Jam sessions have their place in the learning curve (if you can even find one), but they have little in common with one on one lessons. Even classroom learning is nothing like having a private coach as I did. Yeah, I could have paid a lot less for a group lesson, but I preferred a private coach, and it was well worth the money.
If you can’t find a jam session start one. I did and within a year it turned into 3 local jam sessions a week and an additional on once a month 2 hrs drive away.
Each time I have gone to a private instructor without really knowing what I wanted to work on I have been bored to tears being given their normal lessons. I always compare this to going to the doctor and not knowing how to tell him what your symptoms are. You will get a general exam vs. a cure for what ails you (or your bass playing).
I think this is one of the beautiful things about all the online instructions, it gets you to a point where you know what you want to go deeper on and work on. You will know when that point comes. And when you do start, don’t feel bad about calling an audible and shifting directions. It’s your time.
I would suggest continuing with either talkbass or Ari Cap (see this thread Beyond Badass!) until you start to form a few "I would really like to work on x, y, zs’.
First though, what are your goals?
Play covers, join a band, write your own music, just look cool and pick up groupies?
What type of music do you want to play - jazz (theory&improv), metal/rock (pick work), funk/slap (slap work)?
Do you want to work on posture and hand position?
Sight reading?
Keeping a groove?
Ear training?
Smandl technique?
One you have a list, go forth and find an instructor.
Without a bit of a roadmap sketched, you may find yourself less motivated than more.
Also, FWIW, don’t be afraid to take a lesson or two and then move on if you are not feeling it. I had a sax teacher once early on who was a broadway pit guy. They are super technically accurage and he was cramming that down my newbie horn. I could barely play vs. come in on the right 32nd note in tune. Find someone you feel like you could shoot the $hit with for an hour, then don’t actually do that, it gets expensive , but the relationship is key too.
alternatively, If you really don’t know what you want, have a lesson or two here and there from some folks and maybe you will get inspired.
A jam session is a face to face, intreactive coach envirornment. You are learning from the others.
You can learn to play an instrument online, any instrument and get then mechanics down.
But to really know how to play…I agree with @PamPurrs, you need feedback.
Just a few people at my American Legion post who play instruments. I started talking it up early last year, and then Covid spoiled my plans. I just recently started talking it up again. Two of the people have experience playing in bands, so I’m going to put them in charge of the mechanics of the sessions, while I handle the logistics. It’s coming back together slowly.
Once it has launched, I’ll probably talk it up with other posts and see where it goes. My plan is to keep it within the American Legion family (veterans, spouses, sons, daughters, etc.).
I used to teach skiing professionally. One of the things I found when being coached myself was that 5 different race coaches could give me feedback but sometimes it was the way that just one of them presented the information that made a change in my skiing.
I’m applying the same principle to learning bass.
Have a plan. Don’t be dependent on the teacher to set the agenda.
But sometimes they do. It’s a give and take
Be comfortable with the teacher you have. If not, find another teacher
If you don’t know what your agenda should be, having a lesson or two might help bring focus. You may not know enough to have an idea what you want to work on yet. An in person lesson sprouts questions in my head, it might just get the ball rolling.
Have a song or two in your back pocket to learn. I started with My Girl and Zombie.
There are things your teacher does not need to spend a lot of time on - learning the fretboard for one. You can do this without paying money.
Learning the fretboard will make your lessons more cost effective. When the teacher says “Start with C, then G, then D” you will know what they’re talking about and how to play it
It’s been 10+ years or so, but this was definitely not my experience. Any instructor that expects their student to already know how to read music - I’d look for a new instructor…
Yeah was gonna say - statistically most bass instructors are probably slumming guitar instructors anyway, and it’s much more likely that those kinds of instructors won’t even know sheet music themselves, than it is they will ban tabs
We’re lucky to have dedicated bass instructors like Josh and Gio. Looking around town here I found some good ones like that, but many more “I teach Guitar! And bass.” types.