How are your Bass lessons going ?

[kembo_dee]

Hi Guys

I had my first lesson last week, I totally understand why you can't really learn the DB by yourself. I learnt how to play a chromatic scale and a basic rock and roll rhythm (dum-dum-dum-dum dee- dee-dee, get the idea !!)

Is there anyone else who has just started to learn the Double Bass?, it would be good to get and give ideas.

If you have a song that you would like to learn that would be helpful to your teacher because you would have something to aim for.
I want to play the bassline from Love Cats by The Cure, Best for Last by Adele and the intro for All or Nothing at All [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwF6oRtO7O0"]All or Nothing at All [/url]

Here are some of my posted ideas for help with sightreading.

To help you with the site reading download this pdf.
[url="http://www.studybass.com/lessons/reading-music/bass-clef-fretboard-notes/bass-clef-notes-fretboard.pdf"]bass clef notes[/url]

if you find it hard to remember the notes on the fretboard just remember your alphabet. A B C D E F G (this may be really obvious to some people but I think it's helpful)
on the G string notes down go ABCDEF
on the D string notes down go EFGABC
on the A string notes down go BCDEFG
on the E string notes down go FGABCD

Then on the 5 lines and 4 spaces
top line is A
middle line is D
bottom line is G
and again if you remember the alphabet your brain should start to fill in the gaps.
This page is good for help too.
[url="http://www.bassclef.co.uk/bassclef_bass.html"]Bass Clef Help[/url]

I'm doing it this way anyway.

Let me know how your lessons are going, I might start video recording myself and blog it and this time next year,I'll be able to see all my improvement.

The best advice I had was from my mates dad who used to play the Sax in the 60's he said,
"Have lessons, practice and you will improve slowly, too many people give up because they want to play like the records they hear straight away, it won't happen."

cheers

Kembo
keep practising and post anything that's helped you.

[Andyalfa]

My second lesson went much better than the first. Still finding it really hard to read music though. That said, the teacher reckons I'm getting it fairly well. Having played electric bass for ages, I thought I was familiar with the basic scales, but with the upright, I have to stretch much further. Luckily I have long fingers.

I think what made the difference this week is that he seems to have abandoned trying to teach me to use a bow. This is good and bad really. It's good, in that I can't see me ever using a bow in action, but using it really helps my intonation, given the sustain of a plucked string on the teaching bass is so poor.

As a classically trained teacher, however, the material I've been given is not really my taste, though I've no intention of giving up yet.

I always felt at home with the bass as my instrument. With the double bass, it feels even more right, like I was born to play one of those things. Certainly, at 6'4" and 16+ stone, it suits me more than say a mandolin would, if you know what I mean. I have a picture of me on a sports bike looking slightly out of proportion, then sitting "in" a Harley. I just fit the Harley better. It's the same with a double bass. I love it.

So, although my lessons are on a proper acoustic instrument, I only have a Stagg EDB at the moment. One day though, I will get a real one. I just need a bigger house/car first.

[wal4string]

[quote name='Andyalfa' post='417061' date='Feb 22 2009, 11:54 PM']My second lesson went much better than the first. Still finding it really hard to read music though. That said, the teacher reckons I'm getting it fairly well. Having played electric bass for ages, I thought I was familiar with the basic scales, but with the upright, I have to stretch much further. Luckily I have long fingers.

I think what made the difference this week is that he seems to have abandoned trying to teach me to use a bow. This is good and bad really. It's good, in that I can't see me ever using a bow in action, but using it really helps my intonation, given the sustain of a plucked string on the teaching bass is so poor.

As a classically trained teacher, however, the material I've been given is not really my taste, though I've no intention of giving up yet.

I always felt at home with the bass as my instrument. With the double bass, it feels even more right, like I was born to play one of those things. Certainly, at 6'4" and 16+ stone, it suits me more than say a mandolin would, if you know what I mean. I have a picture of me on a sports bike looking slightly out of proportion, then sitting "in" a Harley. I just fit the Harley better. It's the same with a double bass. I love it.

So, although my lessons are on a proper acoustic instrument, I only have a Stagg EDB at the moment. One day though, I will get a real one. I just need a bigger house/car first.[/quote]


Hi,

Something for the weekend. Not perfect but it will get you started.