Hiring a Bass Coach

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That is a huge step, just setting a time and a date, prepping a little, then just diving in! Stoked for you, this is where it all begins :slight_smile:

Here is my Craigslist ad, btw, just took out personal info, feel free to use as a template, and modify! :

Newer Bass Player Looking for Drummer/Guitarist/Vocals for Jams, Band (My area, My City)

Hi All!,

I’ve been into music my whole life, but took up playing bass about 6 months ago. I’m pretty dedicated, and have the time, so been taking lots of lessons, and practice, practice!

Looking for drummers, guitarists, and/or vocalists at ANY level to hang with. Let’s get better together! I am fine with jam sessions, collaborating, learning songs, playing covers, creating music, whatever the vibe.

I’m 42, but tend to get along well with anyone from their 20s to their 60s. I’m into music of many different genres, and pretty open-minded, so, hit me up, let’s see if this can work. I live in (my neighborhood), it’s a nice area for live music, but want to be part of the mix now, not just a spectator.

Someone told me this is like dating, so, you just have to see who’s out there and try! Willing to invest real time into this if I can find a band to be a part of, we’ve got chemistry, and the willingness to take it further than just playing for fun. But cool to just play for kicks and for knowledge as well.

Tell me about you! What are you into/ what do you want to do with music? What types of musicians are you looking for?

Thanks for reading, best wishes, text or call me, Vik, at (my #), or by email.

(I then posted that pic of myself, same one I use here for my profile pic. Just that one, it’s all I have. Funny thing is, I took that selfie the very first week I got my first bass, Lipstick, that red Schecter. I had no idea what I was doing, and I took the pic just so I’d have something to put on my Bassbuzz profile :rofl: But it’s come in handy!)

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This is SO damn cool @PamPurrs!! So happy, so PROUD of you!!

Lanny

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@PamPurrs That’s great! I think we are all looking forward to hearing how it goes.

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That is a great way to get started! Good luck, @PamPurrs!

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Hey Pam we’re did you find the scales course chord tone course and sight reading course?
Thanks
Dre”

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Takingbass.net

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Here we are, jammin together. It was very beneficial. We plan to do it again.

MVIMG_20191213_125356
MVIMG_20191213_125356.jpg2308×1731 1.14 MB

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Hell yeah! Way to go Pam!
Can you tell us more?
How did your music theory knowledge play into the experience?
What did y’all work on?
I’m sure it’ll take some time for it all to settle in but I look forward to hearing what you thought of the whole experience. Making music with someone is one hell of an experience.

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We spent the first quarter hour with me just demonstrating where I am with my bass playing skill. Then we spend a half hour or so talking about chords and chord construction. Then we spent about an hour just noodling around. He would strum a chord for 10 or 12 bars, and I would play a triad or 7 chord arpeggio to go with it, then he would tell me that he was changing to a different chord, I would change my arpeggio to go with it. We didn’t really play any songs, it was just a matter of me getting used to playing with a live person instead of a backing track. I really had fun. The fact that he’s a friend made it easier because I know he would be patient with me when I made mistakes (and I made a lot of them).

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Oh man, that brings back memories. My brother plays drums and a long time ago we would take turns playing the same thing over on over again to give each other a chance to experiment and see what came out of it. It sounds like you had a pretty great first experience. :+1:

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Remember, Bass players don’t make mistakes - guitar players do!!:smirk::smirk:. This was the same excuse I always used when I was a guitar player…:joy::joy:

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Awesome!!!

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Nice pict!!! Looks like you BOTH were having fun! And that is the name of the game!

Im fortunate that I have a good friend that is both a talented bass player and guitar player. Makes me totally comfortable to play with him, and he gives me great tips. Even with me being a beginner. We have jammed twice together now and I just FEEL my confidence grow each time we get together. He even commented on our last session that if I keep going…I should consider going on stage in about a year if I continue learning as quickly as I am (which I am mortified to do). I think he is thinking of starting a band (he was in one for years and has commented how much he misses it)… trying to sucker me in…lol

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It’s been 6 months since I posed this question, and since then much has changed in my bass playing life. I’ve graduated from B2B, and have been given the title of Bad Ass Bass Gal by @JoshFossgreen. I’ve finished quite a few other courses on other venues, and am in the midst of even more. However, after a year on this journey, I still don’t feel that I’ve reached my goal of total bass badassery. All the online lessons and all the hours of practice have been great, but I still feel that I need a coach; a real life one.
I’ve considered one-on-one live online lessons such as the ones that @T_dub is taking with Josh, but somehow that doesn’t feel like it will fit the bill. I need to be side by side with a human coach/teacher in the same room.
Today, I hired what I feel confident to be that very person. He plays guitar, banjo, and bass in a few local bands, and teaches the same. He was recommended and spoke of very highly by a friend of mine, who plays in one of my favorite local bands, and works in the same music store as him.
I signed up initially for 6 x 1/2 hour sessions, starting next Wednesday 6/24/20. I’ll see how it goes, and decide if I wish to continue beyond those first 6 sessions. I hope this pushes me into the stratosphere of Badassery!

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Good luck, @PamPurrs . . . :slight_smile: Let us know how it goes!

All best, Joe

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@PamPurrs that is awesome. I think it will be huge for you. At least if this teacher is 1/2 as good as you are expecting.
I know the feeling of “what’s next?” “ I did that and it didn’t help ag much as I thought it would”, and “do I now do A? B?? C?? D??… vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvZ?? Next, or a combo of some of them, but which combo?”

It’s exactly what I wanted help with sorting out, and it’s exactly what I got, couldn’t be happier unless I was instantly transferred into Les Claypool or Sting, or …
I picked @JoshFossgreen, I knew what I was getting, didn’t want GC online lessons, and don’t have other tips on good ones, and even if I did, I probably would have ended up with Josh anyway, who knows.

Online doesn’t bother me like it does others, and honestly, other then the fact he can’t actually touch my fingers or bass, it’s like he is in the room with me, but that’s just for others who are considering online lessons, it is becoming a thing, from Covid, but for ease and convenience. No hauling equipment, fighting traffic after work, being far away from lessons, time constraints. Etc…
I was a bit skeptical, but tried it, and am a believer.

But it’s so awesome you found something you can work with. I hope you have found your answer for now.

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If I was going to do online lessons, I would choose @JoshFossgreen. If I could afford it, I’d go see him in person on a weekly basis…

Online lessons just seems to be too much contortion… setting up your laptop camera just right, dialing into a phone number, etc. Do I have to be a certain distance away from my laptop so he can see all of me? Is that distance so far that now I can’t see him on the screen? It would be nice if it was setup for Chromecast so I could cast it onto my big TV so I can see him better.
Maybe I’m over complicating it.

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@PamPurrs I don’t know the inputs/outputs of your laptop and tv but most recent devices have the support for HDMI. Some netbook type laptops might need a simple converter though…

When I manage to send my family away and to have “private time” with B2B videos. I put my laptop on the coffee table, connected with a 2-3m (10 feet???) HDMI cable to the TV.

This way it feels like Josh is sitting in the room with me!

Sometimes I just record myself with the camera of laptop to catch little details of “where did I go wrong” hoping to send it to friends when I nail a couple of recognizable songs…

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@Fahri I have a Chromecast device plugged into one of the HDMI ports on my TV. I cast all of my B2B lessons (when I was taking them) and now the courses I’m taking on TalkingBass. It’s definitely nice to see Josh or Mark (Smith) on my 55" TV screen rather than on my 17" laptop screen. Not to mention listening to them on the sound bar I have connected to the TV instead of on the tiny laptop speaker.
I also have an HDMI port on my laptop so I COULD direct connect, but I don’t bother with that since casting is so much neater and simpler.
I don’t know if that Zoom app has Chromecast capabilities. Maybe @T_dub or @JoshFossgreen can answer that.

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I think I go against the grain with things like this. If anything makes me anxious or nervous, then I actively seek it out and face up to it, regardless of how anxious or nervous I am. I look at it as that it will always be a nervous thing to do and it’s more a case of me accepting that, rather than wanting to “get over it”. You never get over it, you learn to accept it instead.

Which is all very well for me to say - as my 19 year old self would likely tell me to sod off with advice like that, because I’d just been told that we had a gig in 2 days. This would be my first gig. Was absolutely petrified :slight_smile: And totally ruined the second song, live, in front of loads of people!

What happened?

Nothing really, just go it out of the way and played the next song. But in my mind, I was ARGH, Noooooo. But it doesn’t really matter really in the grand scheme of things.

I’m rambling again, but when I joined this new group of friends that we share the studio space with, I was asked if I wanted to play bass with them, and there’s that little feeling in my stomach again, creeping up, making me nervous. But I just threw myself at it and just went mad and it was great.

It should always feel nervous, and you just need to keep doing it to make it acceptable.

2 cents worth! :slight_smile:

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