Thanks, that gives me a good road map to work to. Out of interest, another bass ‘tutor’ has popped up on my Facebook page called Lorin Cohen who has a course called New Shapes For Bass and I’m wondering if anyone had heard of him or taken his course. He seems to lead heavily towards the jazz genre but that’s my ultimate aim (I will probably need another lifetime). I suspect it’s aimed more toward the intermediate/advanced bassist rather than someone at my level but if the testimonials are to be believed he is highly thought of. I’m very wary of buying too many different courses because I think it’s far too easy (for me at least) to lose focus and be overwhelmed. I’m not even going to buy any of Marks modules until I’ve finished Josh’s course and even then it will be one module at a time. However, this course seems a bargain at $57 so I’m wondering if its best just to buy it now and put it on the back burner until I’m ready. I’m not sure whether this link will take you to the page I saw or not but if it does there is more info here:
When I started B2B I was only fretting with 2 fingers. I wasn’t doing alternate plucking. I didn’t know my scales. I couldn’t name the notes I was playing. I’ve only finished half of the course and have improved exponentially. What I do to level up my playing is crank up the bass on my car stereo and keep an ear out for great basslines. Then I’ll look up the song and see if there are bass tabs available online. If not, I play along with YouTube video’s and jot down the tabs as I go. I’ve created my own blank tab sheets. Because I’ve become familiar with the notes on the fretboard, I will try playing the same notes in different fret positions or throw in open notes here and there. Then, practice, practice, practice to get the muscle memory.
I keep a list of songs I want to learn. What seemed impossible in the beginning is now simple to play. “Stuck in the Middle” by Stealers Wheel is a good example (for me) of overcoming a challenging song. If you choose songs that you love, grew up listening to that you sing along with, it’s easier to learn the bass part. It has been in my experience anyway. I also record myself playing so I can play it back and pinpoint my trouble spots more effectively. If you enjoy singing, it can be a struggle to do both but it’s very rewarding to be able accompany your voice with a musical instrument. That gives me the drive to keep at it. Sorry about the long reply. I hope there is something useful here for you, lol.
Hi @froghopper01, welcome to the forums! No need to apologize for the length of your post; I found it fun and inspiring to read.
I’ve been thinking about this as well… As it turns out, there are plenty of blank tab sheets that can be downloaded in various formats. All you need is a printer and you can print as many as you want!
Yep planty of blank tab pages on t’internet. Here’s a quick link to one http://resources.dsmusic.com/guitar/Blank+Bass+TAB+Paper.pdf
And here are some blank stave pages
You might consider getting this software from NCH. There’s a free trial period, and after that it’s very inexpensive for a lifetime license. It’s been awhile since a bought it so I don’t recall exactly how much, but it’s nominal.
I use it frequently for converting transcription or chord charts to scores for songs.
I don’t do it in tab, I do it in actual music notation, but for those who are still playing by tab, I think I saw where you can create tab sheets as well.
I was also challenged by Stuck in the Middle, and then a friend baited me to do it with a pitcher of beer as a reward. So I got the chord chart from Chordify and learned to play the root notes, and then created a simple bassline from there. I was amazed at myself when I finally finished it and posted this cover. It’s far from the the best, but it was only the second or third song I had learned and played all the way through.
I find that transcribing and learning songs is one of the best forms of practice, not just in terms of playing, but also in terms of ear training and sharpening your music reading skills and timing.
Well . . . did you ever get the pitcher of beer, Pam? . . . 
Cheers
Joe
Indeed I did! 
Or Musescore…
Yes Musescore is good also, I used it for awhile. I prefer using Crescendo though, because the scores I create live on my own computer rather than in the cloud.
I don’t know Crescendo really, so I can’t say what the differences are… but one difference is that MuseScore is free of charge.
MuseScore is a native app and I have all my scores on my hard disk, and nothing resides in the cloud, unless I want it to 
Hmmm I thought it was a website… maybe I’m thinking of something else.
Anyway, I’m happy with Crescendo, it has a lot of great features for writing scores.
Crescendo is free for non-commercial use
I’ve never heard of that. Mine expired after the trial so I bought it. I never saw any option for non commercial use.
Oh well I don’t mind that I paid for it. It wasn’t that much and it’s great software.
Love it! Sounds like you’ve got a good walking bass line there!
It’s funny, there are certain songs that once I get them down to where I can jam along with the original artist without missing a beat, I tell myself NOW I’m a real bass player. Until a new challenge comes along. 
I’ll have to check out some of those links. Thanks guys! What I do isn’t fancy but it works for me. It’s on a spreadsheet and easy to customize per song. I sing as well so I like to leave space for the lyrics.
Eventually I believe I’ll be reading and writing music instead of just tabs. I’m already writing in rests, bar lines and other notations. Tabs help you learn the notes quickly but not the timing. That’s why I spend so much time jamming along with the song, so I can get the timing down. Still so much to learn! Forever learning 
