Finished the course here and felt great! I’m finally playing an instrument at 48 yo and loving it. Started and finished this summer, I’m a teacher so lots of time off. Then came the inevitable what now? I like the structure a flexibility of online lessons with clear organization and good teaching. Thus I wanted to continue the progression to the next level. SBL seemed like a good choice, it’s been a disaster for me. Yesterday I got so frustrated that I picked up and slammed my computer on the floor completely shattering it doing a player path song. I take a quiz to the next level and fail. I know I should probably just cancel and never go back. Sorry needed to rant.
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Let me stop you right there 
(Seriously- strongly recommend TalkingBass instead. SBL is much more suited for more advanced bass players from what I have seen)
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As long as it’s not a bass you slammed, we are good. 
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Man, I’m sorry to hear you had such a traumatic experience with SBL. It’s not for everyone.
Personally, I chose to study Talking Bass courses and I can recommend them highly.
Mark Smith offers every level of bass training, ranging from total beginner to professional-level, making them doable by anyone who commits to putting in the time to learn and practice.
Hang in there, man. Take some time. You got this.
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My polite suggestion @rlu is to step away from online courses for a while. If you’ve completed B2B then you’ve got all the knowledge you need for now to improve your playing.
I’d suggest learning songs. Not bits of songs, whole songs.
Why? It improves your ear, technique and timing and it’s fun. No tests, exams, pass/ fail etc
Take a big step back and just play along to songs, it’s really pretty awesome
Start here for a list of friendly beginner songs that’ll get you back on the horse.
Or take up golf?
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I’ve had good luck with SBL myself, but I do find myself a little lost with where to go next from time to time.
What Player’s Path did you start with? If you jumped in past level 1, I’d really recommend starting over at level 1.
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I’m not going to put down SBL, I looked into it before I did B2B. I’m glad that I went with Josh’s course tbh. SBL wasn’t for me. I’ll second or third the recommendation for TalkingBass. Mark is a great teacher and it felt like a natural followup to B2B.
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Learning something new is bound to be frustrating. But, it should not be “killed my laptop” frustrating. Have some fun, play songs you enjoy, use some backing tracks and make up your own baselines.
And whatever you do, don’t take up golf. Learning bass is nowhere near as frustrating. Trust me.
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In 2024 decided to reboot my bass journey after a 50 year gap and researched every bass instruction course I could find, including B2B, SBL and Talking Bass. Decided on SBL for lots of reasons and couldn’t be happier with the decision. Currently in the Full Stack Bassist program adding new skills and understanding the difference between playing “songs” and playing “bass”. SBL helped clear away foggy memories and rekindle the joy of playing again. One year later our fusion band has a studio recorded CD and working on original material for the next one. SBL helped make that happen… for me. As Mike C, Howard and Just Tim replied, SBL is not for everyone. No course owns that lofty position. I follow SBL for instruction… Talking Bass for specific skills… and B2B for this cool chat room full of helpful advice on almost any topic. 
And even though nothing has changed in the size of clothes I wear, I still try on every new shirt and pants before making a purchase just to be sure it’s a good fit. Research goes a long way… regardless of what’s being bought.
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Learn songs, and join a band. Find people you like being around and you’ll actually have fun just playing, even if it’s easy songs, even if it’s not that good, even if nobody comes to your shows - hell, even if you never even move out of the metaphorical garage it’ll still be fun.
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I’m in a band @kinezumi 
but if you mean @rlu should play with other people. Yeah that’s a solid suggestion for improving.
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Ugh, sorry to hear that!
As others have said: you need to ease into Player’s Path - if you start at too high a level, it’s more frustrating than fun. The levels follow a progression, but it’s absolutely possible to encounter a tune on a higher level that you find “easier” than one from a level below. Still, the hard stuff can be in the details. Also, the idea with PP is to take your time and really absorb the newly learned material.
The tests are there to “prevent” you from advancing beyond your skill level. And, finally, PP tries to introduce some level of accountability. You can learn lots of songs, but if you play them sloppily and decide anyway that it’s “good enough”, then this can bite you in the behind later (much later sometimes).
Anyway, no need to destroy hardware (unless you needed a good reason to get a new laptop ); just take a few days off and when you return, you’d be amazed how much “easier” it can feel.
Cool! Could you share a bit here (on the appropriate threads) or perhaps just share a link!?! Would be neat to check out!!
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Ah but does this progression match @rlu ‘s internal syllabus?
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I mean… if he’s getting so frustrated that he’s shattering computers because he’s failing the tests to go to the next level, maybe his internal syllabus needs some adjusting. /shrug
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Or, just as likely, the SBL curriculum is just a bad fit.
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For sure. SBL isn’t for everyone. But Player’s Path is pretty straightforward. It’s designed to start with very easy songs and move up in complexity with each level. The test being mentioned is being able to play the songs you’ve chosen 3 times without error. And they’re not full-length songs, either. Like… here’s one of the level 1 songs:
I think that the entire SBL curriculum taken as a whole might not be the best. Like, more often than not, I find myself a little lost over there. But Players Path - taken as its own thing - is actually pretty good.
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I hear you. But what works for some, or even for most, won’t necessarily work for everyone.
For example, if things were that way, players would all use only one brand/model of bass, amp, etc. But that for sure is not the case. 
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For sure. And I know that I’m not going to convince you that anything SBL is good, you’ve made it clear that you’re not an SBL fan. 
I’m just saying that if you could do B2B here at BassBuzz, you could do the SBL Players Path. It’s basically a similar presentation idea, only a bit more “full song focused” (even if they are short, original songs) and presented by Scott instead of Josh.
To be clear, I think SBL stuff is a fine training choice IF one or more of its courses/programs/teachers/vibes resonate with a student. The same goes for any bass training, online or f2f.
One of my dearest friends, whose opinion I respect very much, has studied an SBL program for some time, and he vouches for its worth. That endorsement is more than enough proof to me that there’s something of value there.
As for me, I tried the Player’s Path and it didn’t hit me. But that’s no big deal. There are tons of courses, teachers and training available to anyone who wants to learn.
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Yep, the “join a band” advice was directed at @rlu to supplement your advice!
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