As promised @eric.kiser here’s my list of beginner friendly tracks in a mix of styles that you could turn into a thread. I think the play along to the scrolling tab/notation thing for free on YouTube is a great way to get started and have fun.
Also I like to use Chordify when I’m working on songs. If you pay for the subscription you can loop sections you want to work on, slow down the track, transpose the key etc
You can also use Endless video (free) to loop sections of the song you’re working on. Just drag the sliders below the video to where you want it (edit timing).
Barney this is exactly why I keep an eye on this forum! After taking a pretty long hiatus I am just now getting back into playing and this is just the ticket to get my groove goin!
These are great observations @bfrederi1 - and you are spot on about all of them.
The issue I see in every forum is that old info rarely gets read, and, to be fair, an active convo about troubleshooting something etc is much more enjoyable and rewarding than reading old info. I am the first to want to point to previous info for sure.
The one takeaway you just gave me is to try to answer questions instead of directing to forum threads for the answers, we can do both, but the interaction is what helped a lot of us and we should try hard to keep that up share no matter how many times you type the same thing.
Wow. This thread blossomed into much more than I had intended. In the best possible way. My thanks for everybody’s participation.
Dang! Thanks @Barney! That would make for an excellent start to the thread.
Yes! I think it’s pretty awesome that so many people on here are so dedicated to the idea of helping the new folks to have a good experience here. It truly is what makes this place special.
I agree about the idea of creating discussions instead of providing pointers. To those who have talked about how this changes the dynamic, I think you are spot on with this. It invites participation and that seems to be the key to providing the experience we’ve been talking about.
Please keep posting your covers. I think there is value in seeing what more experienced players can do and how they go about doing it.
Also, I want to echo this idea because I think it’s important. I don’t think having a place that includes more experienced players and beginners is mutually exclusive. I really do believe that having all levels of players here is beneficial to everybody and any high level discussions that come out of that, only add to the overall value of the forum for everybody.
I’m still mulling this over. It seems like this would take a considerable amount of cultivation to keep it as intended. In the rest of the forum we do tend to go off and back on topic and sometimes leave the rails entirely. For the most part, I think this is fine, it’s part of people being people and the nature of how forums go. In the proposed Beginners category, we would need to be much more careful about this.
I’m going to try and explain my hesitation about having a Beginner category.
If there’s a Beginner category, what is the rest of the forum?
The forum is open to everybody, what does it mean to send beginners off to a separate area?
When are their questions good enough to get them invited into the rest of the forum?
By separating beginners are we creating a place for elitism?
How are people going to react the first time someone says, “Maybe you should go ask that in the Beginner category.”?
My concern comes down to unintended consequences. It sounds like a good idea but could end up causing more division. Division creates an us versus them mentality and that would be bad for the whole forum.
So, let’s start here.
If we did have a Beginners sub-forum category, what would that look like?
Maybe it should have a pinned and closed topic, like the “BassBuzz Forum Top Threads” topic, that explains the intention of the Beginner section.
I agree 100% with this. This is a fantastic group we have here, I have been enjoying all the discussions that this forum has posted and have learned so many great things. I look forward everyday to reading and watching everything that goes on. I would not be progressing as well as I have without all the information provided by the group here. I may not have a lot to offer yet, but one day. Thanks everyone! Sometimes its better not to recreate the wheel! Especially this forum .
Ya I agree.
I am in a sax forum that has the opposite, an advanced section.
It doesn’t work.
People comment where they want with their beginner discussions or their learned knowledge.
It also makes beginners feel like they don’t belong there and a beginner catagory could do the opposite.
Josh pinned a ‘start here’ thread. I think this was a good start, but do people actually start there? How can he drive traffic there better? When someone signs up does it tell them to start there? Have we captured all the threads needed there?
Could you add something there like a ‘ask us anything’ etc?
As had been said, learning music is a journey. Everyone here is a beginner until they learn something. Then, they are really just relatively learned beginners, because there’s always so much more to learn.
That’s where the even more learned beginners come in, to offer help.
I think there is room for a separate sub-forum that is more geared toward asking questions for those less experienced bass players… like me! Its not really obvious where to ask stuff when the current sub-forums are bass, gear, technique and theory… well, I mean you just put everything under “bass” right! But where do you ask questions about the course, or about some other 101 type topic? Whether it is called “beginner” or “questions” or “B2B chat” probably doesn’t really matter, its getting the definition correct of why you would post in that sub-forum that is important
Thanks @Oxidised. Having the perspective of someone new the forum was what I needed to hear. It’s one thing for all to talk about what new folks need. It’s another thing to hear it from somebody new to the forum and trying to figure it all out.
So, what do we call it? This was one request for something more descriptive than Beginner.
Beginner Questions
Noob Questions
I’m New! What do I now?
Help! I’m New and Have Questions!
Hey @angierevans to add to my list of beginner songs above. Check out these 2 beginner friendly grooves. I learned them a few years ago and still incorporate them into my warmup routine.
To loop that groove and practice along with her I use Endless Video (free). Use the edit timing sliders below the video to change which part you want to loop.
This is my favorite. (Although I find it slightly hard to parse. I understand what you are trying to do with the wording, but can’t help thinking that Help! I’m New - Have Questions! is easier to read…)
I feel like the previous discussion has already eliminated “Beginner”, “Noob” can be derogatory, and “I’m New! What do I now?” is just a bit too broad.
For the most part, I think this is fine, it’s part of people being people and the nature of how forums go. In the proposed Beginners category, we would need to be much more careful about this.
button. Without that, I wouldn’t be here.