Hi, Im a newby, made it to Module 5 but can’t play Billie Jean. I am wondering for those of you further up the learning curve how long it took you to feel like, I can do this?
I apologise in advance if this has been covered already. Of so please point me to the thread.
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My advice is to move on, and a few modules down you can comeback and try BJ again and knock it out easily. Don’t be discouraged. That’s how it went for me.
As far as feeling competent, well Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, all around guitar wizard, still doesn’t feel competent.
Pay no attention to the voice inside saying you’re not good enough. Go out there and rock it.
Slow down BJ btw, and practice it daily. It is a good practice riff.
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I’ve been a bass owner and noodler since the early 90’s. I started taking it seriously when I joined up here four years ago (ye gads, has it been four years?). I don’t even remotely feel competent.
Some of my friends are poking me to join a band. Or at least a group of people to jam with. I know that’s my “next step”. But the very idea of it scares the shit out of me. I’m so worried I’ll get laughed out of there.
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I wanted to share the solidarity of so many other people (since 2020!!) who have hit Billie Jean and been demoralized.
Fear not!
It’s a wicked hard line, and you can move on before that all comes together at tempo.
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If you go in there being open about being nervous, I would just about bet my BB734 that nobody’s going to laugh at you, and also that you’re better than you give yourself credit for. I know that I tend to be my harshest critic.
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I originally posted the question having watched Josh Kaufman’s Ted talk again, about it taking 20 hours to get good at anything. I’m about 10 - 12 hours of learning base and definitely don’t feel good yet. I’m wondering if any BasBuzzers agree with Josh Kaufman?
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At bass? Like, all of it? No, I don’t agree with that. Learning an instrument feels much more like a marathon than a sprint and 20 hours is just scratching the surface imo. Maybe 20 hours to start to get a good, even chugging tone with your fingers. Or to start o get an even tone alternate picking if you’re a pick player. I think of it as a years long process to get good.That should be part of the appeal though. It’s something to relax in to and work on little things that lead to making the whole better.
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By the end of the course you guys will all be solid on fundamentals and be in a spot where you can definitely look for a band. You won’t be Geddy Lee, you’ll be essentially a skilled beginner just a bit of self-practice time away from being a solid intermediate level bass player, but you will definitely have all the core competencies you need to jam and start gigging with a band, given some judicious selection of songs.
After that, it’s just playing the bass for experience.
The course puts you in a great spot skills wise by the time you’re done.
What you are all feeling is natural for the point around where Billie Jean lands. Don’t sweat it, you’ll be fine.
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20 hours? IMHO…no way. That is maybe 2 or 3 weeks of playing a new instrument. Maybe after a year of playing every day I felt like I may be an advanced beginner?
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Maybe to get competent at making a decent sandwich. Bass is a bit longer 
No he’s way off. Most skilled tasks take a long time to become proficient.
I mean 20 hours to be a drummer? Yeah 
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Dude, a jam is a jam. There is no audience. There is no pressure. There is no judgment. Even when playing with non-friends, players go into a jam to have fun messing around with tunes. Perfection is not required or expected.
In short, no one cares what you sound like. You can play nothing but roots, which ALWAYS work. You can spice that up by rocking a fifth every now and then, which also works like a charm. You can even get fancy with the occasional octave.
Bottom line: a jam is not a jury and you’re not on trial for murdering a song. Also, a band audition it is not. A jam with friends is the most fun you can have with your clothes on (or clothes optional, depending on your friends).
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I have been learning and playing for a little bit, I am hoping one day to be good enough to earn a “World’s Okayest Bass Player” t-shirt
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I’m going to echo many of the sentiments expressed above. Namely, move on from BJ, and the course will get you to a point that you can join a band and gig.
I started B2B almost exactly two years ago (end of Aug ‘23) with no prior experience. At 6 months I wanted to play with others and formed a band.
Tonight, I played an open mic, with 2 bands, mine and a colleague’s. I was up on stage for 40 mins and it was a BLAST! At one point I was being intently watched by a man who had been on stage before us, who was an excellent bass player. At the time he was watching me, we’d come out of Molly’s Chambers and I was providing the groove to Venus, before going into Seven Nation Army. I’ll be honest, I felt slightly intimidated by his attention…
After we’d finished, I sort him out in the crowd to ask him what he thought. He told me I was solid. I told him that he was too. We then talked vintage Fenders, a charity festival both our bands are playing in a month’s time and parted as bass buddies.
Do I feel competent? When I’ve practiced the songs, and the band has practiced, and we are playing as tightly as we can…yes. But have I got a lot to learn? Hell yes!!! Am I motivated? Hell, yes, yes, yes!!
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Yeah, I know this. I know this. I KNOW THIS.
(Emphasis not directed at you, it’s directed at my stupid brain.)
My ex-GF (yes, the one I used to call my CFO, we’re still close) keeps sending me drummers and guitarists looking for bassists to jam with from a local city-based FB group and… I just freeze up. I can’t do it. I’m sure it stems from the executive dysfunction I’m fighting on a day-to-day basis.
I’ve become a bit of a mess. But hey, at least I’m not buying back basses I’ve sold over and over again any longer.
Thanks for the, I dunno, “lifting up”, for lack of a better term, though. I appreciate it. 
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I’ve been playing 4 years with a band and still can’t play that dang song! 
BJ is a tough song and it seems to cause a lot of folks coming thru the course the same problems. You’ll be doing good by the end of the course, don’t give up. Just skip over the tough parts for now, you’ll have lifetime access to the course and can always go backand tackle it another time,
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BJ got all of us. There’s literally a thread just about that song 
So don’t use that as the gauge of how well you’re doing. Unless you’re some kind of bass prodigy, 20 hours isn’t going to get you very far. Keep at it, you’ll get there 
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That’s a big NO NO! It would take a long time, Oh wait! Billie Jean is kicking everyone’s butt.
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Tonight the band suggested Billie Jean to add to the set list. I don’t want to work that hard 
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I finished the course in around 5-6 weeks. I intend to go back through it
I didnt come out of the othrr side a baddass. But it gave me the confidence and starting blocks to play with others.
And thats the fun part.
Im so new at this, i went on holiday for 3 weeks and forgot a lot by the time i got back.
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Another thing to pass along to you guys - I have been playing bass for going on seven years and there’s still stuff in the course I can’t reliably do without working back up to it. Not much, but one or two lessons in there are tough for some of us. Don’t get stuck, move on.
(my kryptonite is disco octaves, simply dislike doing repetitive octaves and so never work on that muscle memory - and it’s one that needs work for me to do consistently.)
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