He seems like a genuinely nice guy. Of course that’s just through the lens of his channel, but still.
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Have a look at basseducation too : https://www.basseducation.com/
I got steered towards this site by the resident awesome person @T_dub while I was trying to figure out where to go next.
I was set on going talkingbass, like many of you I have watched plenty of Mark’s online videos that were just right in terms of style and full of what I think I need.
Unfortunately with the monthly all access being phased out and with me being on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder I just can’t stretch to the full module price at the moment.
Cue in basseducation and the man in charge- 7 smackeroos a month, modules,single lessons, pdfs and…for the lack of a better phrase- genuinely human touch. He ,Damian, welcomes you to the site, takes real interest in what you want to achieve and has even shot me a personalised welcome video.
Now, I’m a simple country bumpkin, but that resonated really well with me.
It’s quite jazz orientated, but from my initial cursory look, there is a lot for most of the “just finished B2B” folk to find in there
Did I mention $7 a month?!
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Yeah, times 12 is the cost of one of Mark Smiths excellent courses.
But I understand if you’re on a low budget. Enjoy.
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I know it’s the same in the end ,but I really feel like I need the structured path right now and it’s the only way I can afford it.
I’ll report back when I actually complete some if his content, hopefully it will become another solid option for some/all of us.
It’s amazing really how much we have at the end of our fingertips nowadays. Talkingbass is solid, the videos I’ve watched have all given me lots of information already and I enjoy Mark’s style ( don’t even get me started on that bass of his!!! Wow) I just wish he had a monthly plan going for his full modules just like Josh has for B2B
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I recommend working through Josh’s scales books over at his other website. That’s what I have been doing since I finished the course a month ago and my technique is getting much better. I have also been working through the 50 song pack. In my opinion that’s all you need for now.
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he does a weekly live Facebook hang EARLY on Saturdays. @PamPurrs is always there. he is a cool guy.
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That’s pretty cool! I’m going to check him out. I also think Mark’s are a little steep.
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I have done all the above.
Marks modules (thru all access pass that is going away in June)
Josh personal lessons
Josh books
B2B
and others
Low End University . Com
(I highly recommend for the Technique module alone. some of the best exercises for both fretting and plucking hand I have seen and use them regularly)
The best thing about this site is you can pay $9.99 per month or $19.99 per month (based what you have access to on the site) and you can pay for a month and have it re-occour monthly, or you can stop it and just get a month, and then you can go back a few months later if you want to revisit the exercises, or take more music theory, slap, sight reading, etc… AND IT SAVES YOUR STATS, SO YOU CAN START BACK WHERE YOU LEFT OFF.
I paid the $19.99 for a few months before I got ill in October, and shut it off, but after going back and revisiting it, and looking at the difference between what you get for $9.99 a month and $19.99 a month, I realized that I only ever used what is available in the $9.99 a month plan, and although there uas much more on paper, available in the more expensive plan, after being a member for a little bit, I now realize I would NEVER use the rest of that stuff, so when I re-sign up in a month or two to revisit the technique stuff and do more of the other things, I will only pay for the $9.99 per month plan.
I like it because he covers alot of the same material, but in a different way then any of the other teachers. And each teacher, with their own style, has given me Ah-ha moments that others have not, so I find it beneficial to learn from more than one source, based on the fact one person will say something in a way that the others have not said, and it just clicks.
I have had those with Josh, I have had them with Mark, and I have had them with the other Mark from Low End University.
TalkingBass is great and the courses are great, but like others, I can’t afford to pay for most of the ones I would take in one chunk, and I can only get by for small monthly payments.
I highly recommend Damians site for $7,
Next to Bass Buzz and Josh, it is the next closest thing to feeling like you are interacting with the instructor in his videos, and not just learning from him, but learning and interacting, if you know what I am trying to say.
All in all, almost NOTHING YOU DO NEXT will be wrong, AS LONG AS YOU DO SOMETHING NEXT.
JUST KEEP PLAYING BASS AND LIFE WILL GO ON
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I am a firm believer in the idea that nothing develops your skills better than applying what you learned. Think of any classes as school, but applying what you learn in class as doing a job. If you are in wood shop, they get you the materials, the project to do, then show you how to make it. If you are a carpenter outside of class though, you have to go buy all your materials and make your own design and build that design. As you keep doing that you get better and better and making things in your own.
Things aren’t different with an instrument. Take what you learned and experiment. Play to backing tracks. Make a song up in your head and try to replicate it on the bass. Play along to drum tracks. Record a bass line then play a melody over it (or use a looper). Play covers that stretch your ability a bit. Find something me other musicians to jam with. Try to nail a technique like slap, tapping, double thumbing or 3 finger picking. All this stuff will force you to improve, and also reveal where you need to grow!
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I’'ve purchased several of Mark’s courses, but only when they are on sale (which he has periodically). To me, they are worth every penny, not just for the video lessons, but more so for the great study and reference material that come with the lessons. I refer to the materials often, long after I’ve completed the course. I printed them all out and have them in a library.
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I have no doubt it’s worth every penny, really!
But those courses are priced for economies like the UK and US. So what is expensive or cheap is very subjective!
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Ah okay, I understand
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I’ve just started to dip into Marks courses. I was going to start with chord tone essentials but for the sake of completeness I though I’d start with his Bassic Fundamentals course (the second of his beginner courses, not the really basic “so you’ve bought yourself a bass guitar” course). I looked at the course syllabus carefully because I was aware of the fact that this was another beginner course and a lot would be a duplication of Bassbuzz but I decided there were enough other topics covered to make it worth while.
It’s a little early to say but I can’t say I’m warming to Mark’s approach to teach as easily as I did with Josh. Someone else likened moving from Josh’s course to Mark’s as like going from school to university and I’d have to agree. Whereas Josh very much holds hands and retains interest by constantly reinforcing theory with practical songs ( not just excercises) , I’ve noticed Mark can very quickly go down a wormhole of theory that leaves your head spinning (well mine at least anyway). For instance on Lesson 16 of the first module (Core Foundation) Mark goes into depth with all the arpeggio shapes for seventh chords: Major 7th, Dominant 7th, Minor 7th, Minor 7th Flat 5, as well as how to apply the arpeggios to chord progressions. Now bear in mind this appears in the first module of a beginner course and I had to stop my head spinning long enough to check whether I hadn’t signed up for a post-grad course at Berkelee School of music by mistake.
The frustrating thing is, after sitting through these lessons he will say something at the end like “I know it’s all a lot to take in but I just want you to be aware of it”. I’m sufficiently knowledgeable about bass to know that whilst arpeggios of seventh chords are important things to learn their place probably isn’t in the first module of a beginner course, but a true beginner might well be put off for life.
The other silly little thing that annoys me about Mark is his frequent habit of looking off to his right of the camera instead of looking straight at you. I don’t know whether he’s reading an auto-cue or monitor but it’s off putting.
I will continue with Mark because some of his courses look extremely interesting but I thought it fair to point out to anyone considering his courses for the first time that its not going to be like the gently gently approach of Josh.
I’ve also just signed up for an annual all-access pass to Truefire which at $149 is a major bargain, particularly if you play guitar as well because you get access to everything. I’ve only skimmed course modules so far but I’m liking the teaching styles of Stu Hamm, Ryan Madora and Ariane Cap a lot more. Just another option worth considering
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When you take the Chord Tones course, much of that stuff will fall into place. Be prepared for many “Ah Ha” and “Lightbulb” moments.
Of all the courses I’ve taken, Chord Tones has proven to be the foundation for all the other stuff I’m learning. In other words, the knowledge obtained by that course, is helpful to have when taking the other courses.
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Yes I’m hoping that’s the case. I’ve just re-read my post and realised it comes across as a little hard on Mark. I fully expect a more advanced lesson course to be harder work, I just think he’s throwing a bit of a curved ball with his beginner courses 
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Theory is like that though…it is weird. I think maybe people don’t explain it well. A lot goes into notation, but scales and intervals are never explained in a way that makes it easy to follow.
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I feel the exact same way about Mark. Probably a great guy and certainly a great musician but I’m not a fan of his teaching style. Teaching in itself is a skill. Giving too much information at the wrong time is always a mistake. IMO.
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I agree, and I know its a lot of crossover, but I almost feel like the Scales class should go first.
you are a little less familiar with modes and other scalses from which to build chords from without taking the scales essentials.
Of course, you can do chord tones first and wait for many other Ah-ha moments in scalse?
I thouhgt you also did scales forst @PamPurrs, I thing it was Mike @itsratso that did the Chord Tones first…
Either way, it is well explained, and there is alot to take in the first course you do regardless.
The 2nd one you do almost feels like a refresher course from the other one you just took. It really isn’t and different principles are tought in each module, its just they follow almost the exact same lesson plan, just one os doing scales and the other one s doing cords which is just playing scales as cords after builting the cord from the scale based on the formula to build certain types of cords.
It might even sound confusing, but once you get into doing it, you will understand, it really does make sense.
I highly recommend both scalse and cord tones and also simple stpes to sighe reading. He really has a unique approach that he is passing on of what has been passed down to hm, to simply teach in a very simple way how to read sheet music.
fortunately you can buy module one, and then upgrade to module 2, so you don’t have to pay for the whole thing at one time, unless its on sale) and of course, its best to stock up on classes, if you can when on sale, that way you have them when ready and got them for a bargain price.
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I’ve pushed on with Mark’s Bassic Fundamentals course and I have to say I’m warming to it again. I know many people will probably skip this course having done Josh’s and go to the scale or chord tone modules but there is stuff to be learnt here. The second module of the course goes into basic techniques and whilst its easy to think ‘hey we have that under our belt’, I learnt things from the very first lesson. for instance; the thumb pivot. Who knew it was so easy to stretch from the sixth to the twelve fret without shifting? Then there is examining the difference between fretting with ‘flat fingers’ and ‘caged finger’ or on the plucking hand, the difference gained from the angle of attack. There are some little gems in there and I’d encourage any BassBuzz post grads to take a look at the course. All I would say is skip the later lesson of the first core module when he goes overboard on the theory behind seventh chord arpeggios and go back to it later.
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Yes scales was the first course I completed (I did it simultaneously with B2B). Chord Tones was second.
The only reason I recommend Chord Tones so highly without mentioning the Scales course, is because many people respond with something like “I already know my scales, why should I bother with that course”.
I took Scales first because I was curious about all that stuff I missed as a high school drummer when I was so indifferent to learning music theory.
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