I am so glad to hear I’m not The only one. I dolt need to tick a bunch of completion boxes. I’m not going to be a star, i just want to play bass some.
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Well, I’ve had a go at it. I’ve just done a few of what you’d call his ‘modules’.
Pros and cons
Pros
Looks like there’s a lot of content
He explains things well, albeit slightly quickly
He plays things well, albeit very quickly
The content is genuinely funky bass which is great
Cons
The site layout is a bit of a mess. I was trying on a phone, but it was a bit cramped.
On a laptop it’s not that much better, and the “Next Lesson” button doesn’t actually work! You have to go via a menu on the left hand side of the screen - so basically, the layout is a bit messy.
He only shows the tab/sheet music quickly, via his 3-5 minute run through, so you have to pause it if you want to focus - which you will, because it’s only on the screen for a short while. No patient Josh-like smooth run throughs here!
It feels a little unstructured. With Josh’s lessons, it’s practically a 1-2-1 type experience. This feels looser and you have to make sure you have downloaded/played/read all the bits you need yourself without being guided.
However, I’m only a few lessons in, and most of my cons are not really about the music as such, more the way it’s delivered, but I’m sure once I download all the supplementary stuff and get into a groove (GET IT?!), it’ll be fine.
It is genuinely really funky music though, which is the main thing!
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I’ve bought Stu’s course but work has kept me busy lately. I look forward to delving into it.
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I’ve bought Stu’s course as well. It’s £15 for me, so it’s a no brainer really.
Right, that’s, er, 2 courses I need to start work on now ffs 
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I bought this as well. I like his lessons (3 lessons into it now). I struggled at the beginning, but I switched to a bass with wider string spacing and a heavier gauge of string and I’m super happy. Work has kept me away from it, but I like the course.
I also like the fact that you can set a loop on the practice material and skip the instruction part for prcticing.
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Now that I finished Sight Reading Vol 1 this is next on my hit parade to complete.
I feel like my mind brings me back to things when the time is right and it is ready for it.
No sense in trying to cram it in when it wants to think about something else.
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I’ve got a feeling when I get to the slap bits, my jazz bass’s action is going to be a bit too high, but will see
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Yeah, it’s funny that way. I started this course, but I’m still early on, because I’m doing it a bit at a time. I’ll do a practice run through one of these lessons, and switch to working on “The Trooper” for a bit, then go back or something else.
I will use one as a warmup for the other and so forth. Its not consistent, and my progress isn’t fast, but I’m doing it for fun.
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Yeah thats how im using it too. Just dabbling with it now and again, learn a new riff or two then go away and play with that to add it to the list of things to try and incorporate in the band.
Currently addicted to the synths at the minute though!
Ok so ive sat down and done the first 6 or so examples of the Dan Hawkins funk bass course.
It’s good, but it is absolutely not a beginners course. More intermediate. I can understand and do what he’s saying so far but a) no way at the tempos hes doing them to (all of them well over 100 bpm), and b) Bloody hell, you could have chosen some easier lines to begin with!
It’s like being thrown in at the deep end where everything is thrown at you at once. Youve got all the different techniques (ghost notes, raking, hand shifts etc), very fast tempos and complex lines all at the same time. Never mind the funk rhythms.
If it included separate lessons for the above, i think it would be more accessible for someone at my skill level.
Still, none of it is wasted - ill learn loads by the end of it, but can see that the early days will be a slog.
@JoshFossgreen - can you do a funk bass course? I’d be all over that!
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Agree here on your assessment @Old_WannaBe
after number one I couldn’t do them at speed.
I do go back and try ones and push my speed here and there to see, I think it’s more of a long haul class for folks like us.
I did go back to Stu hamm’s recently ans am focusing on that one to get basic slap technique down (very different course as it’s all slap) but at least it’s still funky.
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Yeah its just too fast. However, ive learnt the shapes and scales a bit and am learning the formulas so im getting something. Maybe it’ll be easier over time. Things normally are.
Yeah i have the other course too and have dabbled a bit. Will have to see how they both go
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I bought this. The one really big drawback for me is i have a hard time navigating the site. Plus there’s tons of sales pitch stuff, and they email me with offers almost every day
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It’s easy to unsubscribe from the emails. Just scroll down to the bottom of any email and locate the tiny “Unsubscribe” link. That’s what I did the first time I bought a TrueFire course. Not a peep out of 'em since.
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Well, it’s pretty clear i ain’t the brightest tool in the bulb. But I’ll do that, on account it’s actually fairly annoying. Thank you, sir.
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The site layout is tricky, have to agree. If I use my phone to load it up while playing along, it’s a pain to navigate because of the way it’s laid out. Plus you really need to have all the tabs printed out too for ease.
I’m still slowly doing it, but it’s not as engaging as B2B
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