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Yeah but you only need to memorize two intervals, and all of the other chord tones are one of those two intervals apart from each other 
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absolutely love all the courses I have purchased via Talking Bass
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Spring Sale at Talking Bass 25% off courses.
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i guess this has become the defacto talkingbass thread so i will put it here. mark is back to having a live hang, not as frequent (he says once a week is his goal). anyways, he said it during this weekend’s one so i guess it’s no secret now, but he is going to be interviewing youtube sensation charles berthoud for the youtube interview series he does!
oh yes, and also doing one with some other guy, josh fozzy something 
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I’ve really missed his live hangs
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wakka wakka wakka
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I’m reading through all of this thread as I’m deciding what’s next for me when I graduate B2B.
The groove class looks intriguing but the list of lessons looks like a lot of it is going to duplicate B2B. At least until the last module.
What was it like? For you or others that tried it, what worked or didn’t work?
I’m debating between the Groove, Ear Training, Chords, and Scales classes as my first one.
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All of the courses you list are valuable, but choosing one to start with depends on your goals.
Groove 1 is aimed at beginners+, players who know more than the basics, but not much more. You get to learn rhythms, fretting and plucking techniques, and riffs — all which combine into progressively more intricate grooves. It’s a great next-step course for beginners who want to ease into playing and understanding grooves.
Groove 2 builds on the lessons of Groove 1: the rhythms extend beyond the first course as it teaches how to count and play sixteenth notes, ghost notes, and rests to create more complex syncopated grooves. I like this course a lot.
Ear Training is great for learning to understand how and what to listen for when playing or listening. This is valuable if you’re interested in transcribing songs to play yourself.
Chord Tones Essentials is the mother lode of courses, as Mark Smith says. It contains a vast amount of valuable music theory lessons about the construction of bass lines. As such, it is a higher-level course that many might consider “dry” and no fun. And they would be at least half right. It is not designed or intended to be fun; it is straight-up knowledge, plain and not so simple. It requires a lot of work and practice to absorb all the various principles. Personally, I loved it.
Scales Essentials is a great course, but, again, not intended to be fun. Mark makes reference to the Chord Tones Essentials course in places throughout this course, because chords and scales are so inherently interconnected. That said, some beginner-intermediate players might find this course more accessible than Chord Tones Essentials.
Hope this helps a bit.
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I took scales first, then chord tones, then walking bass, sight reading, ear training. That sequence worked for me but YMMV.
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the general consensus seems to be if you are only going to get one course than chord tones would be the one. if you want to continue, then the scales course plays nicely together with chord tones and i don’t really think it makes a huge diff which one you do first.
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I asked Mark which course he recommended before I got any. He recommended Chord Tones Essentials, hands down.
That’s how I started, then Sight Reading, Scales, and Walking Bass. I’ve also done Technique Builder and some of Mark’s excellent etudes.
Groove 1 was an easy refresher after B2B, but I picked it up on sale. Not challenging, but I wanted to support Mark’s efforts. Groove 2 has a nice set of syncopation practice grooves in several genres.
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Ear training isn’t really worth it IMO. It’s kinda not finished.
I did chords and scales. They are great but huge. Masters level but very beneficial.
I actually think sight reading has helped me the most (it’s way more than reading sheet music - it’s about knowing the fretboard and how to get around it).
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I got the Chord tones course but found it too dry, kind of what @MikeC mentions. I prefer the knowledge to come with some context. Like instead of giving me the periodic table to memorize, give me the context to play with and engage my curiosity with the elements. I felt that’s what was missing with Mark’s classes. And what @JoshFossgreen does really well. He’ll pick songs and use those songs to demonstrate a concept…and that kept me going. Versus trying to teach a concept and have you go off and figure out how to apply that and make it interesting to you going forward.
I didn’t ask for a refund this time around, because I felt he’s trying and I want to support Mark’s efforts. But don’t feel like the course was curated the way I would have liked. Though reviving this thread makes me feel I should dig it up again.
But I’ve got a lot on my plate trying to get Barracuda ready for our School of Rock show. It’s got some fun timing in it.
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Great information everyone. Thanks.
I went ahead and picked up chord essentials. I’m not too worried about it being dry. I don’t mind a more theory based approach. At least not in, er, theory.
I feel like my music background is enough that I can find the applications myself. In fact, some of the lessons I see are going to answer specific questions I’ve had. Can’t wait to start… which I will in about 29 or so B2B lessons.
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kind of beating a dead horse here, but i would not call mark dry. i actually really like his teaching style and personality. but you can’t really compare him (or anyone) to josh, it’s his ability to make it fun that makes B2B what it is.
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The other thing here is that Josh’s course gets to address basics and the fun part of the journey.
Mark’s courses dive into the real musicanship / technical and its really not easy to make that fun in the same way. It’s hard stuff to absorb and then push back out in a meaningful way and takes dedication.
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I’ve been sitting back and quietly reading all this “Mark Smith is dry” and “Not fun like Josh”. This may be true, but as others have pointed out, his subject matter is much different. TalkingBass is grad school level as opposed to the fun times of middle school and high school at B2B. You won’t find another Josh at this level or anywhere else.
I find Mark’s style to be engaging, easy to follow, and quite effective.
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From what I’ve seen of his free content I agree wholeheartedly.
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