Yep, @Barney and I were just talking about Mark’s new course. I bought it right away. It’s great learning material for post-beginners and good sharpening practice material for more andvanced players. Here’s the link to the thread:
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Never tried SBL but Talking Bass is good. As mentioned Mark does have frequent sales.
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I did the 14-day SBL trial a while back. Just not my cup of tea. I find Scott’s presentation style to be arrogant at times and he is quite full of himself. Jeff Berlin refers to this style of online lessons as “bass entertainment,” and I agree. I was instantly turned off during his Nashville Numbering system …he talks too much, the material comes too fast, and he says “If you don’t know this, then what are you doing?-- you’re just playing at it.” Yes, always good to insult your audience.
Mark at Talkingbass is all content, no-nonsense. It is a little too fast for my tastes, and I have to frequently rewind the video, but at least it is not “Look how great and cool I am”.
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I mean… I get about 2-4 emails a day from SBL, but the content is good. I’d definitely check out the free trial before making any final decisions.
He definitely has a different style than Josh.
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I really find Scott entertaining (minus the occasional clickbait, but he’s far from the only one in that boat). That said, I agree that with his free online material he isn’t a teacher I really find as effective as others; however his paid material may be completely different and effective, I just don’t know.
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When it comes to teaching, Jeff Berlin is extremely orthodox (to the Jeff Berlin School of Teaching), to the point where he is sometimes his own biggest obstacle for breaking out of that mold… (but I appreciate his playing and his views (mostly)).
Yes, I get why people feel like that with Scott. But, I think, it is mostly actually true childish joy and enthusiasm that makes him go on and noodle - he can’t help it. And he just happens to noodle a bit better than most of us 
But also, this is mostly in his free stuff and occasional streamed contents; he is much more focused in the teaching videos.
One “criticism” of Scott is that he seems to try and “surf with the kids” (if that saying makes any sense in English!?), i.e., trying to be “cooler” than he is; he is always calling you “dude” and “mate” etc, and your example is indeed a type of juvenile (and male?) “teaching” method (“What? You can’t do it!? Bet my little sister could play that!”) But, again, he is not doing that in his course videos.
Anyway, we seem to have been over this before, and my main point is just that I think Scott gets way more bashing here than he deserves to (he does deserve some (for all the click-baity stuff), but not as much ).
And, of course: find the teacher that you feel you can connect with and who makes most sense to you!
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Yeah I would agree.
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I think that having likes and dislikes of anything - basses, strings, amps, pickups, and even teachers - is valid. I don’t necessarily agree that Scott is bashed as much as he is disliked for any number of his teaching and/or marketing traits and practices.
Think of one’s opinion of Scott, Mark Smith, Dan Hawkins, and even Our Trusty Bass Teacher as being strictly binary. I like [whichever guy(s)] or I don’t like [whichever guy(s)]: thumbs up or down.
Beyond that come the reason(s) behind that binary opinion of each teacher.
People can agree, or not, with one’s opinion and the reasons for it. But, regardless, opinions, either positive or negative, exist until when/if something arises to change them.
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I don’t really have a binary opinion of any of them. It’s not a thumbs up/down thing for me really; each has strong and weak points. We’re just lucky to have found some (like Josh or Mark) that are generally almost entirely strong 
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The point is it is a thumbs up/down for many who have “bashed” Scott here.
Of course, all teachers have their strengths and weaknesses in the opinion of students. The binary reference is only intended to mean which teachers one prefers, or not.
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I think I know what you mean, Mike, but I would agree with Howard in that an opinion need not be binary. Heck, we have a growing incidence of binary views in the world already - I am more of a fuzzy (grayscale) guy. Of course, some (my little brother, for instance), would call that being a wuss and not wanting to take a stance 
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Way, way too much, yeah.
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I get that, Joerg. I think the word “binary” is triggering many times, but, technically, it is correct in this context.
Still, change the word “binary” to “having preferences for something over something else that has merit, but is not as appealing,” for whatever reason(s).
In that context, what can be interpreted as bashing Scott, for example, is actually a person’s subjective statement of evaluation of his teaching persona, style, marketing schtick, etc.
Sorry for the long harangue. The word binary does make the bell ring oftentimes these days.
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I think we are not disagreeing here at all, Mike 
People’s views and opinions often are binary, but my point (and probably Howard’s, if I may “drag” him in like this), was they don’t need to be binary.
I think we best leave it at that and enjoy the many teachers and teaching resources available to us
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See what I did there? 
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I’m still doing the Bass Buzz course, but tried out the SBL on the free 14 day trial just to try some different stuff.
As people have mentioned its a lot more ‘talky’ and maybe not as strictly hands on as Bass Buzz. But I didn’t hate it; I liked having it on in the background when I was doing other stuff (specifically the theory stuff). I feel like I will probably take out a months subscription after I finish Bass Buzz just to immerse myself in it a bit more.
Also; I got a copy of Rocksmith 2014 on Amazon for a cheap price (it includes the cable for connecting your bass to the console). That has been a lot of fun, and the lessons, games and activities make a welcome change too.
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I don’t mind Scott so much from his YouTube videos and would happily do a trial. I’ve been doing some beginner stuff on Drumeo, just the basic tuning and setting up your kit and while I like Jared Falk’s style, I can’t stand the camera angle thing they do where he is half talking directly to the camera but then they switch angles so he’s talking but not looking at the camera. Very frustrating. If any of the bass teachers do this please let me know, so I don’t sign up and get annoyed straight away.
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I don’t get why people think he’s arrogant and full of himself, I never get that vibe from him… I think like you said he’s just genuinely enthusiastic and he want’s to share all the stuff he’s learned and save you some time with the things he’s learned on his journey. I wish I’d had more teachers in school with his joy for teaching.
I like Scott, I think he’s fun and personable and I like the banter and little tidbits of information he adds. A lot of people like Phil Mann and I just cannot make it through his lessons; he’s too slow and he goes over the same thing over and over. Not a big fan of Ari either and didn’t like Adam Neely’s ear training course either… I love his YT channel, but not so much his teaching.
Most of the time I put the lessons on 1.25 or 1.5x speed to get through them faster
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To each his own.
Luckily for all, there several online teachers to choose from.
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