Should a bass teacher have a spare amp for me to play through ?

[David Houldworth]

Hi all, wonder if anyone can help me decide.

Have come back to electric bass after many years playing guitar. I am looking for bass tuition and have found a teacher in Glasgow I can go to.

I'm what you might call a mature student (66) and should be beginning my first lesson on Monday, but had a call with him today which made me unsure.

 

I want to learn notation, not tab and be able to read anything from Abba, to Ska, to showtunes, rock even maybe some classical etc - basically become a really good reader (it's a personal goal)

Anyway, during phone call he said it was quite unusual for someone wanting to learn 'classical' - not sure what the difference was I said I wanted to be able to play anything in any genre and

be a good 'generalist' reader. The chap said that this was quite unusual as tab is what is generally being used now.

 

(for reference I am just beginning on book 3 of the Ed Friedland bass book, along with working on Simandl material among some other things)

 

Also he has no spare bass amp for me to play through (he said that he has 5 guitar amps and one bass amp), so I have to take my own. Should I expect a bass teacher have a bass amp for the student to play through ?

 

I will be paying (for me) a fair bit of cash for the lessons and I want to be sure.

 

Any help advice would be much appreciated.

 

[neepheid]

Seems unneccessarily difficult at best and downright argumentative at worst.  Not keen on hearing them try to dissuade you from learning to read proper notation if that's what you want to do.

 

No spare bass amp?  It's just lessons, a 30W combo would be enough.  5 guitar amps and 1 bass amp, I think that in itself suggests that bass is an afterthought for this guy.

 

I hear alarm bells ringing, but maybe I'm being paranoid.

[Dan Dare]

I think Neepheid has it right. I would be a little surprised if someone asked me to bring an amp to a lesson. An instrument and cable, yes, but an amp seems a little odd, especially If he has half a dozen. For low volume lessons, I would have thought you or he could use one of the guitar amps. You aren't going to blow it up at lesson levels. If you have one, take your SVT plus fridge along. It'll be a laugh getting him to help you lug it up the stairs.

 

Also,  the assertion that "tab is what is generally being used now" doesn't fill me with confidence. At the reading jobs I do, I am given conventional notation, not tab. I've never been given tab. I wonder whether he might he not be a reader himself.

[binky_bass]

I've never taken a lesson (for my sins) but some years ago I did give a few lessons. I had both a second amp and a spare bass (as well as a few other spare bits and pieces) to make sure if someone turned up with equipment that was, shall we say, below par, then they'd at least have a half decent set up to use during the lesson.

 

I'd also take a guess that the chap you're speaking to probably isn't great at standard notation hence trying to push you into tab.

 

Honestly, I'd say find someone that can give you the kind of lesson you want, it sounds potentially like this chap won't fulfil your learning needs.

Edited October 28, 2023 by binky_bass

[ezbass]

Should a bass teacher have an amp for the student to use? Yes, a thousand times yes. Anyone not providing that doesn’t really want to teach bass at all, as @neepheid suggested.

[TheGreek]

Sounds sub standard already. 

Find another tutor. 

[TorturedSaints]

Another vote for “sounds not the right tutor for you”. You mentioned “a fair bit of cash “  - before you part with too much cash for a series of lessons, it’s best to have a trial lesson with any tutor, to see whether you get on with each other and their teaching style.   I know you mentioned that you are coming from a guitar background but I would be a little wary of any tutor who was a guitar specialist and thinks they can teach bass because of that. It’s a different instrument. Good luck with your search.  

[FiestaRed]

Playing bass through a guitar amp shouldn’t be a problem at a low volume.

 

Why bother learning any notation - the best bass lessons tend to be on YouTube. 

 

I can read classical notation and tab, and haven’t needed much of either to learn bass. I do use tab when I transcribe basslines for my own future reference.

 

ps: I agree you should take lessons from a die hard bass player, and not a guitarist who dabbles on bass.

Edited October 28, 2023 by FiestaRed

[Rayman]

Sorry, but I echo the above. A good teacher should have the facilities at his/her place of learning to provide everything the student needs, including an amp.

 

The only reason you would bring a bass, would be because it was comfortable and familiar to you. Most teachers would have more than one bass, amps etc. I bet most of us have, I’ve got 4 amps here including a couple of decent practice amps.

 

I would already be looking elsewhere.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 28, 2023 by Rayman

[Gwilym]

1 hour ago, David Houldworth said:

Hi all, wonder if anyone can help me decide.

Have come back to electric bass after many years playing guitar. I am looking for bass tuition and have found a teacher in Glasgow I can go to.

I'm what you might call a mature student (66) and should be beginning my first lesson on Monday, but had a call with him today which made me unsure.

 

I want to learn notation, not tab and be able to read anything from Abba, to Ska, to showtunes, rock even maybe some classical etc - basically become a really good reader (it's a personal goal)

Anyway, during phone call he said it was quite unusual for someone wanting to learn 'classical' - not sure what the difference was I said I wanted to be able to play anything in any genre and

be a good 'generalist' reader. The chap said that this was quite unusual as tab is what is generally being used now.

 

(for reference I am just beginning on book 3 of the Ed Friedland bass book, along with working on Simandl material among some other things)

 

Also he has no spare bass amp for me to play through (he said that he has 5 guitar amps and one bass amp), so I have to take my own. Should I expect a bass teacher have a bass amp for the student to play through ?

 

I will be paying (for me) a fair bit of cash for the lessons and I want to be sure.

 

Any help advice would be much appreciated.

 

Sounds like a clown. I would avoid.

[JohnR]

Run away! Fast.

[Paolo85]

I went through two guitar teachers and two bass teachers over the years. I would say I am not sure they were worth the money. If they were at the time, they certainly wouldn't be worth it nowdays. The bass teachers did not even spot issues with left hand posture which in theory should be the thing where on-line information should struggle to beat an in-person teacher.

In-person lessons could be valuable, I am sure, but the teacher needs to be a real teacher and not just somebody that happen to know how to play and does not make enough money gigging.

If you are not getting a good vibe I would keep the money and look for somebody else. Especially as you have a background as musician already and it seems you are perfectly capable to study on your own.

In the meantime, I suggest you have a look at the website Talkingbass.net with lessons from Mark Smith, not a famous musician but a great teacher. He is the teacher I wish I had had. The impressive thing with him is not when I watch lessons about things that I don't know. It's the lessons on things that I thought I knew. He always adds something new that I had never considered and makes things clearer and easier.

Admittedly though, I did not take his sightreading course.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Paolo85

[LukeFRC]

You said your personal goal is to learn to read.

this fella isn’t going to do that - so I wonder what you’re hoping to learn from him.

Go elsewhere. 

[Dad3353]

Another vote for having a look at Talkingbss.net; there are specific courses for reading bass lines, starting from any level. Give them a try, whilst looking for a one-on-one option that meets your requirements. As to the direct question asked : yes, a teacher should have, on hand, all he/she needs to teach what their students (of any age...) want to learn, or should able and willing to recommend a colleague that can. Spend your money on someone that fits the bill. A trial lesson, normally free, is normal, too, for mutual evaluation. 

[Burns-bass]

If he’s got 5 guitar amps he’s a guitarist who’s pretending to understand bass.

 

Find a genuine bass teacher and you’ll be ok.

[lozkerr]

If you're on book 3 of Ed Friedland, you're already a long way down the reading road. The edition I have doesn't even mention the t-word until halfway through book 2 and even then it presents it as fingering suggestions rather than Thus Shalt Thou Play This.

 

This guy sounds like a chancer. If you can't find someone else locally, you might want to think about one-to-one online lessons, if that means you're working with a bass teacher instead of a guitarist who thinks he can teach bass.

[martin8708]

33 minutes ago, Burns-bass said:

If he’s got 5 guitar amps he’s a guitarist who’s pretending to understand bass.

 

Find a genuine bass teacher and you’ll be ok.

A guitarist who doesn’t read music , hence the tabs . 

[Downunderwonder]

4 hours ago, Dan Dare said:

I've never been given tab. I wonder whether he might he not be a reader himself

This, and this for sure. Dude is a guitard holding up a sign for bass lessons on the side. Find another teacher.

 

Reading is something you teach yourself for the most part. Not sure where you are at, coming back to music on bass not reading.

 

Were you previously a bass player?

Edited October 28, 2023 by Downunderwonder

[Geek99]

Walk away dude. No guitarist thinks like a real bass player and he’ll lead you off the righteous path of bass clef, being cool and getting people up and dancing

[asingardenof]

My guess is that this is a player who wants to make some additional cash by teaching people songs they want to learn, but doesn't have anything like a structured curriculum – I've been there and it's very frustrating.

 

The fact they want to push you into only using tab, and have five guitar amps and only one bass amp, is a big hint that this is a guitarist who is looking to make some additional cash by teaching people learning guitar songs they want to learn, but is looking to branch out by offering this same unstructured approach to bass.

 

If it were me I'd be looking elsewhere.

Edited October 28, 2023 by asingardenof

[itu]

Actually I wouldn't care about the amps at all, though here they gave a hint of what's behind. We played unamplified every now and then to find the sound of the bass itself. Delicate stuff.

 

If you already study Simandl, you need a young, but advanced student from some music school, or a seasoned teacher - from the same place. School's office would be the first place to try. They usually know both teachers and students who are interested in external pupils as well as some extra money.

 

Lessons should include playing, theory, maybe even some history to understand what and why. Why do we use scores and notation, and what hindrances there are (starting from sounds).

 

Material doesn't have to be easy - if there's song you do not know, try to get an idea by not listening it from tube or spot. My teacher once gave me a George Duke song I didn't know at all. It became a real mess, but also a good place to check my level of understanding of the paper. And Standing in the shadows of Motown is a great set of book+CDs: rhythms, melodies, feel, sound... if you don't have it, buy one.

 

Some basic stuff:

- intervals (relate these to common songs)

- major, minor, harmonic, melodic scales

- chords (maj, min, dim, ±5, 7, maj7, ±5...) and patterns on the fretboard

- circle of fifths

- Musescore or similar to write music (can be done by handwriting, too, but you will realize pretty soon all the positive extras of the SW including playback, and transpose)

Edited October 29, 2023 by itu

[Dom in Dorset]

The sight reading gigs I have done I was offered tab or proper dots, the MD would print the score off , the software allowed for either. I chose dots as I could use the experience to help with sight reading on other ( none string) instruments.

Just sounds like he can only read tab and isn't comfortable with dots.

If I was teaching I'd buy a cheap practice amp off eBay for my students to use. A ten second look on eBay revealed a new 20w amp £25 delivered plus many others.

[fretmeister]

Get someone else.

 

TAB is not remotely popular in proper reading scenarios. And proper notation is not “classical” it is just the common language of music.

 

Don’t discount approaching Double bass teachers. You already know how to play, you are looking for specific skills and sometimes someone who plays a slightly different instrument is the right choice.

 

I got some of my best reading lessons from a piano teacher.

[nilorius]

The only lessons i have taken was from my dad. We connect our 2 basses through a mixer to amplifier and old speaker. The volume was low, but everything was clear for me. But i think - a teacher who takes money - must have two comboes.

[oakforest5961]

Alarm bells are ringing loud and clear.

 

There is a ton of stuff on the internet, but if you look for properly structured good teaching material, that pares down to very little indeed. However, that very little is excellent and probably all you need. talkingbass.net has already been mentioned. I would add https://www.studybass.com/ which is free and superb.