Ariane Cap

Good Lord, Mark is great. Kept up with her on a 4 string.

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Just to add another opinion to the original question. I am currently doing Music Theory for the Bass Player Course (Cohort version), which is the course based off the book of the same name.

It is a 20 unit course. Each unit covers two weeks so takes 40 weeks all up (units are released fortnightly so you can’t rush ahead, which I have a tendency to do). You are assigned a ‘coach’ and there is a private portal where, each fortnight, you submit a video of the areas of the unit you committed to practice. You receive feedback from the others doing the course (your peers) and occasionally a coach (and sometimes Ari) might make a comment.

There are also monthly online Cohort hangs and an Ask Ari session, which people from any of her courses can join.

I’m into unit 4 of 20, so my thoughts ATM are preliminary and I’ll update when I finish it.

I like the structure of the course. I find the book a bit confusing on it’s own, so having her step us through it by breaking it down into chunks to digest over two weeks is very helpful for me and my learning preferences. I am not overloaded and by the end of the two weeks I feel like I really understand the concepts that have been taught.

The exercises she gives you involve you doing a lot of improvising to backing tracks, using the concepts being taught in that unit - I think this will be so invaluable to my playing in the future. Josh did some of this in B2B but this is next level. There is also some theory reading from the book, a quiz, but mostly doing exercises that involve the relevant concepts from the unit in question (eg: intervals, chords etc) and some practice of previously learnt concepts.

I like that each fortnight I have to commit to doing one or two videos of the exercises and then I have to submit them. This brings some accountability to the course - it works for me, but maybe others are more disciplined. I like having a clear structured learning path and a timeline.

My only real concerns are: You are assigned a ‘coach’ who in reality is someone who did the course previous to you and is not a bass teacher. They are great people and very encouraging, but they do it for free so depending on what else is going on in their life they may not be very present. For example, aside from a short hello at the very beginning, I have not heard or seen my coach for 8 weeks. As I say, they do it for free and are not bass teachers - more like cheerleaders for you and also to follow you up if you start missing submissions. They are probably more like buddies or sponsors. I think this part of Ari’s system could be improved and it most likely will be as the course develops and more feedback is received from participants. You do get feedback from others (peers) but it’s mostly just to say you’re doing a good job (which is fair enough too. I know I’m not going to start critiquing someone else when I don’t know what I’m doing myself).

The other issue for me is that I’m in an Australian timezone and this whole course is scheduled to fit in US/UK participants. I can’t join into the online scheduled events as they are at 4am. I understand this too as I know they need to draw the line somewhere and there are probably less of us in my time zone. I can however submit questions before hand and then watch it on catch up - so that’s ok. I’m also sure if I was really having problems with something I could directly email Ari, Wolf or Fred and they would respond pretty quickly - so I’m not too worried that I can’t get help if I need it.

So bottom line, I’m enjoying it. I feel challenged but not overwhelmed. I’m learning stuff that makes sense and when put into a musical context (the exercises) really makes sense.

I’ll update this when I’m finished (in another 30 weeks). I hope I don’t sound too critical as so far I’m loving it - just a couple small observations. I’m fairly confident that I’ll be a much better bass player if I stick with this and do the work. :+1:t4:

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I’ve never done one of her cohorts, but have been in a couple of her practice groups. One thing I can say about Ari, she is way more personable than any of my other online bass teachers (Josh, Mark, Scott). What I mean by that, she becomes like a close friend and personally cheers you on. I have gotten so many very personal and helpful emails from her, and even a compliment from her on my website (Comment on my website that made my day).
The only thing that keeps me from doing more practice groups or a cohort, it the fact that structure does not suit me well. I am too much of an independent person (and maybe a bit too old) to abide homework assignments, schedules, deadlines and such.
She is a great bass teacher though, and she comes close to Josh and Mark among my favorites.

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Yep, agree. I have studied with all three and they are all TOPS! :guitar::fire:

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@PamPurrs or anyone familiar with the book. I’m a piano player of 25 years and studied music theory during undergrad (But brand new to bass).
It sounds like this is a great book, however, I’m concerned the material might not be too beneficial. I can read, write, name, and notate just fine. Would this book still be worth the price of admission? ($42 currently)

Thanks for the help!

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It is rather rudimentary, but worked for me. You may be better off getting her book on “Patterns”.

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@ eric.kiser, I just finished all 20 units of the video course. I loved every minute of it. The course is much more than a structured way to go through the book. If you pay attention to how the lessons are structured, it’s teaching you how to practice so that you can learn fruitfully from anything.

Like others have said, Ari emphasizes development of your sensibilities as a musician. Timing, groove, improv…all are part of the method.

Like anything, you get out of it what you put into it. If you’re looking for shortcuts or quick tips, this ain’t it. Would say this is a natural next step after B2B, then take on her Patterns book (up next for me in 2023).

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I have the book. It is very theory heavy (as the title indicates!) so you have to be committed. If not, you will get bored and drop it.

It is an amazing book. I love it and can’t imagine learning the theory without it.

If she has a course, it will likely be amazing as well.

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Thanks @micklerd! I appreciate you getting back to me on this.

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