I’m an absolute beginner bassist who just started the B2B course. I powered through all of Module 1 today and I am loving it so far and finding it perfect for my learning goals!
My current long-ish term goal for bass is to be able to join my high school’s jazz band this fall. I love jazz but have always exclusively been a vocalist, so I thought bass would be a good, easier (but very fun!) instrument to get enough proficiency within 4-5 months to join the group and dip my toes into instrumental jazz.
That being said, I want to be sure B2B actually gives me enough foundation to go into performing with a jazz group. It’s a high school band, so nothing too crazy, but I’d hate to be lagging behind because I’m less proficient than I thought. I’m aiming to go through B2B at a slightly accelerated pace and finish by early June; auditions are in mid-August, and rehearsals start in early September (when the school year starts). Will B2B have me prepared for this? Any jazz-focused learning tips or course recommendations for the couple of months between when I finish B2B and auditions?
I’m not into Jazz, but from my perspective, the B2B course focuses on getting you up to speed and playing songs, not much in-depth theory.
If your goal is to play along with others, it should be a good starting point, but if you want in-depth theory and exercises, I think you need to look for another course once you finish B2B. Perhaps TalkingBass for more theory or Janek Gwizdala for some Jazz.
I’m on module 10, and while there is theory, it isn’t strictly focused on any particular genre of music.
Yeah. I think the best approach for you would be to finish B2B for the bass fundamentals you need - it’s by far the best course online for that. And then supplement with some additional learning.
I would say for Jazz Band you are going to want to pick up a sight reading course or other way to get comfortable reading music, and some additional theory as well, as B2B is just the very basics for those.
Another bonus is that both @JoshFossgreen and @Gio have pretty extensive background with Jazz and are really accessible here in the forum for questions.
And also I just want to say good for you! Really cool to see students interested in more music education.
In addition to what those above, spend extra time on the few improv modules/lessons as that’ll lend to a HS jazz band. At least it would have for mine (I was trumpet though).
I was a high school jazz band bass player. Though we didn’t really play anything super technical but it was competitive because there were 3 bass players in our senior class.
You will get a very good foundation with B2B which you can then build upon afterwards as your interests dictate. For jazz, “Autumn Leaves” is a jazz standard that is often recommended as a first jazz tune to get acquainted with, and you can learn a lot from it. There happens to be a really good free lesson out there for it from our friend Mark at TalkingBass, if you’re interested when the time comes.
This sounds awesome, and good on you for getting to this early.
I have taught tons of high school kids who have played or wanted to play bass in their bands.
The most important thing you can do is talk to the band leader.
Ask them, very specifically, what they’re looking for and what they want from a bassist, and what’s on the audition.
Every teacher is a little different.
Some people want lots of improvised walking, some teachers want the players to read, read, read.
Learning the B2B basics from the course will be great for everything you want to do. When it gets time to get more jazz-centric, hopefully a to-do list from the band director will be helpful.
Or at least can point me in a better direction to tell you what to focus on / what book to get / what songs to learn / etc.
All the best to you, and feel free to drop more questions here.
I was a jazz studies major in college on bass, directed a high school jazz band, and played lots of jazz, so I’d be happy and - hopefully - able to get you some good info!