. From there, well once that`s ok then speed up, attempt lines with more fret-changes in them. Theres nothing so frustrating as hearing fret-buzzing and dead-fretting when learning, really soul destroying, so going slow and getting the rhythm right and fretting, even on just on one string right, well it brings a sense of getting it right which spurs you on.
[/quote]

Similar story but bought a bass for £16.00 and sat there and practiced with no amp until I could play Never Mind the Bollocks and The Clash full album. The bass was welded to me. My parents must have had some patience!

[Hobbayne]

I had a couple of chord books. The Beatles and All Mod Cons by The Jam. I stuck sticky labels on the frets to show where the notes are and plonked along to the records in my room for weeks.
Eventually I found some friends about my age who played guitar and drums, and we would jam along together.
I played my first gig about 6 months after picking up the bass.

[roceci]

Copying records. Put the needle on the vinyl...wait till the lick played...lift the needle...try to play the lick...try to put the needle just before the lick again...aaand repeat. Slow process, but may have taught me something about patience & perseverance.

YouTube wasn't an option back when I started. It's an amazing tool & I often use it to see what other people are doing with covers I'm learning. But I can't help thinking with kids learning advanced techniques aged 8 & whatnot, there's a lot of feel missing in a lot of playing these days.

Says the old timer XD

[FinnDave]

Learnt by doing, Never had a lesson and doing alright.

[scrumpymike]

I got bitten by the bug, bought the bass, and joined a band - pretty standard stuff in the early '60s!

[Cato]

Playing along to Ramones albums.

I reckon one of the keys to learning and sticking with an instrument is enjoying your practice time, especially early on.

[TrevorR]

Like others, listening to records I liked and trying to pick out the bass line and copy it... much simplified if necessary.

Also worked through this classic tome. Oh the joy of getting a flexi disk to work properly...

Oh yeah, and any opportunity to play with others, however modest or low key!

Edited September 29, 2016 by TrevorR

[blue]

Back in the mid 60s I was fortunate to live in very cool town 20 minutes outside of Manhattan. At the time the music scene was huge, all the kids in the neighborhood were starting up rock bands.

I learned to play from;

1. Learning from my peers

2. Taking bass guitar lessons

3. Learning from old 45 rpm records and wood shedding

4.Hal Leonard Bass books


It wasn't easy back in those days.

Now there no excuse for sucking, with great on line tutorials (Scott's Bass), YouTube clips with isolated bass tracks and guys that show you all the right positions and notes to play.

Find some other guys to jam with, learn how to improvise.

If you end up really loving playing bass you'll catch on.

One thing, make sure your bass has really good action and the intonation in check.

Blue

Edited September 29, 2016 by blue

[KingPrawn]

You'll be ok. If you love your music and the bass. The rest will follow. Learn the basics from tutor, books and online. As everyone else has said listen and learn. Never forget you can play along with any music you love. The www gives us access to some of the most amazing players. Play along with them,even if it's just the root notes. A couple of things that have always helped me is:
1st A Jaco tip. Learn the melody for the songs you love, not just the bass part.
2nd: start slow with any bass line. Break it down, then break it down again. Never rush. Use a metronome slow it down and build it up.

[bassbiscuits]

Jim Gregory and Harvey Vinson books! Wow I haven't thought about them in years!

Yep as everyone else has said really. Listening to stuff you like, and learning it by playing along.

Back in those days I had a record player with a pitch control, so you could adjust it to the bass if the recording speed wasn't quite A440, as well as picking up the needle and going back over the same bit over and over again. Worked tho.

Just listening and playing as much as you can is the key to it - eventually you can hear thru stuff and work out what's going on quite easily. Books and stuff will teach you the rudiments but the rest is just from doing it lots.

Good fun tho!

[kodiakblair]

Bought a bass for £1, plugged into the cassette deck on the music centre and had the same book as TrevorR.

[kusee pee]

I learnt by playing along to records, mainly Duran Duran. Then I got a good instruction video (YouTube would be the thing nowadays) which was good for technique as I could watch and copy other players.

[Steve Woodcock]

When I first started playing I did a huge amount of transcribing, I made a lot of mechanical progress just working things out by ear and playing along with them. Shortly after I began having lessons with a local jazz player before going on to study music theory and music technology at the nearby college. I then moved to London to continue my studies at BassTech, after which I sought out more private lessons with the likes of Sean Malone, Joe Hubbard and Laurence Cottle.

[Dad3353]

I started (trying...) to learn the guitar , with the Mickey Baker book (look it up..?), then switched to playing the bass lines (still on the guitar...), listening to Jack Casady and Phil Lesh.until I bought a Vox bass. I then switched to drums. Cause & effect, maybe..? Maybe.
I'd already 'taught' myself some music theory on the school piano, working out the intervals and keys, re-inventing the wheel. It served me well, though.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Dad3353

[BottomE]

Dad was a pro piano player, bro is a drummer so i got bass. We ended up all gigging together in a little 3 piece doing long stints at posh hotels in the Middle East for a spell. Fun times.

In the olden days I'd listen to records (or tapes) over and over again. Couldn't loop stuff back then so it was a real PITA. Also spent a lot of time round other peoples houses jamming and hanging out with other bass players and swapping ideas. I'd take gigs and have to learn a set list quickly which keeps you on your toes. Without any serious commitments or wanting to do anything else it was fun but crucially i had the time to do all that.

These days you can be more efficient. Great resources on the net and forums like this, lessons online, software that helps loop tracks, midi files etc.

[IainS]

'Teach Yourself Rock Bass' book, then listened to hours of The Jam and The Police and tried to copy it, then joined a band. I'd say joining the band was the most helpful as playing with other musicians opened up a whole world of learning how to listen carefully and really feel the music.

[Coilte]

[quote name='roceci' timestamp='1475177583' post='3143858']
Copying records. Put the needle on the vinyl...wait till the lick played...lift the needle...try to play the lick...try to put the needle just before the lick again...aaand repeat. Slow process, but may have taught me something about patience & perseverance.

YouTube wasn't an option back when I started. It's an amazing tool & I often use it to see what other people are doing with covers I'm learning. But I can't help thinking with kids learning advanced techniques aged 8 & whatnot, there's a lot of feel missing in a lot of playing these days.

Says the old timer XD
[/quote]


An almost identical learning route for me. In more recent years I have taken lessons on and off, plus a few tutorial books. One thing I am glad about is that when I started, there was no such thing as tabs, and lessons were scarce. You had n't much choice but to go through the.. "vinyl and needle".. procedure as described above. It has certainly held me in good stead down through the years.

Says another old timer.

Edited September 29, 2016 by Coilte

[GarethFlatlands]

Played guitar for 3 years, got a bass ('99) after borrowing a friends and realising it was fun. Spent years learning to play along to records both by ear and tab from the web. Joined a series of bands (starting '01) before learning any theory (about '07) and wished I'd done it years earlier. Now spend time trying to improve my ability to come up with interesting lines rather than how to shred.

[Skybone]

[quote name='TrevorR' timestamp='1475179334' post='3143872']
Like others, listening to records I liked and trying to pick out the bass line and copy it... much simplified if necessary.

Also worked through this classic tome. Oh the joy of getting a flexi disk to work properly...

Oh yeah, and any opportunity to play with others, however modest or low key!


[/quote]

I had that book as well. The flexi disk was a pain and sounded dreadful. Must have worked though, still playing after 30-odd years.

I learned by reading the book, playing along to records & joining bands.

[ambient]

I studied violin at school for 3 years, having lessons every week. Then switched to guitar because it was a far cooler instrument to play. I used to try and smuggle my violin in and out of school without anyone seeing it .

I had classical guitar lessons for a time, then switched to bass. I taught myself for a while, I already knew the notes on the fretboard from playing guitar, but taught myself bass clef. I wrongly assumed that when I started playing with bands, I'd be given charts to read. It never occurred to me that you could play any other way.

After a while I started having private lessons at a place in Acton called Basstech, then studied privately with one of the tutors there.