How to teach a *Child* to play bass

[SimBass]

I think this is the best place for this...
Basically a friend of mine has asked if I will give his son (aged about 8 or 9?) some bass lessons.
The kids dad is an accomplished guitarist and has been showing him the basics for the last couple of months but would like someone with more knowledge to help out. The kid has basic music knowledge from doing piano lessons (but I gather not for long) and I've seen him play (He played a song with our church Sunday school on Sunday for Christmas so he is at least somewhere!)
I've taught a few people to play bass but never someone less than about 16 so I'm guessing I should probably have a whole different approach...( I vaguely remember my Cello lessons aged about 9)

...any advice appreciated!

[NickH]

I've found when teaching youngsters, it's even more important to give them something recogniseable and familiar, and don't even think about scales, chords, any kind of theory etc. Make him feel like a little rock star in the making and he'll be motivated to play, which is 9/10ths the fight. Kids just absorb knowledge like a sponge at that age as long as you can hold his focus.

[SimBass]

[quote name='NickH' post='686306' date='Dec 16 2009, 01:44 PM']I've found when teaching youngsters, it's even more important to give them something recogniseable and familiar, and don't even think about scales, chords, any kind of theory etc. Make him feel like a little rock star in the making and he'll be motivated to play, which is 9/10ths the fight. Kids just absorb knowledge like a sponge at that age as long as you can hold his focus.[/quote]

I think that is the main thing for me...what to do about chords/scales.
If you ignore chords/scales then surely you are only teaching technique. It's surely impossible to play from a chord sheet without chord knowlegde.
On the other hand I guess at that age it may be more important just to encourage a love of the instrument and to teach riff's/specific songs.

Maybe a middle ground would be to teach the Major and Minor chord shape and a fret board and leave it at that. It would give a good foundation without any REAL theory?

Thoughts?

[Sarah5string]

I would be focusing more on keeping them more interested and concentrated than on specific theory. For example you could create a fun exercise which incorporates some theory so they'll want to play it, but will be learning at the same time.

[Davethebassboss]

Hi there
I taught a 9-year old at Musicians Institute - he had been sent by his mum to learn all sorts of instruments and wasn't exactly excited at the thought of theory !! I found that by diving into his library of good tunes on his CD Walkman we were able to learn some simple basslines that he could play along with, and then formulated the lessons this way:
5 minutes listening to the tune from last week
10 minutes playing the tune
10 minutes looking at what we were playing, eg notes, simple scales
5 minutes listening to a tune for next week (at first it would take a couple of weeks for one tune)
This meant that it was centered around playing which he actually liked to do (!!) and gave him a sense of achievement at being able to play his favourite tunes. His technique built up as he played, and I corrected it as we went along.
After about 6 months doing this we then introduced proper scales and simple notation which he then used to play other tunes not previously known to him.
I taught him until he was 12, by which time he could read simple music, follow a chord chart with his own bassline, and play simple solos using modes over a piano chord structure...
Hope that helps

[SimBass]

[quote name='Davethebassboss' post='686395' date='Dec 16 2009, 03:13 PM']Hi there
I taught a 9-year old at Musicians Institute - he had been sent by his mum to learn all sorts of instruments and wasn't exactly excited at the thought of theory !! I found that by diving into his library of good tunes on his CD Walkman we were able to learn some simple basslines that he could play along with, and then formulated the lessons this way:
5 minutes listening to the tune from last week
10 minutes playing the tune
10 minutes looking at what we were playing, eg notes, simple scales
5 minutes listening to a tune for next week (at first it would take a couple of weeks for one tune)
This meant that it was centered around playing which he actually liked to do (!!) and gave him a sense of achievement at being able to play his favourite tunes. His technique built up as he played, and I corrected it as we went along.
After about 6 months doing this we then introduced proper scales and simple notation which he then used to play other tunes not previously known to him.
I taught him until he was 12, by which time he could read simple music, follow a chord chart with his own bassline, and play simple solos using modes over a piano chord structure...
Hope that helps [/quote]
Thanks for all the advice...particularly the about lesson structure!
Out of curiosity...at what point did you start transcribing the songs he was learning...did you do that from the start? or did he just learn a pattern at a time (and did you use tab/staff music notation or both)
My instinct is that introducing conventional music notation as early as possible is good but this may be my classical background creeping up on me?

[Davethebassboss]

[quote name='SimBass' post='686403' date='Dec 16 2009, 03:21 PM']Thanks for all the advice...particularly the about lesson structure!
Out of curiosity...at what point did you start transcribing the songs he was learning...did you do that from the start? or did he just learn a pattern at a time (and did you use tab/staff music notation or both)
My instinct is that introducing conventional music notation as early as possible is good but this may be my classical background creeping up on me?[/quote]

At first we did just finger patterns/shapes to find the right notes and learn by sight (let's face it, most of the songs were three/four chord rock stuff anyway so it was very straight forward!!). Then we started putting it down as a chord chart; a simple structure for him to follow, introducing counting at the same time - (eg.A,2,3,4 and change,2,3,4...etc.)
I've never used tab for anything as I've found it almost as complicated to learn and follow as getting stuck into the real notes, so I try and introduce the proper notes as soon as possible. He learned quite slowly as he had a good ear to play things, but he got there eventually.
My 9-year-old daughter reads proper drum music on staves, and my 12-year-old reads piano music, so it is definitely do-able !!
You just have to focus on them learning something tangible first, then explain to them how they just did that...!!

[ashevans09]

Some amazing advice, I can't really add much to it but the greatest gift my bass teacher gave me was learning how to do everything by ear.

He started at day one and it is a great skill to have, so might be worth incorporating somewhere? Maybe trying to get your student to pick out simple riffs himself then help him when he gets stuck? This is also a good opportunity to get some theory in too, cos you can say "oh it goes up a 5th there" etc.

Just my 2 cents

Edited December 17, 2009 by ashevans09

[Commando Jack]

[quote name='Davethebassboss' post='686395' date='Dec 16 2009, 03:13 PM']Hi there
I found that by diving into his library of good tunes on his CD Walkman we were able to learn some simple basslines that he could play along with[/quote]

This + a million. If they recognise and enjoy the music they are playing then it's so much easier.

Also, don't forget about the rhythm! In my limited experience, I have found that younger children can latch onto the rhythm much easier than the melody, so it's a good place to start building on.

[Cat Burrito]

Some really good advice here. I would just add tie the theory into the songs that they like to make it more interesting. Why is a player doing what he is doing? It needs to be sufficiently different from a school music lesson but you can still sneak in what they need to know and plant those seeds. Make them feel like they are running before they can walk but with a stronger foundation.

[mrcrow]

same as clarinet...his fingers need to reach the frets...of course he could learn with jumping around

learn the fretboard first..names and positions...only up to the octave...12th fret

then if he wants to read bass clef its a case of some easy tunes

do they still do tune a day etc for electric bass...c paul herfurth

[url="http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/9780825635984/A-New-Tune-a-Day-for-Bass-Guitar?gbase=true&utm_medium=Google&utm_campaign=Base&utm_source=UK&utm_content=A-New-Tune-a-Day-for-Bass-Guitar"]or this[/url]

Edited December 17, 2009 by mrcrow

[chris_b]

As others have said, find out his favourite tunes and teach him those first. If he can play something he already likes you've got him. He's only 9!! The tec stuff can come later.

[leftybassman392]

I teach weekly at 3 Primary schools, plus an under-12's group on a Saturday morning - a total of around 65 students with an average age of 9.

Exactly how you go about it will depend on the individual child, but here are a few general pointers:

1. Keep the theory to a minimum unless the student shows a clear aptitude for it at a very early stage (i.e. within the first couple of weeks), and don't do more than they need for what they are currently playing.

2. Avoid scales for their own sake like the plague! If you really must, then make them i) short and simple; and ii) directly applicable to the work they are doing.

3. Allow the student to develop at their own pace, but don't let things drag. You'll work this out by watching how they tackle the work over the first few weeks

4. Make sure the student has achieved what you've asked before moving on.

5. Keep the lessons focussed - don't start yakking about what it was like when you were growing up or some other trivia (in case it isn't already obvious, kids have a much lower boredom threshold than adults).

6. Bass is an extremely large and cumbersome (not to say physically difficult) instrument for youngsters to get their hands around - make sure that the student can actually hold it well enough to be able to play it (and advise the parent to get a smaller one if necessary). If you don't, then none of the above will matter anyway!

7. Get the student into a regular practice regime (preferably daily) and stick to it. Apart from the obvious reason that it's just a good idea anyway, it makes it easier to spot problems later on - a student that isn't practising can be an indicator of any of a number of problems.


Not an exhaustive list but it'll get you started. Above all (as others have hinted), keep it interesting.

Later edit - forgot to mention... Plan ahead based on what they're doing now - don't just turn up and say something like 'what are we doing today then...'

Edited December 17, 2009 by leftybassman392

[SimBass]

Thanks so much for all the advice..Really appreciate it.
Well here goes...I'm doing the first lesson on Wednesday. I've managed to get a list of some favourite songs including:

Shine - Take That
Viva La Gloria - Greenday
Viva La Vida - Coldplay

So a good repetitive "Viva La Vida" 4 chord master class is in order. Thanks again and I'll get back to you with how it went...and probably some more questions.
Cheers!