I am looking for online bass lessons and I’m considering bassbuzz. I am a complete beginner. I was wondering if someone could give me a loose overview of how things progress throughout the lessons. Do you learn how to read music? Are there lessons for 5 string? Thanks a lot for your time.
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@RemoteOutpost welcome to the forum.
I started learning bass on a 5 string six months ago. The lessons are geared toward 4 string (all online bass classes are), but you can easily adapt to the 5 string once you know your way around your fret board. In the beginning, you can just pretend your B string isn’t there.
There are some lessons about reading later in the course, but at the beginning it will be strictly tablature. All in all, its a great course for anyone who wants to learn to play bass from the ground up.
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Hi.
Pam has answered all your questions, but I have one for you.
You don’t say whether or not you actually have a 5 string, but as a complete beginner, why would you want to start with a 5 string over a 4 string?
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I can answer that:
There’s a lady bass player in a local band here in the Phoenix area, who I love and admire. She plays a 5 string. When I decided to take up bass, part of my goal was to play a 5 string like her. I started on a four string, but only kept it a month before buying my 5 string. I figured if I was going to ultimately play a 5 string, why not learn on it.
I’m not sure if that’s @RemoteOutpost reason, but it may be similar.
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I cannot recommend BassBuzz enough.
I have been playing for 3 weeks in total and I am already playing along to jazz standards on spotify.
I have advanced more than I could ever have imagined in those three weeks
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Hi Mark. The reason I want to play a 5 string is because it fits the kind of music I want to ultimately create and I really enjoy the sound of the B string. So I figure, why not start with a 5 string if it’s what I want to play?
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I see, that makes sense.
I have a 5 string here that somebody lent to me, but I just have no desire to use it at all, but I probably like a different style of music.
Having said that, I half want a short/medium scale 5 string to use as a sort of cross between a guitar and a bass, for a future project I have in mind. Something like a Fender Bass V (a bit like a Mustang) although I think my chances of finding one are really quite slim.
The course on here is excellent btw - I can’t think of a better one to give you a good grounding in being a bassist, without totally baffling you.
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Oh and the Fender Bass V was the world’s first 5 string bass apparently
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That’s quite interesting, especially the bit about the high C string instead of a Low B.
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Yeah, like I said Pam, I’m not really interested in 5 string in the normal sense, but the idea of using something like that for a section in a set of maybe one or two songs, and as a cross between a bass and a guitar, and with another guitarist, appeals to me quite a bit.
I saw Wes Borland (guitarist from Limp Bizkit) using one, and I really liked the sound and approach.
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@RemoteOutpost Welcome to the BassBuzz forum! When you have time, join us on the Introduce Yourself! thread.
And… Hell Yeah! Bring on the Five String!
As for BassBuzz, Josh starts very simply. Like, here is how to use a strap and here is how to pluck a string. Then he begins ramping things up, but never too much at one time. It’s like the old idea, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
He holds to this idea of giving you one small piece at a time and then gives you the next one, and then the next one. With each piece building on the one before it and putting what you learned to use by actually playing music as part of every lesson.
As to the course being for a 5 string or not, every lesson is performed on a 4 string but that doesn’t mean you can’t use a 5 sting, 6 string, or any other bass (I’m using an acoustic Bass). One of the things you end up learning is how the strings relate to one another and how that relationship is consistent even when using a 5 string. This may not make sense now but if you take the B2B course, it will be. On a personal note, I’ve looked at a lot of different courses and I haven’t seen one that focuses specifically on using a 5 string in a beginner course. Part of the reason, I think, is that it isn’t necessary to teach a course using a 5 string for a student to understand how to incorporate the Low B string into their playing.
As for reading music, once Josh has gotten passed the basics he includes standard music notation and a simplified notation called, tablature (or just ‘tab’) in every lesson. If you want to learn how to read music, it’s there for you. If you don’t, it’s easily ignored and not required for completing the course.
If you want to see some reviews, you can find some here… Beginner to Badass Reviews? 🎸
If you want to see how Josh teaches to be able to see if his teaching style works for you, then go here… Beginner BASSics. Or go here for one of his YouTube videos… Learning Your Fretboard Notes.
Full disclosure, I’m just a student here like everybody else.
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Others have covered it but I’ll chime in with the fact that buying this course was the best money I have spent in music so far. Much more than worth it.
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I agree with that totally.
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Lots of good info, thank you!
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I stated last week and I can tell you its great! You begin at the beginning and progress steady at your own pace
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@usemickss I’m glad you’re enjoying B2B and Welcome to the BassBuzz forum! When you have time, join us on the Introduce Yourself! thread.
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Hi, welcome, and keep up the good work.
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@RemoteOutpost HI and Welcome! I have never played an instrument in my life! I’m 10 modules in and i’m actually playing bass! Josh is the real deal and a great teacher! I did in person lessons for about a month before I signed up with Josh and what he is teaching is miles above. Go for it! you won’t be sorry. Have fun!
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