I would like to learn some more drills that I could use for my daily or at least frequent practice. Can you suggest some exercises beyond the 5 finger exercise video you did?
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I never seem to have enough time to do the lessons or even practice due to real life commitments. What’s the best way to get into more of a routine? It seems like the only time I have to do anything is late at night when I’m tired from working all day. Also, what do you think of people who build their own basses?
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This is something that I’ve been pondering for years, in fact it has been the cause of many a sleepless night for me and I have a strong suspicion that I’m not the only member of BB that would like to hear your take on this matter. How many chickens would it take to kill an elephant?
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So you start a website that teaches noobs to play bass……has it all gone as you expected? Business wise? Acceptance wise? Any missed goals you had?
How does it feel to have the best Damn forum on any topic on the interweb?
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Both!
Cliff all the way, just for me personally! Grew up on lots of Metallica but not so much Motorhead.
This is my Mon-Fri at home (all self inflicted scheduling) -
9AM-12PM: Make the best damn bass lessons I can 
12-1: Some calisthenics and lunch
1-3: Even more bassbuzzing, + supporting students
3PM-beyond: some private students 2 days a week, and rehearsals/gigs when I’m lucky!
As much as I can! I miss most of those videos because my time is limited, but I love hearing you guys play and improve over time! Makes my heart sing. 
Yes! I think most online learning platforms had a big surge when lockdowns first started. It’s since calmed down, but I think the Introduce Yourself! thread is a testament to how many people started playing bass because they were stuck at home!
We have very minimal interactions - I’m not in the world famous musician tier of sponsorship, so beyond our initial connection and occasional gear discounts, not a lot goes on.
It’s hard to say exactly, since I’m usually working on a given video concurrently with other videos and projects… but it’s a lot of time. Double digits of hours planning, a whole day filming, and then double digits hours editing. I go all out!
My dad does instrument and amplifier repair, but not technically a luthier. He’s also a bass player! And my mom plays sax, and teaches piano and sax lessons. And lots of musicians in the extended family too, apparently there are like 11 bass players on my mom’s side over the last few generations!
Not at all! Seems like a great time to start an instrument, especially folks who are like “hmm… retirement… what do I do now?”
Really depends, I’ve taught the whole spectrum and know teachers who tend to specialize in various demographics. I love kids, but at this point I just love teaching adults. They pay for their own lessons, so they actually practice. 
As much as I can! Otherwise my dad usually saves the day. 
That doesn’t sound familiar! I’m glad so many folks are recording themselves though.
Top of my head, most surprising thing - the Gear section of the forum is by far the busiest. Didn’t know y’all would be such GAS-heads. 
I feel so bad every time someone asks me this! It’s absolutely still on my wish list to do. 2022 would be amazing, but I don’t want to make any promises (so I don’t break them). I will only promise that cool things are coming… eventually!
Honestly, amps are the gear thing I’m the least picky about, and the least knowledgeable. I’m still working on finding the perfect amp, if such a thing exists. Over the years, I’ve mostly just used whatever I happened to have.
I think my favorite sounding amps are old Acoustic 360s. Jaco had that right!
Walking bass. Everybody teaches it with the same progression (roots → roots+5ths → triads → onwards), but I don’t see it getting students good enough results. Still working on hacking that system…
We have some very basic info on how many people finish the course versus starting, but that’s about it. What would really be telling is to see how many people threw their bass out the window after Billie Jean and had to pay for repairs.
Well, some days I still feel like I’m working on it! I don’t think there was a specific point, besides maybe when I first started playing in bands (which was a year or two in).
Yes! Still love that bass for some things.
Not younger specifically, but definitely some less well-known / established in history players. I love love love Paul Bender’s playing with Hiatus Kaiyote. And on the upright side, Jorge Roeder’s stuff with the Julian Lage trio is awesome, great tone, great accompaniment and good melodic soloing.
Could be fine, especially if you’re actually a little further back in the wrist/forearm area. Right on the palm side of the wrist seems a little restrictive.
Get ready to spend a lot of time muting the B string. 
And just don’t get discouraged at the learning curve - your string crossing game is gonna get thrown off, plus you’ll keep playing the B string thinking it’s the E string until you adjust. Don’t take it on a gig until you’re comfortable!
Yeah, basically. My angle was a mix of that, and also finding songs that (for the most part) didn’t include overly advanced rhythms, techniques, speed, etc., but were still fun and satisfying to learn.
Well different people definitely have different issues, but if I were to make a sweeping generalization: the more urgent area to improve as a bass player is always gonna be timing. So listening back to recordings of ourselves and really auditing each note - was it synced with the drums, or did it drift? I talked about that in my new video yesterday, which was partly inspired by watching people’s cover videos - Why Your Bass Playing Sounds “Meh” (5 Beginner Fixes)
Oh man, so many. I mean I wouldn’t want to take the gig from the existing excellent players, but if I could magically sit in - Jamiroquai would be high on the list, that kind of music/playing is so fun and they’re awesome. Hiatus Kaiyote would be up there to, playing Swamp Thing with Perrin Moss would make my whole life.
Also I would love to play a gig with Maiden, to see if I can keep up with Steve Harris in his 60’s. It’d take some training!
Ha! I think one is probably enough. For now!
Yes! I feel more comfortable with it, and have more appreciation of the tones it makes available. I still stand by my decision to make it a 99.9% finger plucking course, but it’d be fun to cover pick playing more in the future.
- Fender: cuz classic sounds. Not actually my favorite feel to play, and not always happy with build quality, but a good Fender is just… the sound.
- Peavey: only because of my Cirrus that I love.
- Tie between Ibanez and Yamaha - not axes that I really play personally, but I think they make really nice stuff in the $300-500 range with the SR and TRBXs.
Trying to learn from Youtube alone without taking Beginner to Badass. 
More seriously - practicing things without a good reason or focus, like running scales over and over without applications, or practicing finger exercises without auditing for good form.
Fretting hand! I cover some basics here but it takes a lot of work. Same with slapping.
I’ve been warned!
So many to choose from. Any of the times I underprepared as a youngster and got totally lost in a song… or maybe the gig where I showed up at 7:50 for an 8PM downbeat, and was surprised when the bandleader was stressed! (it was a long time ago, I swear)
Playing a really big theater gig in Colorado opening for Ben Folds Five. The crowd was huge and awesome and I still remember the feeling of playing for them, it was thrilling.
Just a few, not counting my stunt double, the gaffer, and the animal wrangler. 
I would love to do some lessons live with a drummer!
I would be proud!
I love bananas! 
Serious answer - I was a raw foodie from 2009-2012, ate mostly fruit in that time, and got the banana to commemorate it!
Session - however many basses I think might be useful to get a range of tones, my Noble DI just in case, plenty of cables, a really good tuner, my sketched out charts of the tunes, snacks, and a lot of water! Maybe some extra deodorant.
Live gig - bass/amp/pedals/etc., plus extra cables, tools, batteries, etc.
You can apply those same principles to any finger exercises, here are some more brutal ones from my personal channel - Playlist
Read Atomic Habits by James Clear (or a habits book of your choice), and try applying some strategies to make practice happen more naturally. My favorite moves are a consistent routine (so I don’t waste mental energy deciding what to do that day), and “habit stacking,” putting your desired habit (practice) immediately before/after something you already do habitually. (i.e. “I’ll practice X minutes after I drink my coffee every morning,” or “I’ll do one B2B lesson when I get home from work”)
Super cool! Way out of my skillset!
Taking over the world, Pinky!
The real question is, how much propaganda would it take to convince the chickens to kill the elephant even though it meant them no harm?
Putting out BassBuzz t-shirts. 
Really good! Y’all rock.
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We love you dude!!! 
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Tone being subjective is there any one person that you can point to and say, “this is what I’m after”? Across all genres this person has that sound that calls to you as a player.
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How tall are you?
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With the comment you made about collaborating with a drummer, I say YES PLEASE
If this ever materializes, please run a full time camera on the kick drum. As a beginner, playing a simple riff with a drummer would be a dream come true.
Cheers
P.S. I appreciated all the questions and found your answers highly entertaining
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I’m 56 with all the same attributes so there could be a few of us unleashed all at once!!!
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Yes! Merch is a missed opportunity! Bassbuzz t-shirts, please! Put some food on the table and give the rest of us a reason to feel cool at the jam!
Seriously, dude, do a TeePublic store and you’ll have a hundred people lined up to send you $20
Dan & Mick at That Pedal Show fund a good portion of their costs via t-shirt sales
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Shut up and take my money 
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Musically speaking, what was your biggest challenge to overcome?
Still musically speaking, what’s the first item on your bucket list?
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How many different basses have you played/owned and have you ever played a Steinberger? I love mine but the 1st fret reach is so much longer than the P-Bass or J-Bass.
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Who was your B2B teacher (before B2B)? Do you still talk with him/her?
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Have you started working on getting another band together since live music has started to come back?
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You’ve talked about doing studio work.
Do you have copies of all the recordings you’ve worked on?
Is there anything you can share you are particularly proud of?
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Do you have any piece of equipment you’ve always wanted to use but haven’t?
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