davidmpires Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 (edited) Hi everyone, I played in covers bands for years both in London and Portugal, in 2010 however a series of events meant that I stopped playing. It wasn't anything serious, I was getting married, started to take a 4 year evening degree and our drummer at the time was having his first child, meaning the band was gone. Our last gig was at the Roadhouse in Covent Garden a place I always wanted to play at. At the time I played a Spector Euro LX as well as a T-bass with Mark Bass F1 a Barefaced 1x15 plus a TC 2x10. Sweet setup. Knowing that it would be a while before I got back onto playing I sold everything but the T-Bass. Time has flown and I still lurked here every so often as well watching bass videos on you tube. This week I bought a Vox amplug to start playing again without annoying anyone at home and my question is, what's your advice to someone getting back to playing? I have no intentions of playing outside the house, but I'd like to not get stuck playing the same licks over and over. Also I'm sure technology has improved meaning there are new things I might not know about which are handy for players. Thanks in advance, it feels good to be back. David Edited January 2, 2018 by davidmpires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) Buy Rocksmith for PC. thirty thousand unofficial free songs to learn. Once you get used to the display it becomes the easiest way to play songs by the original artists. It helped me get back up to speed after a 26 year lay-off. Now playing far better than ever Learnt songs that were too complicated to do by ear, like Rush and Yes songs. It's helped me to write basslines for my originals band too Edited January 3, 2018 by bazzbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 Good to have you back David ... looks like the same avatar you were using when you were here before? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmpires Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Yeah, I used to be here for a while. Same account as well. Thanks @bazzbass I'll take a look. Never heard of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 (edited) Welcome back david, I had stopped playing too, and for much the same reasons as yourself Only difference - I stopped for nearly 25 years! Now I'm enjoying it more than ever though - so result @bazzbass - I'd never heard of that software either.... Looks rather tricky to see what's going on to me.... but that's probably just me lol EDIT: Mind you, at first I was watching it with the ad over part of the picture! Edited January 3, 2018 by Marc S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steantval Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 17 hours ago, davidmpires said: I have no intentions of playing outside the house, Not recommended this time of year, too cold and may upset the neighbours. 😎😀 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford13 Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 You Tube is your friend here. There are lots of online bass schools that use you tube to advertise the types of lessons they give. I would recommend checking out the following people: Janek Gwizdala Scotts Bass Lessons Jayme Lewis Adam Neely Once you get an idea of who would give you the most inspiration, you could either sign up to their school, or just take advantage of all you Tube has to offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmpires Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 The amplug has arrived and it's damn impressive. Superb sound for the £. I have also installed the ultimate guitar app and they have a ton of tabs. The app allows connection to Spotify as well as looping sections for practice such as solos. Realistic sounds or just the weird midi ones. @Crawford13 I have been watching Scott's lessons online, the guy is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 how did we ever learn stuff in the old days, lift the needle, back a little bit, oops too much forward a bit oops too much..... If we were lucky there was piano music for it, having to transpose it for bass lol oh my, it's SO easy now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crawford13 Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 1 hour ago, bazzbass said: how did we ever learn stuff in the old days, lift the needle, back a little bit, oops too much forward a bit oops too much..... If we were lucky there was piano music for it, having to transpose it for bass lol oh my, it's SO easy now. There is a lot to help now, but to be honest it has a lot of downfalls to! We can all learn from looking to the past, my ears have gotten so much better since I made the conscious decision not to look for scores / tab for songs I want to learn, and just transcribe by ear. That being said learning theory helps as it narrows down possible note Choices and make the process much quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 1 hour ago, Crawford13 said: my ears have gotten so much better since I made the conscious decision not to look for scores / tab for songs I want to learn, and just transcribe by ear. That being said learning theory helps as it narrows down possible note Choices and make the process much quicker. agree 100%. It's taken me a couple of years before my musical ear came back after a 25 year lay off. I worked out a bassline for a young bassist and he and the rest of the community were AMAZED that I worked it out just by listening to it. They had no concept of it at all. TBH it was easy to work out, a Bruce Springsteen slow song 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Horse Murphy Posted January 4, 2018 Share Posted January 4, 2018 Just to clarify, I’m not the horse referred to in the OP’s title....👍 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc S Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 On 1/4/2018 at 05:05, bazzbass said: how did we ever learn stuff in the old days, lift the needle, back a little bit, oops too much forward a bit oops too much..... If we were lucky there was piano music for it, having to transpose it for bass lol oh my, it's SO easy now. Yes indeed! YouTube is not just your friend... but your bestest ever buddy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikki_Sixx Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Welcome back to the fold! I'd also give a vote for Rocksmith - if you get it through Steam on your PC it's regularly available for just a few quid. As well as learning to play songs there are plenty of technique exercises / mini-games, a 'session' mode where various instruments play along with you at whatever speed and style you're playing. It's very clever. You'll need a special Rocksmith cable but you can pick these up for about £10. It talks you through the display, how to read it etc. and is really accessible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patster1969 Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 I've got Rocksmith on my X-Box 360, didn't find it as useful as the guys above but maybe I wasn't using it properly - assume that it's the same version as the PC version? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grangur Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 Welcome back @davidmpires As Scott Devine has been mentioned, get a 14 trial of the SBL academy and take a look at the courses there. They're a lot better than his free videos. There are other tutors there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikki_Sixx Posted January 5, 2018 Share Posted January 5, 2018 2 hours ago, Patster1969 said: I've got Rocksmith on my X-Box 360, didn't find it as useful as the guys above but maybe I wasn't using it properly - assume that it's the same version as the PC version? I think all versions are the same. I like it for being able to play along to songs easily and quietly even late at night, but I'm sure that's possible by other means! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidmpires Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 5 hours ago, Rikki_Sixx said: I think all versions are the same. I like it for being able to play along to songs easily and quietly even late at night, but I'm sure that's possible by other means! That's what I've been doing with the amplug and the mobile phone connected. Learning "Locked out of heaven" after being inspired by another thread. I'm still amazed at the sound from the amplug through the headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted January 6, 2018 Share Posted January 6, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, Patster1969 said: I've got Rocksmith on my X-Box 360, didn't find it as useful as the guys above but maybe I wasn't using it properly - assume that it's the same version as the PC version? No, getting RockSmith on PC allows you to use unofficial DLC created by the public. 30,000 songs that RockSmith can't get licensing for, like The Beatles, Led Zep etc. I figure I have bought their albums, and CDs, AND remastered CDs many many times, so my conscience is clear on this. Heck I still buy CDs, have never downloaded free music, so this is my only freebie. Edited January 6, 2018 by bazzbass 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougal Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 On 1/6/2018 at 03:47, bazzbass said: RockSmith on PC allows you to use unofficial DLC created by the public. I bought Rocksmith on steam for precisely this reason: I have it on PS4 but the songs available on customsforge.com require jail-breaking the hardware which is a no-no. It was available on amazon for £8 for a while. Best £8 I've ever spent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rikki_Sixx Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 On 06/01/2018 at 03:47, bazzbass said: RockSmith on PC allows you to use unofficial DLC created by the public. 30,000 songs that RockSmith can't get licensing for Holy heck, I had no idea about this. There's so much DLC that I was considering buying but the prices are crazy (compared to when I played stuff like Guitar Hero and Rock Band). I'll be all over this next time I load it up, thanks for pointing it out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cablerice Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 On 1/6/2018 at 03:47, bazzbass said: RockSmith on PC allows you to use unofficial DLC created by the public. 30,000 songs that RockSmith can't get licensing for, like The Beatles, Led Zep etc. Aaaand it's on my Steam wishlist Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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