metal bass tutor required

[valentine]

looking for a bass tutor that ethier specialises or has good knowledge on how to play technical and fast basslines as the style of music im into are generally the sub genres of metal

the kind of stuff im looking to improve on is to master a 3 finger walking technique which im still patchy on

playing in triplets at high speeds

bass sweeping (sweeping the notes of the bass guitar)

tapping

and just generally anything to improve me as a muscian and help me build better and more pleaseing riffs

his a link to my youtube page where i stick stuff up that i crate when i play to give you a idea of where im at and what i do if yom think you can help me or know of someone drop me a message

[url="http://www.youtube.com/user/lovebreedsuicide1"]http://www.youtube.com/user/lovebreedsuicide1[/url]

thanks

[valentine]

just someone who can play fast and technical will do, useing 3 fingers and is into metal

[Adrenochrome]

I'm not sure you'll get exactly what you're looking for. Good fingerstyle technique learned from whatever genre would help a lot I'm sure (fast 16th note funk?).

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

Have you tried Billy Sheehan?

[valentine]

yeah i play some funk,jst need a bass tutor that specialise's in a different style as all the ones ive had in the past do different genres,in a ideal world id be able to get someone like alex webster or jeff hughell (brain drill) to teach me,but someone even half as good as that would be enough =)

[Kongo]

I tried looking for such a tutor a few years ago...I don't think they exist.
We all love to funk I guess but too many tutors just focus on jazz or funk and that's great, but like said here...Where are the bassists from hell?

Someone else posted it here...Learn from Billy Sheehan and others like him.
Buy music, DVD's, try to learn licks etc it's the only way BUT use them as you would...beleive me there are many Sheehan clones on YouTube and that's great for showy stuff but on record people will think it's Sheehan.
Learn from and use it your way.

I watch your vids anyways before coming here.
A thing about the 3 fingers...All I can say is use it all the time. Even on 8th notes instead of using 2 fingers use all 3, that way it becomes second nature.
I alternate mine though from ring, middle, index back to middle and repeat but that's something you just find yourself.
Sheehan goes ring, middle, index repeat but he does it ALL the time.

I just don't think you'll find one...I havn't...but maybe we should focus on getting better at it and then becoming tutors of it ourselfs.
If noone else will teach then we will.

p.s. you got Blotted Science? Webster does some tasty work there!

Edited May 4, 2009 by Kongo

[valentine]

you speak good sense and said pretty much how i feel with the whole bass tutor thing,i dont just play metal i play orther styles also but obviously a metal bassist is my main style

i heard blotted science its nice kinda reminds me of dream theater a tiny bit,i like all of alex websters work,id love to get close to his level one day with the stuff i write

and im not going to give up jst yet on finding as you put it a bassist from hell haha but i will keep looking and scouting the underground band scene and here for the right bassist to get me to the next level


i like alot of necrophagists work also if you like them

[Kongo]

[quote name='valentine' post='479589' date='May 5 2009, 12:42 AM']you speak good sense and said pretty much how i feel with the whole bass tutor thing,i dont just play metal i play orther styles also but obviously a metal bassist is my main style

i heard blotted science its nice kinda reminds me of dream theater a tiny bit,i like all of alex websters work,id love to get close to his level one day with the stuff i write

and im not going to give up jst yet on finding as you put it a bassist from hell haha but i will keep looking and scouting the underground band scene and here for the right bassist to get me to the next level


i like alot of necrophagists work also if you like them[/quote]

It's not heavy at all but if you dig Dream Theater's John Myung check out "Gordian Knot"...It's Prog Rock instrumental and perhaps a bit cheesy in areas with synths but Myung plays a Chapman stick!
Also, just like Blotted Science, the bad is bassist led...so yeah there's TWO in there!

If I knew how I'd start teching myself. I have many qualifications and have been playing for a long time...Anyone from Geezer Butler to Steve Harris to Billy Sheehan fans would have someone to learn from...I think we need more out there.
As I have posted here before (somehwere), when I was taught academically Funk and Jazz was almost forced and many Rock and Metal bassists either changed or were scorned and fell...I wanted to continue so I funked and Jazzed...Funk was good but Jazz meh...But I retained my Metal side too.
I feel too many bassists out there fall the same...It's no wonder Bass falls to guitar sometimes...there's noone pushing the boundries.

Once Harris and Sheehan and MANY others are dead...who carries the torch?
But history has a habit of repeating itself...Not sure if you've noticed but Soul is making a return on the Radio (albiet watered down but still)...Well a New Wave of British Heavy Metal could very well come back...and with it all them Bassists From Hell!!!

Keep looking man but fear not we are out there. Go underground, you will find much.
I've surfaced for a bit but MAN, the underground rocks!

Go on YouTube and check out a guy who goes by the name of "Dedbass".
He's in the underground with a Mathcore / Hardcore band and he RIPS but holds the low end too.
I don't post vids personally, sorry...maybe in time I could post some Metal tutots vids...I just lack confidence in front of a camera and get red light fever.

Edited May 5, 2009 by Kongo

[valentine]

yeah i seen dedbass and his videos,his immense

and shareing some of your work with orthers is cool so if you ever do post a video,let me know =)

thanks for the advice too

[geilerbass]

[quote name='valentine' post='472304' date='Apr 25 2009, 05:57 PM']looking for a bass tutor that ethier specialises or has good knowledge on how to play technical and fast basslines as the style of music im into are generally the sub genres of metal

the kind of stuff im looking to improve on is to master a 3 finger walking technique which im still patchy on

playing in triplets at high speeds

bass sweeping (sweeping the notes of the bass guitar)

tapping

and just generally anything to improve me as a muscian and help me build better and more pleaseing riffs

his a link to my youtube page where i stick stuff up that i crate when i play to give you a idea of where im at and what i do if yom think you can help me or know of someone drop me a message

[url="http://www.youtube.com/user/lovebreedsuicide1"]http://www.youtube.com/user/lovebreedsuicide1[/url]

thanks[/quote]

I agree that there probably aren't many tutors that 'specialise' in metal techniques, but I think perhaps you should think about the problem in a different way.

Are you looking for someone to literally show you how to perform the techniques? As in, show you were to place your fingers, how to move them etc? If so, then this kind of thing can be found in tuition books and videos. What you have to remember is that everyone is different physically and so will have a slightly different way of achieving the same sounds. You know the sounds you want to make so you need to find the specifics of the technique that work for you. I don't think that you need a tutor for that necessarily.

You shouldn't need someone to show you how to play things fast. It's no mystery that it's all about repetition with a metronome. If you are having trouble pushing your current technique to play things at the speed that you want, then look around at see what other people are doing. Again, a tutor will only be able to show you what works for them and that might not work for you. They may be able to suggest alternatives to what you're doing, but then I think that you could find that easily enough yourself. Playing lines slowly and working on timing and sound quality are the keys to fast, precise playing - but this approach isn't limited to metal, it's relevant to pretty much any genre of bass playing.

Tapping, again, is something that does not limit itself to metal and if you really want to learn this from a tutor, you should easily be able to find one.

Beyond technique, the thing that I think a tutor would be beneficial for, is to focus and guide your approach to study and practice - rather than to demonstrate specific techniques. Getting to the level you want to reach requires a lot of repetition and graft (probably with a metronome) and I feel that the difficulty lies in maintaining focus and creating goals for yourself. A tutor will definitely help with this and will also be able to point out areas that you are weaker in, that you may not have noticed. Again, you don't need a metal specific tutor for this - just someone who is open-minded. I'm not sure if he is still teaching, or how much his rates are, but Terry Gregory, who was at the Guitar Institute, would be a good person to start with.

The other option, if you really do want to go for someone who can demonstrate technique, is to contact the bass player of an established band, who's technique is close to the one you're interested in and see if they do, or would be up for doing, some private lessons. I know a lot of established musicians often offer private lessons to subsidse the income they get from bands.

Hopefully that's of some help and may get you thinking about the problem in a different way.

[valentine]

i think its a case of wanting someone whos at a level where i want to get to thats in my genre and show me the path they took and what the quickest way is to get to there level,i practice alot couple of hours at least every day sometimes alot more depending on what im doing,im kinda wary i guess of useing my practice time in the most effective way,as alot of musicians waste years playing stuff that never progress's them or gets them any better at playing,so when i learn im always trying to learn new things,and playing stuff i find difficult or experimenting with my instrument to make sure im makeing best use of my playing time and getting different sounds and not repeating myself

i think also id like a tutor just to guide me through the techniqes and the options and see what works best for me and what techniques and exercises i should do at home to work myself up to there level

i think my best option might just be to scout the under ground scene or look on myspace for a band in the midlands area with a bassist who has some of the things im looking for to help me progress as ive found tutoring does help you progress 10 times faster than being self taught ( being that its the right tutor respectively) as you often tend to waste many weeks,months and in some cases years learning stuff that at worse can be completely useless and never make you any better


i'll keep looking anyway i guess

thanks for the advice

-rob-

[chrishh]

i thought this thread was some kind of joke when i looked at the title

There's no reason why you shouldn't get tutored in another genre. I'm actually pretty sure you will progress faster by going through the jazz, latin and funk stuff, instead of a metal specific teacher. Playing fast is just something that will develop through time and like some have already said, there are enough videos out there on techniques such as tapping etc.

Also personally I think the best bass player in metal are those who have these genres behind them and where it shows in their playing style e.g the guys in Cynic, Between the buried and me, Dream theater etc

[Kongo]

[quote name='valentine' post='481173' date='May 6 2009, 04:58 PM']i think its a case of wanting someone whos at a level where i want to get to thats in my genre and show me the path they took and what the quickest way is to get to there level,i practice alot couple of hours at least every day sometimes alot more depending on what im doing,im kinda wary i guess of useing my practice time in the most effective way,as alot of musicians waste years playing stuff that never progress's them or gets them any better at playing,so when i learn im always trying to learn new things,and playing stuff i find difficult or experimenting with my instrument to make sure im makeing best use of my playing time and getting different sounds and not repeating myself

i think also id like a tutor just to guide me through the techniqes and the options and see what works best for me and what techniques and exercises i should do at home to work myself up to there level

i think my best option might just be to scout the under ground scene or look on myspace for a band in the midlands area with a bassist who has some of the things im looking for to help me progress as ive found tutoring does help you progress 10 times faster than being self taught ( being that its the right tutor respectively) as you often tend to waste many weeks,months and in some cases years learning stuff that at worse can be completely useless and never make you any better


i'll keep looking anyway i guess

thanks for the advice

-rob-[/quote]

From this I don't think it's a tutor you seek but a "sparring partner".
I used to have an old friend who took up bass when we met again later in life and I used to go round, show em some playing and swap licks and techneques and ideas and he'd do that same...Not so anymore.
It is he that pushed me to learn Classical Thump by ear...then we never met again.

But people don;t get it. A Jazz tutor won't help you get here. I got held back by that and became something I didn;t like...But it's hard to explain by text.
Metal bass is a style and can be taught. Yes there are many metal bassists out there who are widely inspired, so am I, but we DO exist.
I used to shun the name too but nowerdays I will happily call myself a metal bassist.
if Rock bassists exist that just play rock...why is it that people think Metal ones don't?
Rock bass can be and is tought, so can metal.

It's a genre that has been threatened but has never died and is a very popular one too.
But until bassists step up and realise that...well we'll still have the problems we have here.
I don't see metal bass as a "Joke"...in fact, that just sparks me to play more.

Edited May 8, 2009 by Kongo