Where do I start learning?

[gjones]

[quote name='tantummenace' timestamp='1502643647' post='3352651']
Okay so you may have seen my other posts asking noob questions... I really want to get better but I don't know where/how to learn! Preferably I can do it at home for free as I don't have much money or time! I have been watching SBL's so far and I'm gonna be honest I havent learned much at all. All I have learned is the major and minor scale... Not even using his tutorials after discovering he doesn't make sense to me. He doesn't have a good playlist on which videos are good to start with and he doesn't seem to make tutorials that are essential to know what you are doing for that tutorial! I know he has his pay thing and it is cheaper that getting a tutor but still I tried out the 2 week trial and it is still not that good! He spends most of the time talking about random sh*t and never gets to the point! Anyway I gonna stop ranting about Scott. Does anybody have a youtube playlist or website that teaches you in order? Not having to find videos and piece together what you need to know? Thanks in advance!
[/quote]


I bought a book when I started. Learned a bit of bass tab and figured out the bassline to Jimi Hendrix's 'Hey Joe' ( a nice walking bass line, which is a good place to start). Then I threw the book away and started playing along to my favourite tunes. They were all pretty simple but gave me a feel for the instrument. Then I started jamming with my friends and learning more difficult stuff (this was the important bit).

Lessons are good to get you started but don't bother with scales and stuff. Learn songs and you can figure out the scales and boring stuff later. Music is supposed to be fun. Once you can play a simple bassline, seek out others who are starting out in music and start jamming, that's where the fun is and fun will motivate you to get better and better at your instrument.

Learning to play bass should never feel like hard work.

[ambient]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1502744174' post='3353282']
Lessons are good to get you started but don't bother with scales and stuff.
[/quote]

This kind of thing is poor advice to someone starting out.

Scales are where it all comes from. There's no reason at all why learning them should be boring. I teach scales using bass lines that the student knows to demonstrate how lines are created.

[Dad3353]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1502754304' post='3353341']...
Scales are where it all comes from...
[/quote]

Maybe a rather pedantic point, but I'd suggest that it's the opposite: scales came about because of music folks were playing. It's perfectly legitimate, for some, to completely forego all formal knowledge of these mechanical constructions and still become virtuoso performers and skilled musicians. I wouldn't suggest for a moment that scales etc should [i]not [/i]be looked at and/or studied, but I consider it a blinkered view to say that they're the crux of the matter. Different folks have differing perspectives; one size does not fit all.

[ambient]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1502754732' post='3353344']
Maybe a rather pedantic point, but I'd suggest that it's the opposite: scales came about because of music folks were playing. It's perfectly legitimate, for some, to completely forego all formal knowledge of these mechanical constructions and still become virtuoso performers and skilled musicians. I wouldn't suggest for a moment that scales etc should [i]not [/i]be looked at and/or studied, but I consider it a blinkered view to say that they're the crux of the matter. Different folks have differing perspectives; one size does not fit all.
[/quote]

What I meant was that most bass lines are formed using notes from chord tones, which are derived from scales, as are guitar solos, melody lines etc........I may be wrong of course.

Edited August 15, 2017 by ambient

[Dad3353]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1502755736' post='3353346']
What I meant was that most bass lines are formed using notes from chord tones, which are derived from scales, as are guitar solos, melody lines etc........I may be wrong of course.
[/quote]

No, you're not wrong at all; that's exactly right. It is, however, equally possible to turn the telescope the other way around, play bass lines (one's own or other folk's creations...) and derive scales and chords and melodies from them. It's also perfectly possible to play along to a disk and never know what the notes are called, or their relations to each other.
Not that this is the 'best' way, nor the quickest, but it's the way very many folks start out, and often enough turn later on to the more formal, or technical side (so much the better...). Starting out in one's bedroom, or a garage with one's buddies, and jamming away, making a racket, getting blisters, maybe even breaking a string or two... This is a perfectly legitimate activity for a budding musician. Some study alongside is good; some 'letting one's hair down' and enjoying the simplest of riffs for twenty minutes solid is good, too. Look at scales, certainly, but don't imagine that one [i]has [/i]to remember any of that to play the bass (or any other instrument, of course...)
Just sayin'.

[ambient]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1502756923' post='3353349']
No, you're not wrong at all; that's exactly right. It is, however, equally possible to turn the telescope the other way around, play bass lines (one's own or other folk's creations...) and derive scales and chords and melodies from them. It's also perfectly possible to play along to a disk and never know what the notes are called, or their relations to each other.
Not that this is the 'best' way, nor the quickest, but it's the way very many folks start out, and often enough turn later on to the more formal, or technical side (so much the better...). Starting out in one's bedroom, or a garage with one's buddies, and jamming away, making a racket, getting blisters, maybe even breaking a string or two... This is a perfectly legitimate activity for a budding musician. Some study alongside is good; some 'letting one's hair down' and enjoying the simplest of riffs for twenty minutes solid is good, too. Look at scales, certainly, but don't imagine that one [i]has [/i]to remember any of that to play the bass (or any other instrument, of course...)
Just sayin'.
[/quote]

I really can't be bothered arguing tbh.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Might be a good idea to find a good teacher even if you don't go for regular lessons - there is a huge amount of information freely available on the interweb, but there may be many instances where being able to ask questions about things you are unsure about and get some clarification will make life much easier.

A good teacher will also provide guidance on what you need to work on at any given time to maximise your progress - method books and youtube tutorials are not targetted towards individuals, so they can't target specific aspects of what you need help with most.

[flaxholmelis]

Not that I'm an experienced player or anything - only been playing a year - but my OH insisted on me having lessons and I'm not sure I would have stuck at it without them. I work away quite a bit, so they're not every week by any means, but the tutor can see/hear things that I haven't noticed, such as overtones because my muting hasn't been up to scratch for instance. It also gives me specific things to work on so I have a goal. He doesn't insist on doing loads of theory and in fact he's quite happy if I want to just play basslines I Iike and will fit in a little chord/scale learning based on what I'm playing.

To be honest, different people learn in different ways and theory from the start is not going to suit a lot of people, whereas actually getting playing is more likely to keep you hooked and then you can work on the theory as you go along if that's what you want. When I was younger I gave up the clarinet because I couldn't get my head around the theory I needed for an exam after Grade 5. Many many years later I now find that I'm quite enjoying the theory side of things and why particular notes sound better together, but it's not essential to know if you just want to play your favourite basslines.

[dlloyd]

It is possible to teach yourself, but you will progress far quicker with a teacher.

What sort of music do you listen to? What sort of music do you want to play? Important questions.

Youtube is great, but I reckon you do yourself more favours by figuring stuff out directly from the records... start with easy sounding stuff... first tune I taught myself was Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters... learnt the riff, went round to a mate's house and showed him how to play it and we jammed on it for hours. Then got bored and thought, "what if we use [i]different[/i] notes"... voila... our first original composition.

[mikel]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1502726199' post='3353137']
Point taken. My point however, is if you don't have a good ear, all the more reason to concentrate on rectifying that. Personally I have never found tab useful. YMMV.
[/quote]

Yep. Your opinion, as valid as anyone elses. If I am in a hurry to learn a song I find tab quick and easy, If its available, certainly quicker and easier than playing parts of a song over and over trying to get a handle on the bass line by trial and error.

I wasnt "telling" the OP how to learn quickly, I was offering my own experience, without dissing anyone else, for him to treat as he wishes.

Edited August 15, 2017 by mikel

[Coilte]

[quote name='mikel' timestamp='1502790779' post='3353519']
Yep. Your opinion, as valid as anyone elses. If I am in a hurry to learn a song I find tab quick and easy, If its available, certainly quicker and easier than playing parts of a song over and over trying to get a handle on the bass line by trial and error.
[/quote]

I suppose that tab can be helpful in an emergency if you need to learn a song in a hurry. However in the long term it is much more beneficial to learn by ear via trial and error. I suppose it all depends on what you want out of playing the bass. Relying on tab alone renders you a human duke box simply miming what others have transcribed. You will never be able to come up with your own bass lines.

When I started out playing bass (back in the Jurassic period ) there was no such thing as tab. I had no choice but to wear out vinyl LP's by constantly going back and forth learning a song. Looking back on it now, I am eternally glad that I was forced to learn in this way. There are no short cuts to learning an instrument. As you say...your opinion is as valid as anyone else's. If you find tab useful...fair enough.

Edited August 16, 2017 by Coilte

[ambient]

What I find so bizarre with all this, is why people are constantly trying to find short cuts to learning to play an instrument. An instrument that once learned will give years, and years of pleasure.

So why not do it properly in the first place? It needn't cost loads of money, or even take loads of time, in fact most seem to spend more time trying to find short cuts.

If you were learning to play violin like I did at school, or trumpet or practically any other brass instrument, then you'd learn enough theory to get you going, you'd almost certainly too learn to read music.

So why not with bass?

If you're happy to blindly regurgitate a learned part, then fine, but learning to actually play, learning some background to what you're doing, Having enough knowledge so that you're able to improvise a part, I mean improvise too, not just play notes at random hoping you're going to play a correct one is surely better?

One of my students was 80 last weekend. His previous tutor was basically just teaching him to play bass lines from TAB, he didn't learn anything about what he was playing, or why. It's been a year since I started teaching him, he loves Frank Sinatra and that kind of thing. His dad was a professional bassist back in the 30s, 40s and 50s. He can now just turn to a page in his real book, and improvise a bass line over the chords from it. He absolutely loves his playing, and his lessons.

All this about TAB, which in my opinion is a waste of time. Most of the TAB I've seen has usually been wrong, it also doesn't convey any information regarding rhythm. A little bit of basic knowledge would enable people to pick out a bass line quite easily, bearing in mind that most bass lines are pretty diatonic, listen to the line and look at the chords, most lines start on the root note. But no, we'd rather sit and spend ages looking for the TAB, and then more time working out what the TAB should actually say.

[LeftyP]

I'm in the process of re-learning the bass after about a 10 year gap. I wasn't that good a player before I stopped and made the mistake of simply learning what I needed to play for each song we did. As a result I didn't fully understand what I was playing. Now I use lessons from YouTube and instruction books and have gone right back to basics (pardon the pun!). I'm following the dots, playing from chord charts and trying to play by ear from CDs. This combination is helping me understand music structure and where all the notes are on the fret board. Scott Whitley's YouTube explanation of what arpegios are was a light bulb moment for me and really helped me to understand bass lines.

I still have a lot of work to do but one thing I would recommend is to play along with a drum machine or metronome. I thought I was progressing OK until I switched on the drum machine and discovered that I was all over the place with my timing! If nothing else the bass guitar needs to be in time. Have fun!

[The Jaywalker]

.

Edited November 28, 2017 by The Jaywalker

[Damonjames]

[quote name='Cato' timestamp='1502662933' post='3352790']
The internet is an excellent resource.

But, some old school, advice, start trying to play along to your favourite songs. Don't worry too much about the actual basslines, start by trying to follow the chords and the rhythm , just playing root notes.

In my (somewhat limited) experience, people give up on playing an instrument because they get bored doing endless scales and exercises.

A bit of real world application is a lot more fun.

The rest comes along the way.
[/quote]

Perfect advice. Try playing music you like listening to, but you may need to start with the simple stuff first. Be prepared, you are probably not going to be great at first!!! Be patient and you will make progress.

Once you get your fingers moving, look for some lessons around basic scales and timing, then move on from there.

Scott's stuff is brilliant, but by his own admission, it is geared at intermediate level players and really focuses on a musical theory approach to playing (I have learned loads), but it seemed the learning never ends with this bass playing malarkey!!

Good luck!

[rayjames]

I classify myself as a beginner too

Your approach should depend on what your goal is

If all you want to do is play to amuse yourself, I can recommend the following

Find stuff that you really want to play - this provides motivation - the key ingredient

Use Amazing SlowDowner to play along with

(I raise the track by an octave, turn all the EQ down apart from the second from the left, and slow down. Use loops to get the notes right)

Don't beat yourself up if the piece is too hard, move on to something easier

And alter the key if it's in E flat or F sharp - who cares?

Just enjoy yourself

[seashell]

Personally I found scales really useful. Go to a jam and someone says 'We're doing a blues in G' - if you've practiced your scales your fingers will just automatically find the notes you can play around with.

I haven't absorbed much music theory (as is probably obvious from the way I expressed the above), but surely we all need to know our major and minor scales and arpeggios, don't we?

[Coilte]

[quote name='seashell' timestamp='1503014581' post='3355131']
Personally I found scales really useful. Go to a jam and someone says 'We're doing a blues in G' - if you've practiced your scales your fingers will just automatically find the notes you can play around with.

I haven't absorbed much music theory (as is probably obvious from the way I expressed the above), but surely we all need to know our major and minor scales and arpeggios, don't we?
[/quote]

Scales are indeed useful but only if they are practiced in the right way. I have often come across people who claim that they "know" their scales because they can play them from root to root all over the neck, at a gazillion BPM's. Not a bad thing in itself, but REALLY knowing your scales involves knowing how chords are derived from them and knowing how to harmonise a scale. When you have nailed this, only then will you feel confident playing in the scenario you describe above.

[blue]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1503045384' post='3355236']


Scales are indeed useful but only if they are practiced in the right way. I have often come across people who claim that they "know" their scales because they can play them from root to root all over the neck, at a gazillion BPM's. Not a bad thing in itself, but REALLY knowing your scales involves knowing how chords are derived from them and knowing how to harmonise a scale. When you have nailed this, only then will you feel confident playing in the scenario you describe above.
[/quote]

I spent so much time as a youth learning to play songs, not understanding what I was playing.

It's an awful mistake to learn that way.

If the OP wants to learn bass, learn with structure and disipline. It might not be very much fun initially, but it will pay off in multiples.


Blue

Edited August 19, 2017 by blue

[seashell]

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1503045384' post='3355236']


Scales are indeed useful but only if they are practiced in the right way. I have often come across people who claim that they "know" their scales because they can play them from root to root all over the neck, at a gazillion BPM's. Not a bad thing in itself, but REALLY knowing your scales involves knowing how chords are derived from them and knowing how to harmonise a scale. When you have nailed this, only then will you feel confident playing in the scenario you describe above.
[/quote]

Oh yes indeed, I've got a way to go yet! :-) But I wouldn't recommend to the OP to just learn songs without at least a bit of the underlying theory.

Also agree with Blue, above.

[tobiewharton]

The internet is full of great bass players and great bass teachers, but the two skills do not always accompany one another. In my opinion, this beginners' course cannot be beaten for delivery and content. Richie Blake's technique is excellent too.

[url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m9QGj9GjIY&list=PLImrzCNnL5PkSfa1gUpsGzSMELR31yW9h&index=1"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m9QGj9GjIY&list=PLImrzCNnL5PkSfa1gUpsGzSMELR31yW9h&index=1[/url]

Enjoy!

Tobie

[louisthebass]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1503177429' post='3356299']
I spent so much time as a youth learning to play songs, not understanding what I was playing.

It's an awful mistake to learn that way.

If the OP wants to learn bass, learn with structure and disipline. It might not be very much fun initially, but it will pay off in multiples.


Blue
[/quote]

What Blue said - I'd add that just learning the basics effectively and efficiently of good technique (not including the slapping or tapping thing) and harmony takes you a long way in a short period of time. It's then a matter of adding all the extra stuff on on top as you improve.