Hey forum family! High up in the highest tower of BassBuzz castle, we at the round table are discussing possibly creating a BassBuzz App. And I need your thoughts and suggestions!
Two questions -
Would you benefit (or have benefited) from being able to view your B2B lessons in an app rather than having them in-browser only?
What other app features do you think would enhance your experience of the B2B course?
What other features would you love in a BassBuzz app? Practice reminder notifications? Tuner? Metronome? Forum integration?
Hit me with your best shot! Iām very open to left-field ideas (or right-field if youāre left handed ) and other flights of fancy.
And if someone else has an idea you love, make sure you their post so I can get a feel for whatās most important to yāall!
Grey haired old gits like me need a screen big enough to see the tab but a youngster would cope with a smartphone screen.
The only other music apps I use are a tuner, metronome and Songsterr (and to contradict myself, I can see the tabs on Songsterr, so ignore my first point).
My playing would benefit from a reminder that Iām behind on my declared programme of 3 months.
Just speaking for myself, @JoshFossgreen, but I would NOT have been able to follow the course using my cell phone. I really need to be able to see and navigate the screen.
OTOH, it might be nice to quickly check in to see if thereās any new posts on the Forum. But then again, thereās the problem of being able to see the screen.
I would not have used an app for the course. A portable screen like a phone would be small and its not as if I am walking around the neighborhood with my bass, amp, while staring at my phone trying to also catch a pokemon (does anyone do that anymore?) If anything I always wanted a bigger screen to see more of a tab sheet running under your lessons. What I would like is a more complimentary app that maybe has your five level finger exercises, maybe some scales on a fretboard for us newbs to quickly refresh pattern for major, minor, penta something scales. In short a complementary app rather than a substitute for your courses.
Itās been over two years since I took the course, but I can still remember watching the videos from my recliner while I was hooked up to the drip bag that connected to the feeding tube in my stomach (long story)ā¦ Thankfully, I was able to watch the lessons though an app on my android and cast them onto my large television via Chromecast.
With that said, an app would have been handy, but only if it had casting capabilities. Without the ability to cast onto the TV, it would have been useless.
My conclusion: The idea of an app is nice, but only if it includes compatibility with ChromeCast.
Thatās my $0.02 worth.
For coursework - when I do use my iPad for coursework it is only when I can stream to my Apple TV. So I doubt I would want anything on a phone. Considering you can full-screen any video on a phone, why would you need an app? Bigger screens also allow you to see the tab/score under our trusty bass instructor better. On a phoneā¦hmmm, too small for me.
For the forum - over the years I have been involved in a few forums, and never, ever liked the functionality in any of the app versions, easier to use them on a phone via browser, and used to it and navigating it that way.
I know others have recently launched apps as an āall in one placeā solution, but for meā¦I donāt use them.
I am on my phone all the time, and would definitely install and use a BassBuzz appā¦ but probably only for the forums. The screen is too small for reading music and tab.
My tablet - however - I would be overjoyed to do the videos and all the everythings on it using a BassBuzz app. Plus I could then do them away from my PC and reduce the noise it causes.
One thing you might consider, @JoshFossgreenā¦ a lot of people on here now are of the older set (myself included) and iPhone/Android screens are a little too small for us to focus on for long periods of time, or to consume large amounts of content. Butā¦ the younger set coming up, which will undoubtedly have some new bass players, LIVES on their phones. So while a good chunk of your current students might not find a lot of value in an app (Except on a tablet! Please give me an iPad BassBuzz app!) it might be a good move with an eye to the future.
If the app is meant to be a compliment to B2B, and intended for absolute beginners, I would have wanted these features:
ability to cast - phone app would be way more convenient than getting out a laptop with casting or using an HDMI.
Audio in headphones while casting, if itās possible - cast while still allowing audio to the phoneās headphone port while also being cast to screen. The intent is to cast the video to a large screen which I can mute - but then audio out of the phone and into a headphone amp (for the many who need to practice quietly/silently)
tuner/metronome - a simple clip on is fine/cheap, but for absolute beginners, having it built into the app is one less thing to worry about
ability to adjust video playback speed - youtube-style that automatically pitch shifts things back to normal if you slow it down. I know you kindly give us 3 play along speeds - but sometimes I wanted something in between
Keeps track of your progress - opens to the next lesson in line
āpractice alongā videos - Things we should be practicing regularly like your āThe Beastā, or your āImprove Your Groove with this Rhythm Subdivision Exerciseā. In an ideal world you could have ā5 minute warm upā, 15-minute, 30-minute, etc - user can click āpractice/warmupā then click a practice session based on how much time they have and get in a proper practice session or use it as a warmup for longer sessions.
similar to above practice sessions - but topic/skill based instead of time based - āpractice help with frettingā, āpractice help with ghost notesā, āpractice help with keeping time/grooveā, etc. Sometimes Iām having trouble with a skill in a song Iām trying to learn - and I remember vaguely ('cause Iām old) you giving tips on that skill - but I have no idea where it was in B2B so I canāt go back to it easily - this would help with that
Practice loops / backing tracks: sortable by BPM, style, etc - so you can follow along, I had a ton of fun finding backing tracks on youtube - like this Soul Blues Backing Track in G: or this Filthy Blues Funk Guitar Backing Track Jam in G. Most were geared to guitar - would be cool to have bass focused options. Super bonus points if you can adjust speed/bpm so you can slowly increase speed
For me this would be easy access to the backing track content already provided with the course easily indexed by lesson, song and primary lesson concept. I found myself trying to remember what that fast chugging tune was to go back and grind on some more.
A lot of replies are focused on phone screens being too small. Iād just like to point out that "appā does not necessarily mean āphone appā only. You can run apps on tablets as well, with large(r) screens.
I recently became aware that Talking Bass had an app available on the Apple App Store, called Scales for Bass Guitar. It is something I might be interested in having, so I checked to see if the fretboard illustrations used in the app were available in left handed orientation, and it does have them. So far, so good. BUT - unfortunately in my case, it requires iOS 13.4 or later, and my old iPhone canāt use that one (the max iOS my phone can use is iOS 12.x).
So, I bring all that up to say that if you do introduce an iPhone app, please consider making it compatible with older iOS versions if there is any way possible. Iām not sure about to what percentage of your students that situation may apply, but consider that as we get older, we may not upgrade our phones as often as a younger person does.
) and other flights of fancy. 
their post so I can get a feel for whatās most important to yāall!
