If you don’t already know, and if you have not already checked into it, Mark at Talkingbass.net is a great next step for all of these things, including courses for Sight Reading, Ear Training, Chord tones and Scales, Chords on bass, and fun stuff like Slap Bass and Walking Bass.
Using the B2B course for more learning is great too, especially to go back and really hone in on all the hard / fast workouts, and reading notation vs tabs is great place to start as well. I for one can’t speak highly enough about the courses at Talking Bass, being 2nd to only B2B with Josh.
@T_dub Is there an order to take the courses at Talking Bass I went on the site does not really seem to say start here then go here then here and finally here. I saw the beginners’ courses category but after that seems like a huge list of courses where do I start??
@HowlinDawg ok thanks. I will see if I can find out the site looks very old-fashioned and dog’s breakfast like so hard to know the path to take I will dig around or perhaps email him…
I did scales during my B2B course, then did chord tones afterwards. They are both beneficial, but if you must choose one or the other, just jump into chord tones.
I actually did Basic Fundamentals first. It does overlap with B2B but i found it reinforced what I’d learnt in a slightly different way and has given me useful practice drills. There is stuff around finger assignment, raking, hammer ons/pull offs, ghost notes and a whole module on tone and effects. I’m doing cord tones next and then scales.
Just a personal recommendation (from personal experience), if you do the Scales course first, the Chord Tones course will make a great deal more sense.
Just my personal advice, take it for what it’s worth.
I did Scales first also, but only because I was working on scales already, thru @JoshFossgreen 's book, and personal lessons with Josh, which led me to the Scales course.
I agree, the chord tones make a bit more sense if you know the scales, and all the relations, but I didn’t take chord tones first, so I can’t say if that is a better option or not.
I would say, if you could only take one, that my choice would be Scales. Along with taking the Scales course, you probably COULD learn chord tones from a book and / or charts.
However, I suggest taking them both. The courses, AND the content are so similar in structure, that taking one after the other is almost like repeating. the course, however there is enough new / different content to keep you fully engaged.
Kind of like Flats or Rounds or. P-bass vs. Jazz bass vs. Stingray, one is not necessarily better then, one is just different then. Only wrong decision would be to not take either, but which one comes first, you can’t really make the wrong choice.
IMO, chord tones make more sense in the context of Scales, then the other way around, but either is doable.
I believe that his beginner course is in 3 parts, and you can buy them in a bundle, or separate. If so, maybe start at number 2 or even 3, just to get the more advanced beginner stuff?
@T_dub@skydvr Beginner Bass is the first. I didn’t bother with that or the bundle. After all I’m already a Badass courtesy of Josh. Basic Fundemantals is the second one which I was talking about and is targeted at beginner to intermediate. I personally found it useful but I wouldn’t say it’s essential. Chord Tones is described as beginner to advanced and Scales is suitable for beginner or immediate but hugely beneficial for advanced (as I mentioned previously, thanks to those who suggested Chord rather than Scales)
Thanks @T_dub for pointing me towards Mark, I had a little dig around the ‘going forward’ topics and noticed quite a few of you had taken his courses after B2B, and they do look really thorough.
Just yesterday I had the ‘scales or chord tones’ conundrum, so it’s been nice to read all your responses right here. Before I did this though, I downloaded Josh’s scales book, and will try working through it as I do 50 first songs (and a daily run of the ultimate groove workout). So I’ll give that a try, but if I struggle, I might jump onto chord tones.
Besides Talkingbass, is there another tried and tested resource out there that focuses on chord tones specifically?
courtesy of Josh. Basic Fundemantals is the second one which I was talking about and is targeted at beginner to intermediate. I personally found it useful but I wouldn’t say it’s essential. Chord Tones is described as beginner to advanced and Scales is suitable for beginner or immediate but hugely beneficial for advanced (as I mentioned previously, thanks to those who suggested Chord rather than Scales)