THEORY or NO THEORY? (strong opinions desired)

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I’d like to see a good amount of theory here. For me - theory lets me create all kinds of lines, riffs fills and transitions that I would be less likely to stumble upon through experimentation. Experimentation, without thinking about theory, is also fun/useful. Theory also makes it easier to create lines which work well with what others in a band are playing. Things like chord progressions, cadences, etc. make it easier to create content that works.

I’ve been playing between a year and a half and two years (since I retired). Took in-person lessons for about a year and a half, realized that my main limitation was timing, counting (mixed note and rest lengths). Stopped taking bass lessons and started taking drum lessons to work on my counting, timing and rhythm. Once I’ve got those under control I’ll take bass lessons again. Still play the bass most every day - just don’t want to spend the money to take both bass and drum lessons every week. I’ve read a Music Theory for Dummies book (from the library) and taken an online Music Theory course (from Michigan State University) and am currently taking a Music Theory course from a university in Scotland. Both of these were/are free on the Coursea site.

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I took piano lessons when I was a child and teenager (and haven’t played piano since I was 18 - a really long time ago), so the music theory is a great refresher. Most of it came back to me as I was absorbing the lessons. I find the comparison of the tabulature to the music staff extremely helpful in getting me back up to speed and relating the notes to my bass. I started your course in late September, so I’ve only been playing about 2-3 weeks. Yes, keep it coming.

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I love, love, love when doing something clicks with the why, what and where of it. Theory alone is too dry for me, and simply doing stuff by feel is too aimless.

So, give me the theory, I ain’t afraid of big words (we have monuments like Straßenverkehrsamt in my native language :wink: ).

I recently learned a song in two days when I figured out that it’s in the key of Bm, the verse moves around Bm and walks through the scale, and the chorus walks from the third to the fourth. Had I just learned note by note, or in fragments, it would have been too confusing. And to throw the theory at me before learning it would sound like gibberish. So, it’s applied theory that really helps me.

Cheers,
Antonio

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:100:

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Yes please more music theory.

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OK -so first of all Im old (76) and don’t have the time I did when I should have been learning bass as a teen. Previously a drummer - some brief piano lessons 30 yrs ago. I really like the style in the 1st few lessons - a little practical info then a practice session with a band. I would like more pop quizzes like in the “learn your fret board” video. The exercise in “do this for 10 minutes a day” is great. More of something like this would be nice. I’m really glad I came across BASSBUZZ as a started a couple of months ago. Really helpful.

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  1. Yes
  2. I’d like to connect the knowledge (I have some theory knowledge) to practical application and Josh would be great at this.
  3. I’ve been playing for about 4ish years
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Owned a bass since the 90s. Noodled and attempted Mel Bay Blues Bass and whatnot for years. Finally in the lockdown bought B2B.

I love the amount of theory in the course. And now want to know more moving forward. It makes seeing a song and understanding where it is going, the progressions, so much easier.

I’ve started looking elsewhere for more theory instruction. Bernadette Teaches on YT recently did her September Challenge entirely on theory. It was fantastic. So much simpler when broken up into 30 7-20 minute lessons and a great start for more learning!

So the answer is yes! I would love your (JF’s) approach to more theory. Also side modules on blues and other topics. If a full part two seems daunting, side modules like that for smaller sub $ may be the way to go. I bet the YT metrics can point you to which would generate the most interest.

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Hi, I’m a bit late to reply, but hope the input will help @JoshFossgreen .
Sorry if this is very wordy, but I am hoping to convey a specific need.

Simple answer is yes, more theory please. But with a specific twist.
:slight_smile:

I think Josh strongest advantage is his ability to break down the progression of skills into bite-sized, very practical exercises, but also ramp those up to a high level by hand-holding and walking you along the way.

I’ll give two examples, because they relate to what I’d love to see from a theory course:

  1. The YoutTUbe video about the finger exercise using the walk-up/walk-down (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riCDOFyRIZ4).
    You can see how we start very simple, and VERY practical - Josh tells you exactly what to do, where to place your fingers and what to aim for.
    But by the end we are looking at putting together some theory and chord notes as well as moving the exercise along to other chords and using it in real life.

  2. The seocnd example is the B2B lessosn on improv (Module 8 lesson 4). Improv is very intimidating, and very hard to know where to start. There are so many notes on the neck!
    If you go back to this lesson it is a masterclass in how a teacher can walk a student through something complex and intimidating, and make it immediately useful. Josh makes sure the notes we use are clear, why we use those notes, gets the student to be familiar with the notes, and then introduces the rhythm frame (and makes sure the students practices the rhythm only), then we go into practicing with changing just one note. Etc. You get the point. Very slow, hand-holding approach that makes sure no student is left behind.

The key in those examples is the slow buildup and the specificity of what to do (which is what feels like hand-holding).

So - I hope this can be brought into the theory lessons somehow.

I find that starting with theory is intimidating to me specifically because of time availability. (I’m a full time shift-worker in healthcare with two kids. Not a lot of extra time in the day).
It is not hard to grasp the concepts in my head. But what is hard is to sit down with the bass and map out what’s in my head into the guitar, and then practice it and making it relate to playing music.
If I went to music college that is I would be doing for 4 years of my life all day. Alas, I have about 10-20 minutes a day at best and when I try sitting down and mapping out thoughts in my head into the bass it takes time. By the time I get anywhere I need to go get the kids their dinner, or do laundry or whatever it is that we are busy with.
This is why I loved the improv lesson so much. It would have taken me probably days to get there alone, because by the time I figured out the scale and chord notes, my practice time is over.

So (finally!) - what I am hoping from a theory course is the same approach with theory. Josh is already very good at mapping exercises and connecting the knowledge in the head to the fingers on the bass to the way the music sounds (see the improv lesson).

I assume that when one learns theory there are some exercises that are done on paper before moving to the guitar. I would like to see the same bite-size, hand-holding approach to doing those exercises as well. For example: what should I do to slowly learn my circle of 5ths? I don’t know, but I bet Josh will have some clear, concise, slow-build exercise, and he will find a way to tie it into a song or a finger exercise.

OK - hope it wasn’t too wordy, but I can find a million theory books, videos and classes online. What I really need is Josh’s bite-size, hand-holding ™ touch to pull me along.

  1. What motivates me? To be able to understand the music I play, be able to jam with friends more easily, and understand my favorite songs and why they work so well.

  2. Playing maybe 3 years, but practicing very sporadically and not in a well directed fashion.

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I just finished Module 1, but I’ve been fascinated by music theory for years. There are a few YouTubers I watch that really get into the topic.

It’s one of the reasons I decided to start on the bass.

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Hey Josh.

As part of my journey, yes, I would like to learn more theory. Especially if its taught with the same mix of enthusiasm, relevance and cheeky tongue-in-cheek attitude of the bass course.
The short version of my story is that I’ve been playing bass for around 40 years, having been inspired in the post-punk early 80’s.
It was cool and ‘trendy’ to play with a pick, and coupled with my obsessive desire to get out of the bedroom, I’ve taught myself some bad techniques, especially with the fretting hand. Fast forward to 4 months ago, and, after 10 years of dusting gig bags, I find the desire to play again irresistible.
But.
I’ve decided to challenge myself, and un-learn all those poor techniques, learn finger style ‘plucking’ (although a small boy in my head snickers at that) and, as if that weren’t enough, learn some damn theory too. I stumbled across Josh on YouTube, liked the style and professionalism coupled with humour, and signed up for the course too. I’m about halfway through.
So yes. More theory please…

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@MikeC , I think you will be happy to know that I was accepted into the Beginner to Badass Academy last night! Yes, Josh is pretty awesome.

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I go back and forth. Sometimes I feel very guilty for immediately forgetting that Nashville Numbering even exists after that module and go into a shame spiral so I revisit some of the more theory heavy modules or practice scales from the course extra packet. Other times I really just want to play songs I like from tabs on youtube, and it seems like most of my favorite music is fairly in simple major and minor scales, and 1,3,5 kind of stuff with some octave shifts. Glad to have it, but as someone who is about to finish the B2B course, and has poked around here for what people take next, seems like a lot take some of SBL’s, which seem a lot more theory heavy. I feel pretty good at this point, even not quite being done with B2B, but my goals are, at least for the foreseeable future, going to be getting my speed up, my dexterity up, my spider hand a bit more tamed, and work on timing so I can play along to favorite songs and at some point jam a bit with friends. I don’t need to feel fancy. Your latest youtube video was great I thought, I would appreciate a second course in that direction.

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