I agree. I have a great “coach” and look forward to my sessions with him.
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I had a wrong teacher when learning guitar too so I get what you are saying.
I still agree with the answers and the video: don’t be afraid to leave the teacher if it’s not for you.
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Well, he may or may not have had bad teachers, but it’s a good point - some people might prefer self-driven individual learning over traditional instruction.
For me having occasional lessons with an instructor is motivational, though I haven’t done it for bass yet. That’s mostly because of the great course from Josh and the excellent advice I have gotten from Gio here.
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I do, but after thinking it over I suspect it is for the wrong reasons like being intimidated, having a bad experience with a guitar teacher and I also don’t think those are mutually exclusive - a teacher doesn’t have to be someone who tells you exactly what to do. I don’t think there’s a viable reason for completely dismissing a teacher if you still aim to get better. Sure you can get better without one, but I believe it will be more effective with one as long as it is a good fit for you.
I am not saying that you absolutely have to get a teacher - I could accept the reasoning “I just want to enjoy myself and play” but not “I will be able to practice as effectively as I would be able to with a teacher”
As far as I picked up from comments of people having a 1on1 teacher and the teachers themselves as far as I understand it the teacher is often more of a coach and you just get help in order to make your individual learning more effective. It also doesn’t matter how good you are at self-teaching you will have blind spots that only will get fixed by either playing with others or a teacher.
Another thing I want to mention is the “Post B2B slump” that a lot of students experienced and I think it is exactly due to the missing teacher. You have a whole course structured for beginners, lessons building up on another and then suddenly you have those skills and a few pointers about in what direction you could go in, but the clear and easy to follow path is missing. And at that point, after finishing B2B, there is no clear “one-fits-all” path and that’s why I think a teacher who helps you map out that path can be really helpful.
After writing that out I realized one thing that made me apprehensive of getting private lessons is simply that one thing: I’m used to weekly appointments and I think I don’t want/need them that often. I often times feel pressured if I have only a week to work on something and am not satisfied myself with the result. Maybe every two weeks or once a month might be more for me. Could be surprising for you as some of you know how I rushed through the B2B course but now that I have to juggle more things to do in less time I don’t even pick up my bass daily and then feel bad about it.
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Nah, I’m just not very comfortable around people I don’t know. Edit: to clarify, I have had no bad music teachers or bad experiences. I just don’t like it.
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I get far more out of video learning. I can do it whenever I want, at my own pace, I can replay it over and over. As I said, it works for me.
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I agree, this is the best for me too. However, when I started going to a bass coach a few weeks ago, my whole world changed. He pointed out things he observed about my playing, and helped to correct them. He has shown me things, and jammed with me (on his guitar). My experience is, he has pushed me beyond what I had before I came to him.
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Yep, most people love one on one lessons. I am by no means telling anyone not to try it, quite the opposite.
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This is my experience, and it has mad all the. difference in the world. It is true, I do a lot of the things now, that I probably would have done, had I not started taking lessons, but I now do them with confidence. I am not wondering aimlessly (and that is a bit of an overstatement in itself, it is not aimless) around in the forest, wondering if this food will sustain me, if it will sustain me best, or if it will make me ill.
One thing I know for sure is that there CAN BE a wrong way to learn tings, which takes valuable time away from progress as you need to unlearn then relearn correctly.
There are many reasons for not wanting to work with a coach that are perfectly valid. Time and money obviously, lack of access to a good teacher / coach, and plenty of other viable reasons, but the number one reason to not work with a coach, is if you are HAPPY with where you are at as a bass player, and you are happy with your progress. if you are happy, you are doing things right, in bass and life, as long as it is not at the expense of others.
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Okay, I went a bit over the top with that wording. What I meant is there is no reason to completely rule it out in a “I never ever want to work with a teacher” way.
“I’m happy where I’m at and with my progress” is perfectly fine.
Money of course is a valid reason. I just would money count as a “I’m not able to” instead of a “I don’t want to” reason 
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Sorry, that was not directed at you, or a rebut to what you said, I was just explaining my thoughts.
I can see where you would have thought that, since I did select your quote to build upon in the beginning of the post, sorry I didn’t separate that part of it.
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Not to be splitting hairs here, but I’m going to split hairs…
I think there’s a distinction between a music “teacher” and a music “coach”. @JoshFossgreen and Mark Smith (TalkingBass) are my teachers. The guy I spend an hour with in his studio every Monday is my coach. He doesn’t teach me much of anything, because he can see that I’ve already been taught. What he does (and what I want him to do), is coach me… bring out the best in me… point out minor flaws in my technique, or ways that I can improve it. That’s what any good coach, in any vocation does: whether it’s sports, or music, or art.
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Agreed, in my case, my coach IS one of my teachers, best of both worlds I guess.
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That was excellent! Even though you left out:
The bass may contain small parts that could be a choking hazardous to children
…that you like.
The bass is not dishwasher safe.
And make sure that when you get your new bass home, make sure it’s not left-handed.
Excellent, Josh
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Don’t stop.
Make the time.
Keep playing.
Keep practicing.
It’s worth it.
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No more slap, no more solos, no more fancy chord changes, no more prog-fusion, no more effect pedals, no more notes above the 3rd fret, no tempos above 100, no snacks, no sci-fi movies, no fantasy novels, no coffee…
UNTIL
You have the groove deep, deep within you.
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No more coffee 
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I had to face that one this year for other reasons. It sucks more than you would think, which is a lot.
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I can only imagine. It’s now more of a treat for me since I’ve been off work but I would definitely miss it.
I stopped smoking 5 days ago and I would imagine the loss of coffee would be worse
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Urggg!!! Forget that.
My one tip would probably be
“DO NOT PLAY THRU THE PAIN”
After a 3 day marathon, playing at least 8 hours a day, learning one bass solo, and most of the song, plus another whole song, my thumb was useless, and my hand hurt.
I couldn’t stay away, and played thru the pain, and it got better
and it got worse
and better
and worse
and now, like 3 months later, I can finally use my thumb for more then resting on the back of the bass neck.
I mean, seriously, it was hard to open things, and grip plates with my left hand, it put so much pressure on my thumb it hurt.
Its all better now, but looking back, I probably should have taken a week or two even off.
I just couldn’t stay away,
not even for a day.
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