bass_dinger Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 3 hours ago, msb said: Being self taught is the long hard way to do it. I was self taught, and my teacher was a numpty. Still, he didn't cost me anything... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 1 hour ago, bass_dinger said: I was self taught, and my teacher was a numpty. Still, he didn't cost me anything... So that's where i went wrong Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cato Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 (edited) 2 hours ago, Baloney Balderdash said: And yes, English is not my native language, but I do wonder what is wrong with my English that you fail to understand me? Not much wrong with your English, it's infinitely better than my Danish. Sometimes on the internet (although it's rare on Basschat) you find people who are determined to have a fight. Best thing to do is ignore them and move on. Edited February 20 by Cato 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimonK Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paolo85 Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) On 20/02/2024 at 10:46, Cheeto726 said: I have a group of coworkers that I've been jamming with for about a year. I originally jammed with them when I played guitar but it didn't "feel right" so I switched to bass. We haven't jammed in about 2 months due to the cold lol but are going to get together in a couple weeks. I have also been very fortunate to be surrounded by musicians, both novice and professionals, and even some professional musicians that are in world famous bands and are still even touring. They told me to jam/gig with some of them too but I feel like I need to learn more before I do! Not sure what you do in those jams, but any chance this may have to do with the frustration? I mean, it is much easier to join a band of people at your level and reharse songs than to meet with people and just "jam". Don't get me wrong, it is a very good thing, just not necessarily simple Edited February 21 by Paolo85 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornetPinata Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 (edited) NT. please ignore. Edited February 22 by HornetPinata never mind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeto726 Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 8 hours ago, Paolo85 said: Not sure what you do in those jams, but any chance this may have to do with the frustration? I mean, it is much easier to join a band of people at your level and reharse songs than to meet with people and just "jam". Don't get me wrong, it is a very good thing, just not necessarily simple A lot of times, we play some simpler songs since our sessions are open to all skill levels. We have people that literally just started a couple weeks ago to people that are professional musicians that have toured the world for 40 plus years. I really enjoy them because you get to learn from different perspectives and learn how each person speaks the "language" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DDR Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 On 17/02/2024 at 17:48, Cheeto726 said: I've been learning bass for about 6-7 months. I've had a bass for about a year but never really played it until then. I'm taking lessons every week but I feel like I'm not headed the way I want. My teacher is AMAZING and has a lot of patience and is bad ass bassist and musical GENIUS! It's me that's the issue. I tried guitar but didn't "feel it" like I do a bass. I'm 30 years old so I am a bit older. I was in band all my middle and high school life and played a brass instrument and the way I learned was by listening and watching. I never really learned music theory. What do you all think? I know everyone says learn theory but I just never could really get it. I feel stuck just trying to learn songs and tabs and feel like I'm not getting anywhere... Hey, i used to be a drummer and i didn't like theory, felt like i didn't need it. When i started to play bass it was obvious that to a certain degree i couldn't get away without it (depends on what you want to play obviously)... Sometimes an amazing bass player and a musical genious is not the answer to great teaching though. I started off with a really simple Youtube series : This really helped me. I love the way he talks to you like you're a 2 year old it was what I needed at the time! Hope you find it usefull D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Cloud Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 (edited) In my opinion you don't learn to play a musical instrument you just play. Have fun. Nothing else matters. Edited February 23 by White Cloud 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon C Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 (edited) On 17/02/2024 at 15:48, Cheeto726 said: I've been learning bass for about 6-7 months. I've had a bass for about a year but never really played it until then. I'm taking lessons every week but I feel like I'm not headed the way I want. My teacher is AMAZING and has a lot of patience and is bad ass bassist and musical GENIUS! It's me that's the issue. I tried guitar but didn't "feel it" like I do a bass. I'm 30 years old so I am a bit older. I was in band all my middle and high school life and played a brass instrument and the way I learned was by listening and watching. I never really learned music theory. What do you all think? I know everyone says learn theory but I just never could really get it. I feel stuck just trying to learn songs and tabs and feel like I'm not getting anywhere... That's a good question. I can give you a short answer ("it depends") or a longer one. Hopefully you have your slippers and a cup or glass of your favourite drink with you 😉. My view is that you can start learning with no theory. You just need someone to show you where A, D, G and E are in the 1st 5 frets, and how to play notes and you'll be able to learn a load of songs. Shortly after you'll want to know where B , C and F are and then a little later where Bb is (though by the time you get to needing Bb you've probably worked it out for yourself). After that theory helps, but again you don't need much. I would say knowing the chord names as numbers (Roman numerals or Nashville numbering system - they are the same thing) is essential for someone wanting to jam or gig. It helps with understanding how chords fit together, transposing when a new singer turns up, and hopefully getting your ear tuned to how the chords sound in relation to each other. Also understand what a 4/4 time signature feels like. Learn a dozen songs or so and you are good to jam with people and start gigging. I don't think you need any more, but...... ......if you do decide to learn more, or you just assimilate it, it will help your playing....sometimes. A recent example for me was "Good Love is on the Way" by The John Mayer Trio. The Chords are A, G and D (they come in that order) - if you just look at the chords you'd think it was in D. But that confused me because it sounds like A is the key centre. But then I couldn't understand why the song had loads of G chords for something in A. It didn't sound "right" to me and as a consequence my bass line was rubbish and so so boring. I found out it's actually in "A" Mixolydian (one of the modes, that are quite a long way down most people's music theory education pathway). It was an aha moment for me. It then sounded "right" to my ear and my bass line became much more interesting. Could someone else have come up with an interesting bassline with no knowledge of the Mixolydian mode? Of course and most players probably would - it just helped me. On the opposite side - when I learned "Crazy Little Thing called love" by Queen, I didn't know enough chord theory to do anything other than play the chords (on keyboards at the time) as they were written in front of me. The chords in the song are a bit weird. I can kind of explain why they work now, but did my lack of theory knowledge make any difference to the song in a band context when I learned it 25 years ago? Not at all. I play classical piano, so my theory knowledge is beyond what I need for light rock covers playing bass. But there are bits of music theory I've learned for keys (in a band context) and bass that I didn't know, or at least aren't really taught to my level of classical music playing. The bits of theory you need is also genre specific. e.g. if you only want to play rock and roll based on 12 bar blues, you need to know triads for the one, four and five chords (all major chords) and be able to play in 4/4. If you want to play some minor blues you'll need to learn the triads of minor chords and probably be able to play in 12/8 (so a bit more theory). All the above to say - I think you should have the bare minimum of theory (the Nashville number system and understand the 4/4 time signature). But depending on where you want to go and where you do go on your musical journey, you will find more theory useful. If you are anything like me, you'll search it out as you need it and assimilate it as you go. My searching came from a mixture of books, teachers, band mates / fellow musicians and the internet. (Next on my list is the Dorian mode, but I doubt it should be next on yours 🙂). Edited February 23 by Simon C 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingPrawn Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 On 17/02/2024 at 15:48, Cheeto726 said: I've been learning bass for about 6-7 months. I've had a bass for about a year but never really played it until then. I'm taking lessons every week but I feel like I'm not headed the way I want. My teacher is AMAZING and has a lot of patience and is bad ass bassist and musical GENIUS! It's me that's the issue. I tried guitar but didn't "feel it" like I do a bass. I'm 30 years old so I am a bit older. I was in band all my middle and high school life and played a brass instrument and the way I learned was by listening and watching. I never really learned music theory. What do you all think? I know everyone says learn theory but I just never could really get it. I feel stuck just trying to learn songs and tabs and feel like I'm not getting anywhere... Get off this site!! Only joking. you are at the start of your bass journey. Learn what you like and enjoy and build confidence. At some point, the rest will kick in. First and foremost enjoy what you are achieving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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