Filling the post B2B VOID!?!?

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Finishing B2B, and all of Josh’s other YouTube videos, I am feeling a very large void in direction and what to do next and how to do it.

So, I signed up for the ‘big course’, SBL.
Don’t get me wrong, lots of good content there…almost too much, not as focused, and much harder to pluck out the ‘what should I be doing’.
I don’t want to bash SBL, as it is a very good site, but finding the ‘nuggets’ is more of a hunt, and man o man, its VERY wordy and they take a long time to say a simple thing.

This makes me opine for more content here!
Josh has done such an amazing job of teaching, pacing, explaining and having fun while doing it that it is really making it hard to find a path forward.

So 2 questions…

  1. Everyone…
    So, what are you all doing in a post-B2B world to continue learning (outside of live lessons).

  2. Josh…
    I know it’s been asked, so I am going to ask it differently…
    What can the Bass Buzz community do to HELP YOU develop new content, and FAST?
    An idea I am thinking about…I would invest in you in a “kickstarter” sort of model, $ up front for preferential/reduced cost etc and/or be beta tester for some courses (have done this in the sax world for some).

Let’s fill the VOID!

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Have you watched all of the vids on both of Josh’s channels? His other channel has a ton.

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I feel your pain as I went through the same when I finished B2B and my playing kinda stalled for a month or two as I didn’t have the daily challenges to keep me motivated.
This is why I was asking about structured practice routines etc so I know when I pick up my bass what I need to be doing right now.
I am still working on the structure but I want it to be a 50/50 split of hard work and play time.
I am also trying to learn as many songs as possible. We all learned bass because we wanted to play songs not exercises. I know the exercises are important but they need to be a means to an end and the end result always need to be songs in my opinion.
Why not learn to play The Chicken with me?

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had seen a few, had forgotten about it! thanks for the reminder.
the bit I don’t like about them is they are not organized into a cirriculum, which, is one of my big gripes about SBL as well

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TalkingBass is also good, better than SBL in my opinion. Mark is a good teacher.

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This is a great idea. I look forward to hearing from @JoshFossgreen on whether something like this would work for him.

You are not alone. I tried to do his free trial and felt the same way.

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Getting close to finishing and have also been going through the very good (and free!)
studybass. com.

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Really good question, because I got antsy too after finishing B2B, and I really wanted to continue the joy and the momentum of that. I still do, and my mind races about “what to do next” in the world of bass, because it’s so enjoyable. Here’s some stuff that I ended up doing after finishing B2B last August:

  1. Take B2B again. Surprising how much there is in there that you pick up the second time through.
  2. Do the monthly challenges, we used to have a monthly Create a Bassline thread, off of jam tracks @Gio created, feel free to revive it. Or @studio just made a monthly challenge, this stuff is super helpful, and you get feedback too if you want it.
  3. Do covers. Post them if you want. Or just by yourself, for fun. Plenty of YT videos with tabs to your favorite songs.
  4. Play with others if you can. I know this one’s hard right now, but, when the virus stuff dies down one day, this is super helpful. There are threads on these forums about this, and how to find others at your level. There are a lot of adventures to be had here, there’s something about doing this that creates synergy, and fun tangents.
  5. If you feel inclined, learn about how to do setups on your bass, or mods, or maybe a project bass. Good stuff.
  6. Read books on music theory, or maybe bios of musicians or bands, or other related topics of interest.
  7. You could get into gear, like pedals, or recording gear, or software, or just the markets and dynamics of buying/selling stuff. Then you get to try neat stuff out too in the process :slight_smile:
  8. There’s probably other stuff I’m not thinking of! Sometimes just listening to music with my new set of bass-tuned ears, lol, that’s cool enough. You could even do B2B a third time, it’s so useful, I’m doing Mods 9-16 again, just started the other day!
  9. Oh yeah, last but not least, just practicing. I’m lazy about that a lot of times, and, sometimes rote practice just feels lame, but, when I’m done, never regret it!
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Thanks for the tip.

I also found Lowenduniversity.com
For $19.99 a month, all access. I did his first course, there are about 12, covering everything from slap, sight reading, music theory, technique, etc…
I find his teaching style the most palatable next to Josh, and I have done Talking Bass and SBL and many others. I like Scott at SBL very much, but until I am a seasoned pro, I find it hard to learn much from him.

Low End University has a YouTube channel so you can get an idea. What I really like is the finger excercises I got from the technique course. I may not stay signed up past the month, or I may go back and forth, paying when I have time and want to do another course, but I can say for absolute sure, I got my $20 worth 1/3 the way thru the technique module, and the value jumped rapidly as I went thru the course. I think there are 4-5 more lessons left in it, and I am still working on the excercises in the last lesson I did. Gotta get it before I go on.

See if it’s for you. I like it

Gonna check out the free one next as well, thanks for the tip.

I like @Vik posted ideas as well.

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Don’t forget @JoshFossgreen’s other YouTube channel :slight_smile:

Lots of more advanced stuff there.

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Yeah, I figured that was a given. But good to post towards thee d to keep it fresh.

@JoshFossgreen personal YT channel is AWESOME. it is BassBuzz “the early years”. Plus continued side project parallel to BassBuzz.
I am a Patreon member.

If you don’t know what that is, it let’s you sort of SPONSOR his efforts. You pledge a whole dollar amount to every video he puts out (on this channel, not BassBuzz). He averages 2 vids a month, so if you pledge $1. You pay $2 for the month. You can set limits, for wxMple, I pledge $5 per video, but I have a max limit of 3 videos per month, so if he puts out 8, I still only pay $15.

There are 2 levels of sponsorship, each with their own bonus packages.
iIRC, level 1 is $1 per video, and you get access to other vids that don’t go public, or access long before they go public.

There is other stuff two.

Level 2 is $3 and up, per video. You get everything level 1 gets, but you get further bonuses.
He did a tapping excercises video. Level one gets another video with more tutorial I think (have not watched yet). Level 2 gets another video with more tutorial, plus a pdf with material to help with the excercises.

I am going from memmory here, The info may not be 100% accurate, but you get the idea.

Go to www.patreon.com

Or download the Patreon APP.

There are links to it on his YT channel as well.

Go and join, pledge a little, it helps get more vids, more instruction, more bonus pdf’s. Maybe it will help to get B2B2 out sooner???

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Also, Josh has 2 E-books on scales and mastering the fretboard… they are very very good, and they are taught in the same old loveable Josh Fossbreen fashion.

They are very inexpensive, and invaluable at the same time. It’s like §12 for the first one, and $5 for the 2nd one, or. Orb for $15 (IIRC).

PLUS

If you sign up for Patreon, you get a discount code to get those books at a discount. 20% I believe…

Anyway, that’s my lil promo for @JoshFossgreen.
FWIW, No commissions are given to me, this is my personal review, and I think anybody looking for more B2B, after B2B, this is where you start.

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@T_dub I also went Patreon well worth it, all the extra’s bring it below magazine price and we know @JoshFossgreen I was going to wait until after I grad B2B, glad I did not wait. It’s extra motivation knowing that I’m going to reach the level of some of the cool Stuff. :slight_smile:
I also think the more Patreon’s means that Josh can make more videos as they cost a bit two make, perhaps if Josh picks this up he can explain more. I’m sure @PamPurrs will have been her usual and looked into all the workings.
Another bonus is these G&G’s are all pro musicians and it’s work.

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I have taken loads of courses from Mark Smith over at TalkingBass.net (no worries, he and Josh are friends). Even while I was taking the B2B course, I was simultaneously taking his Scale Essentials Course and nailing all the different scales. Since graduating from B2B, I have taken the Chord Tone Essentials Course, Walking Bass Course, and am currently taking the Sight Reading Course.

I don’t mean to sound like I’m promoting Mark Smith or TalkingBass, I’m just answering the question. As soon as Josh offers another course (s), I will jump on it (them). Josh and Mark are my favorite instructors, albeit with vastly different styles. There was even some talk on the TalkingBass Study group on Facebook about Mark doing an interview with Josh. I don’t know if anything ever came of that. Mark does speak highly of Josh.

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I started the scales essentials, the free 5 lessons. It was great stuff. I opted into get Joshes E -books and invest in lessons with Josh instead of pay for the rest of the scales course because it is like $89.
I will say I liked Mark a lot. I got a lot out of the lessons, and if I feel. The need, it is still an option.

I also have all access at Low End U, an it is well worth the $20 per mont, but I won’t stay enrolled once I get thru the courses, maybe another 2 months. For $60 total, it is well worth it many times over.
If I find I still need work on the scales, The next step is to pay for and finish Marks course, that is a given for me.

Look at Low End If you have no. Good stuff there too.

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Thanks for all the great suggestions!

I did give the free side of eBassguitars a try, and although I did pick up a few good exercises, I’m not digging his teaching style. At first I liked all the free “riff” videos but I think I’m not as interested in learning a tiny bit of something. He also talks way too much. My biggest gripe with SBL.

I have been forcing myself to use SBL since I ponied up the annual fee, and there are certainly lots of good things in there, it’s just way too much talking making each lesson way way too long. The other thing that drives me nuts is every single thing they talk about is “soooo important, must know, critical”.

Presentation to me is king, which is why Josh has no equal. His style of teaching really is unmatched.

Will give some of the other suggestions a try!

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Check out Low End University on YT. He is not Josh, but he is good. Lots of quick lessons, with pdf tabs and sheet. Way worth the $20, even if for only a month. I was looking for finger excercises for strength first, and then dexterity, and technique, and I got it in abundance there, and he moves quick, but you can take the time you need between lessons.
Again, he is NOT Josh. But as long as you go in, not expecting to find Josh, you may be quite surprised. If I d he talks WAY LESS then Scott, or Mark even, who can get a little talkative IMO.

If you do, I am very interested to hear your opinion.
I say search YT first because the website really doesn’t give you much until you join (pay)

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The lessons are in tab?

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Sorry, they are sheet and ran. He has a sight reading course.

Let me screen shot what he offers n the member page.

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That’s okay, I’ve already paid the $130 for the Sight Reading course on TalkingBass and I’m quite satisfied. I’ve also purchased a number of other courses that I haven’t started yet. I seriously don’t think anyone could compare to @JoshFossgreen or Mark Smith in terms of excellence in teaching bass.

The only reason I asked about the tab is because there are so many bass and guitar teachers out there who only teach tab. They expect you to go for the rest of your life on training wheels and never learn how to read music.

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