Mistakes When First Learning Bass?

I probably should have spent more time playing and less time on the forums and YT :smiley: and I wish I discovered much sooner how much I love playing bass instead of guitar.

The one thing I might have done differently is work more on learning the fretboard playing triads in the cycle of 4ths all over the neck first instead of wasting time playing scales/modes which really hasn’t been nearly as useful. I enjoy playing songs so I focus mostly on playing since that’s the main goal :slight_smile:

Another thing I’d do more of which I still don’t do enough of is put on a backing track or chord progression and solo over it. If you want to be good at improvising it’s like speaking. language, you have to do it a lot… there’s just no way around that :slight_smile: I find that in general, a lot of courses teach the parts: scales, intervals, chords, modes, etc. but where they fall down is putting it all together and teaching people how to effectively use those parts practically.

In the past I HATED theory, bass has given me much more of a reason to learn and enjoy theory and I think the best way to learn theory is to use it for composing/improvising.

I’ve been pretty efficient with the stuff I’ve done though… I did Fender play (which I already had) for a couple of weeks after buying my first bass and then I did the B2B course in about a month so about 2 months after buying my bass I had a pretty solid foundation! I had played guitar for a few years before that and I played music for about 10 years in my youth so I wasn’t a total noob.

I really think that the B2B course is the best out there for beginners or people who have played bass but lack a good technical foundation. I like that it give people a good foundation, gets you playing fast and keeps you interested. It teaches enough basic theory so you can understand music structure but doesn’t waste time with stuff that’s really unnecessary at the beginner stage. The only thing it doesn’t teach that I think is a very useful skill is raking.

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I just moved and all my basses need a truss rod adjustment… so I’ve decided I don’t mind a little fret buzz :joy:

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I often wonder if I’d still have 5 basses if I’d bought the pbass first instead of 5th :joy: (probably)

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Very probably.

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Could anyone in bass land tell me what the best drum machine for the money? Thanks!

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A: Depends

What do you want to do with it? What features do you want?
There are great apps, great programming sequencers,
Great pedal (beat buddy). All depends.

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Plus great drum machines (i.e. the musical instruments).

Like John says, it all depends on your intended use.

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Place I would start is a phone app like Loopz and an aux cable to plug your phone into your amp. Will give you a lot to play with as you figure out what you want for the cost of a cable

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Actually I just want it for practice don’t have to have a lot of distortion or anything more or less just common use .

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There is a aux port on your amp, you can get a cable to connect your phone, and run the drums or a song through the amp with the bass. Easy way to practice with minimum investment. Many drum apps for the phone

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My last comment I mention Distortion, I meant a lot of effects. Just for practice. Thanks !

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Thank you, that’s what I’m looking for, major help

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If you have, or are considering, a B1four pedal, it has some drum rhythms as well…

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The Zoom B1Four is a great value. Lots to like.

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Yeah, if you just want it for practice or playing along with your bass, I’d recommend something like the B1four or a BeatBuddy.

If you want it for making music, I’d recommend a drum VSTi plugin.

If you want it for performing live, I’d recommend either the VSTi approach or a drum machine, either a sequencing rompler or a drum synthesizer.

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I totally agree with you on micro shifting. Working on a song for past month with great many fill in’s, besides being an old man now don’t help either.

What’s the easiest way to do this on pc? I have a free drum machine app for my phone but it’s way easier for me to just use my computer for practice.

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There are lots of ways to do this but I don’t know your particular setup. I assume that you plug your bass into some kind of interface and then into your PC?

Does that interface have an aux in port for you to plug in your phone and control the app from there?

I use a Mac and haven’t used a PC in 20 years but I imagine you could use some free software on your PC for drums. You could certainly Use a DAW on your PC and quickly create a drum track.

Again If you post your current setup then maybe other PC users on here could chime in with suggestions for you.

@John_E @JerryP @Al1885 ??

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By no means the expert here, but I’ve been using the drum tracks that come with my Zoom pedal. I typically play with headphones plugged into the pedal. I can’t stress enough that I’m a noob and stumbling through this stuff myself, so I would not take this as any kind of sage advice.

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Well I use GP8, Guitar Pro 8 there’s a song book you can get songs for free or buy for a small price. The one with full sheets comes with every piece of instruments notations and tabs. You can practice your music along with it. You can choose the fingerboard view as well in addition to the sheet. You can speed up and slow down your music. I’m not sure how much is the GP8 now, maybe $70 it’s worth it. I have the GP7 so I paid a little more for 8 but got to keep both.

If you are using computer this is the way to go. I don’t practice in front of the computer most of the time, only when recording. I don’t practice bass with just drum track unless it’s a specific groove exercises. I take my cue from many instruments so I always practice my song with music accompaniment.

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