I have had a bass guitar for about 6 months now and am wanting to learn the next steps on how to progress. I feel like I don’t have any set structure other or practice routine at this present moment. I also feel somewhat discouraged because I cannot yet read sheet music. I paid and went through the bass buzz beginner to badass course 2x and I feel decent about it overall. There are 50 songs in the back with tabs that I am still working on. I know that there are tons of resources and courses online such as Scotts bass lessons, which has the fretboard accelerator and players path courses, but I’m unsure how the subscription works or if it would be worth it for me right now. I have browsed some websites such as study bass, talking bass (working on some scales right now), big bass tabs, ultimate guitar, and songster. I’ve heard there are some books out there by Hal Leonard & Mel Bay which may be worth checking out, along with YouTube (what channels/ courses are good?). I have tried to browse some local Facebook groups to find a decent instructor where I am in Charlotte, NC. I understand that all of these above resources may be reputable, but I am looking for another “course” or “practice routine” that is no BS so I can continue to learn. I have a hard time focusing and I feel like I’ve been jumping from resource to resource, and I’m looking to find something to stick to. I am trying to keep the costs low for my learning, but I understand I may have to spend a little to learn more. Can you guys please help me get to the next step with my bass playing?
it is one of the more common questions around here. a lot of people would point you to talking bass if you want to continue with organized courses. mark recommends starting with his chord tones course followed by the scales one, but many have done them the other way around. both are a deeper dive than bassbuzz, excellent, and frequently go on sale. scott’s lessons are maybe less well loved around here and more expensive, but i also find them to be excellent. they have a learning pathway that is a good next step. if you have done BB you can probably jump ahead a little in the pathway.
Yeah, the general consensus seems to be to take the Talking Bass chord tone course as the “next step” to really get an understanding of how things work. Then from there the sky is the limit. There’s lots of other fantastic courses on TB as well. There’s also, of course, SBL for a range of stuff provided you like a massive amounts of email spam.
Looks like your on a good path. Keep hammering out the tunes.
If there’s a short cut or better way I don’t know it and if you find one get back to me.
I will monitor the thread for peoples opinions but there have been threads like this before and the one consistent thing that comes up is, ‘practice’.
Perhaps if you practice 2112 and YYZ it may help.
If you can play these your golden…
@michaelmorris, everything you should do hinges directly on your goal(s).
Some folks want to ultimately play in a band. Others want to jam with others. Some are perfectly content learning cover tunes and playing strictly for themselves. Others are driven to learn music theory to play better and/or to write lines or even complete tunes. Then there are players who want various combinations of the above, to whatever degree suits them.
Your question has indeed been asked countless times here and on other forums. But, as is most often the case, the real answer to “what to do next” has to come from the player him/herself.
Personally, I went from B2B to Mark Smith of Talking Bass. His courses are uniformly excellent, even if some folks might consider them “dry” compared to the juicy fun of B2B.
Regardless, Mark’s courses contain many treasure troves of valuable knowledge he has gleaned from a life as a pro player, a music school graduate, and a university music school teacher. His bona fides are impeccable.
I tried SBL but it wasn’t for me. Scott’s a good guy, I guess, but I didn’t gel with his style at all. You could have a different experience. But, yes, SBL is definitely expensive, so there’s that to consider.
So, the real question is: What do you want to do with your bass going forward?
Answer that and your path will become easier for you and everyone here to understand.
I asked the same question months ago and chose to proceed with Talkingbass. If you want to learn to read sheet music do Simple Steps to Sight Reading, it’s an excellent course with a very structured set of course materials to practice. Chord Tones is also excellent. I’m doing both in parallel, although I finished all of Volume 1 of Sight Reading before moving onto Chord Tones. At this point I’m doing a number of talkingbass courses in parallel, they’re all excellent and have a ton of prepared practice material. There’s probably a few years worth of material on that site if you were to purchase everything. There’s much less hand holding on talkingbass and you really have to discipline yourself to practice the material ‘until it’s under your fingers’ before moving onto the next lesson. That works for me which is why I’m doing so many of the courses.
The prices are on the site, as @MikeC mentions. I’ve purchased the complete sight reading course (vol 1-3), chord tones, the music theory course, technique builder and groove trainer. I plan to also do the scale mastery course after completing sight reading (which will take at least another 6 months), and the walking bass course. I’ll eventually end up with virtually all of them I’m sure.
$2700.ish total for all access to TB, not including the books.
I hope you become a great bass player…
There is so much great free content I’m going to utilize that first.
This guy is $2.99 per month and he is incredible.
Not the same type of classes but he does his talking with his hands and fingers.
It seems most people need a scheduled class room style while others are rogue scholars.
Money has different value for different people.
The free info today is more available than any time in history.
For instance I did Josh’s yt free vids in my beginning then when I did the BassBuzz course I did it in under 3 weeks because much of what’s in the course I learned from him already.
If money is plentiful and that’s the best way for you to learn then go for it…
I’ve thought of it but I’ve home studied for other things and enjoyed them with good results so, yip it works for me and doesn’t cost.
If you can hammer out some killer tunes and you attribute your improved abilities to his courses I would be more game for putting out the monies.
Have you posted any vids since doing his courses?
A person with extensive knowledge pertaining to various subject matters that extends beyond formal education. This person often [gathers] knowledge from various sources, such as media, friends, reading or the internet.
This is totally true.
If its buying a course or another bass when you get more experience you get a better idea of what you may need to progress and which bass may be a better choice.
I would suggest you try and get more clear on your goals. Also, identifying your current weaknesses and work on those.
Is there possible any places around where you can go to a private teacher? For me personally, this has been a game changer. I’ve enrolled in a music school, where I’m both getting music theory and bass lessons.
My goal was to eventually play with other people. I’ve been very happy being a bedroom player since I finished the course here and have had lots of joy doing covers. So for me the next step was classes with a teacher, since not only is the input extremely nice but also for someone to monitor your playing, has been very valuable. My technique overall was fine, but with minor tweaks and tricks, it has become more refined. My teacher comes from a totally different musical background which is also forcing me into more unknown waters.
Also now I’m playing with a band at the school, so for me, getting lessons and getting in a musical environment was what was needed for me to progress.
A red or pink cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips.
A reddish powder, chiefly ferric oxide, used to polish metals or glass.
A red amorphous powder consisting of ferric oxide. It is used in polishing glass, metal, or gems, and as a cosmetic, etc. Called also crocus, jeweler’s rouge, etc.
