Teaching advise

[Tim2291]

So I've been debating trying my hand at teaching bass for a while but put it off for various reasons, mostly self doubt! After a few comments on another BC topic I've decided to give it some more serious thought so I thought, the best place to start would be to ask the hive mind for some advice!

 

A bit of background on me, I've played bass for around 20 years (I'm 31 now), before that I played Sax for 3 years. I have an HND in music performance and gig around 2-4 times (at least) a month. I have never done a grade on the bass but do have a good working understanding of musical theory and regularly try to improve this. Whilst I can work out notation, I wouldn't say I am particularly proficient in bass clef but I am actively trying to get better. 

 

Below are a list of my questions, any help would be massively appreciated.

 

• Where do I start? 
• What equipment would you say is essential? - I have plenty of basses and probably would leave the 5 strings at home at least to start with, but what about amps (I have a gigging rig and an audio interface I use for practice), books etc.
• How do I find students?
• Do I need insurances when starting out?
• What would you focus on in a beginners lesson? - Whilst I know I'm far from the worlds best bassist, it's been a very long time since I could call myself a beginner!
• I have a baby due in January so my thought is to travel to the students at first, is that a good plan?

 

Any other advice would be really appreciated!

 

Thanks

 

Tim

[itu]

The first lesson I got was: "Where's your own cable? I don't bring any to you!"

 

Then we went through scales and arpeggios, chords and progressions. I had been studied piano and theory for 13 years before bass. 

 

If you have nice and relatively easy songs for the beginners, they will love you instantly.

 

I had lessons at home, and I went to few pupils, but whatever fits you, go for it. Amp is not a must always. Dry sound in a quiet room may be just enough. Dialing a sound from amp is one really good lesson, but that's it. No need to carry much stuff around all the time.

[Frank Blank]

Paging @Mike!

[Coilte]

Quite apart from your knowledge and skills on the bass, make sure your teaching skills are up to par. It is one thing to know your stuff...quite another to be able to convey it in an understandable way to a complete beginner. 

 

The very first thing I would teach a complete beginner is safe and efficient technique, good posture, how to hold the instrument etc. I would advise gentle warm up stretches before and after a practice. This could be followed by learning the notes on the fretboard. I would encourage him/her to listen carefully to simple songs that they like, and then try to play along without using tab. When it comes to basic theory I would put equal emphasis on both scales ....and chord tones.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Coilte

[yorks5stringer]

First thing would be undertaking a DBS check ( not suggesting you would not pass it!)

[Grimalkin]

For a beginner I would:

 

Make sure they have a correct left-hand arch, thumb around the centre of the back of the neck. If you bring your thumb up and over, it brings the reach of your fingers back and grips.

 

Teach them how to use the right amount of fretting pressure, which is less than you think, to avoid the grip.

 

Avoid the flying fingers by concentrating on keeping them close to the board, less recovery time for the next note.

 

For the right-hand:

 

Alternating, alternating while crossing strings. Raking comes naturally, alternating while crossing does not.

 

Anchoring the thumb as a mute.

 

Tendons and ligaments work better in straight lines, keep the wrist and the fingers straighter.

 

None of those are absolutes, it depends on what you are playing. 

 

Older students I took on an individual basis, some liked rock/metal and were not interested in playing other stuff, or some liked chart/blues/funk etc.

 

I would teach then a tune they already liked, which pulled them in, and later show them the parts which were made up of the major or minor scales I had taught them. So that they could hear and visualise how they were applied in music, scales on their own don't mean much.

[Franticsmurf]

My mate runs a music school with a number of tutors working in individual rooms. I remember him telling me that after a particular young student had a disagreement with his tutor, there followed allegations of improper behaviour between student and tutor (which were never taken beyond the angry dad stage). My mate immediately installed CCTV in all the rooms. It was a one off incident in more than 10 years of teaching all ages, but worth considering (along with the DBS check mentioned above).

 

I was a trainer and training designer in a previous life and I would agree with @Coilte's comment that you should make sure your teaching skills are up there with your musical skills.

 

Make sure you know what the student is expecting from the lessons. Do they want exam grade standard, 'just the basics' (what are 'the basics'?), to be able to play in a band etc? Once you know what they want, you can set a timescale so they know how many lessons it will take and how much it will cost and more importantly, you'll both know when you've successfully achieved their goal. 

 

If a student is taking bass lessons I would expect them to have their own bass. The exception might be if they are thinking of taking it up but haven't decided. This is one of the things you'll need to establish with each student. If you're providing a bass (and/or anything else) make it a decent cheap item as it will probably take more wear and tear. I'm no business expert but I guess you'd be able to claim it as an expense.

 

Good luck! 😃

[oldslapper]

All good advice. But don’t forget to ask what a student’s goals are from the start. 
That helps enormously with their own motivation and makes lesson planning a lot easier. You’ve also got goals to set and aim for. 
Be patient.

Get paid! Seriously, the amount of chasing I had to do at times was painful.

Don’t show off. It may impress some, but could be a demotivator for others.

Be patient.

Oh and be patient. Almost forgot.

 

Good luck 

[MacDaddy]

Start by asking yourself why someone should give their money to you, instead of any other bass teacher.

What are you going to do that they can't get for free off the YouTube?

Do you have any extra relevant knowledge that can be applied: Alexander Technique for example?

Also factor in time to develop and update lesson plans in addition to your travelling time.

 

Good luck!

[Grimalkin]

You don't have to use the tunes listed, you can find your own. The first two notes of 'Whole Lotta Love' are a minor third. I would recommend bringing in interval recognition through familiarity with more practised students, a way to work away from the instrument and instant recall.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_recognition

[Tim2291]

Thank you everyone for your comments so far! I will read them in depth and come up with some lesson plans (guides of course that can later be tailored to a student). I am constantly doubting myself when it comes to anything bass related so I need to get over that I think! 

 

With regards to being a good teacher, what resources are available and how do I know if I am portraying it well? Is it simply trial and error with a student? I guess I should try and convince my siblings kids to let me teach them... although none of them have any musical interest!

[oldslapper]

Using a curriculum such as Rockschool grades can be helpful for ideas, or planning. 
Another thing, I was an RGT member whilst teaching and they had some helpful resources, along with a network of tutors you could share ideas with. It helped when promoting my service to students, parents and schools having RGT membership. You appear on their website, so students could see who was available in their local area. 
You can obviously offer on-line zoom lessons too.

 

Edited October 6, 2022 by oldslapper

[dudewheresmybass]

I've been a peri teacher in schools and privately for 20 years - along with playing / recording / writing.

First things first - Get an up to date DBS check done and register for the update service. This will settle minds and set your stall as a professional thinking tutor. 

The first thing I do is make sure someone learns to play something in a lesson. If theory is the opening gambit, you won't keep them for long as a student (unless that's what they're looking to learn), and they'll end up elsewhere.

Theory is great, but should absolutely not be the opening salvo.

Make it fun

Listen carefully to what someone is looking to learn in their time with you. Be it a new style, or deepening knowledge of an existing one.

Always be honest with a prospective student - If you have nothing to offer them say so. Let your first students know that you're just starting out - perhaps offer a discounted rate in that initial spell?

 

I'm happy to help out over PM if you'd like to reach out for more info mate  

 

[uk_lefty]

5 hours ago, MacDaddy said:

 

What are you going to do that they can't get for free off the YouTube?

This, I think, is critical. There's so much good stuff out there for free but things mentioned in this thread are far better taught in person: posture, hand position on the back of the neck... I watch some slap tutorials on YouTube and you can't even tell if they're hitting the string at all, it could all be mime! 

 

I've only ever had one lesson. It was with Nathan King. I sent him recordings of my band and basically said "I want more musical knowledge to be a better player" it took quite a while for the lesson to get going as he tried to figure out what exactly I wanted and then how he could think of something to teach me (a great experience though and worth the money!). Some students might not be able to articulate their goals very well!

[Tim2291]

16 hours ago, dudewheresmybass said:

I've been a peri teacher in schools and privately for 20 years - along with playing / recording / writing.

First things first - Get an up to date DBS check done and register for the update service. This will settle minds and set your stall as a professional thinking tutor. 

The first thing I do is make sure someone learns to play something in a lesson. If theory is the opening gambit, you won't keep them for long as a student (unless that's what they're looking to learn), and they'll end up elsewhere.

Theory is great, but should absolutely not be the opening salvo.

Make it fun

Listen carefully to what someone is looking to learn in their time with you. Be it a new style, or deepening knowledge of an existing one.

Always be honest with a prospective student - If you have nothing to offer them say so. Let your first students know that you're just starting out - perhaps offer a discounted rate in that initial spell?

 

I'm happy to help out over PM if you'd like to reach out for more info mate  

 

Thank you! I've done most of the bits for the DBS check... laptop then died on me last night so I will finish that off over the weekend!

 

I'll look into some suitable songs for beginners so that they can finish the lesson knowing a full song rather than theory! Not many beginners are going to be particularly interested in learning basic major scales in the first few months let alone going any deeper in to theory, need to give them a reason to do so!

 

Introductory rate is a great shout, I would probably offer first lesson free/half price even once experienced, give them the free trial and sell them on the rest! I could potentially ask some family members/friends if they want to do a few beginner lessons (FOC for them) so that I can gain a bit of experience first! 

 

One thing I have realised is that my teachers weren't great, never really taught me much that was useful, I have had to learn that on my own from books, you tube and experience! I had one brilliant teacher when I was in school who actually went into things properly! I ended up skipping the bass workshops at college because none of the tutors were interested or capable, one of them actually spent 6 weeks teaching the C major scale... another disappeared midway through a term (turns out he went on tour with Pixie Lott without telling anyone). The other kept telling people how he knew everything and struggled to teach it to them... In hindsight I should have taken the guitar workshops in college, the tutor was a jazz guitarist and an amazing teacher, would have learned far more! I guess the point of my rambling here is that I wouldn't want to be like them at all.

[Tim2291]

14 hours ago, uk_lefty said:

This, I think, is critical. There's so much good stuff out there for free but things mentioned in this thread are far better taught in person: posture, hand position on the back of the neck... I watch some slap tutorials on YouTube and you can't even tell if they're hitting the string at all, it could all be mime! 

 

I've only ever had one lesson. It was with Nathan King. I sent him recordings of my band and basically said "I want more musical knowledge to be a better player" it took quite a while for the lesson to get going as he tried to figure out what exactly I wanted and then how he could think of something to teach me (a great experience though and worth the money!). Some students might not be able to articulate their goals very well!

If you're going to only have one lesson, then you could do much worse than learning from Nathan East! How did that come about? And if you don't mind me asking... how much did he charge?

[Owen]

I would say an amp is essential. Playing too hard so as to be heard acoustically sets up all sorts of wrong precedents. A very small mixer so you can put two basses + music through said amp makes everything tidy. When I used to teach, certainly with beginners, I would ask them what song they wanted to play. Obv, sometimes there was a bit of direction needed. But if it is their song then there is a huge amount of determination to make it right. Tricky passages can be simplified so that they get the full experience. I also did one octave 24/124/134 scales with alternate fingers on the right hand so that they begin to develop dexterity right from the start. Obviously, 1 finger was enough for Jamerson should be enough for us, but.......

[uk_lefty]

2 hours ago, Tim2291 said:

If you're going to only have one lesson, then you could do much worse than learning from Nathan East! How did that come about? And if you don't mind me asking... how much did he charge?

Nathan King. Not Nathan East. Still, it was a decent lesson nonetheless

[Tim2291]

2 minutes ago, uk_lefty said:

Nathan King. Not Nathan East. Still, it was a decent lesson nonetheless

Apologies, I see the name Nathan when talking bass and the next word always becomes East haha!

[uk_lefty]

6 minutes ago, Tim2291 said:

Apologies, I see the name Nathan when talking bass and the next word always becomes East haha!

Understandable! 

[ambient]

There are various websites that are useful for finding students: Find a tutor etc.

 

The good ones will require references and a DBS. It used to be the case that you had to apply for a DBS check through an organisation; I used to use the MU.

 

If you’re teaching children and they come to your house, then every adult in the house will require a DBS check.

 

It’s good to spend a bit of time in the first lesson setting out a written plan of what the student wants and how you’re going to achieve that. You should regularly refer back to that to check on progress.

 

Make everything relevant to the student. You might like funk but your student is into metal. Use examples that they are going to find interesting and have a connection to.

 

Be patient and have several different ways of explaining something. People learn in different ways and at different speeds. You need to find the route for each student to follow to learn what they need.

[Lfalex v1.1]

Find a piece of equipment that both you and your student can plug into simultaneously and play through together without having to adjust anything. A little mixing desk, perhaps.

 

I got stuck with the active input of an amp while my teacher had the passive one. We both had active basses. Mine sounded crap and his sounded good. Even when we swapped. 

 

Tuition didn't last. Bass playing did.

 

If you disenfranchise your students, they'll leave and/or give up.