Best way to learn bass?

[Cheeto726]

I've been learning bass for about 6-7 months. I've had a bass for about a year but never really played it until then. I'm taking lessons every week but I feel like I'm not headed the way I want. My teacher is AMAZING and has a lot of patience and is bad ass bassist and musical GENIUS! It's me that's the issue. I tried guitar but didn't "feel it" like I do a bass. I'm 30 years old so I am a bit older. I was in band all my middle and high school life and played a brass instrument and the way I learned was by listening and watching. I never really learned music theory. What do you all think? I know everyone says learn theory but I just never could really get it. I feel stuck just trying to learn songs and tabs and feel like I'm not getting anywhere... 

[lidl e]

To me, it depends on what you want to get out of it.

 

I never took lessons, because i wasnt really interested in theory or technique. 

 

At 30, do you want to do some home recording  and get into a band and play for fun or do you want to "master" the instrument. 

 

 

To me, the most imprtant thing is to learn the notes on the fretboard.

 

I learned by making a drawing of a fretboard and remembering it and then using bass tabs to learn songs i liked. 

 

Now this was years before the internet so my tabs came from bass magazines.

 

Thats how i learned.  Im not jaco, but i can play with almost anyone at a moment's notice and not embarass myself.

 

 

[jimmyb625]

Talk to your teacher and tell them what you're thinking.

 

Theory is a useful tool, but there may be other ways they can get you to learn it, maybe by showing you how it relates to bass lines that have been put into songs?

 

You're probably making more progress than you realise, it's hard to be objective as your skills increase. Perhaps try recording yourself and then going back to the recording after a month or so, so you can monitor how you've changed as a player.

 

I'd say you also need to think of what it is you want to do. Is there a particular style of music you like? Do you want to learn to play that style, or something completely different, just to broaden your abilities?

[sammybee]

7 minutes ago, jimmyb625 said:

Talk to your teacher and tell them what you're thinking.

This 100%. I'm sure your teacher is great but not a mind reader. Have an open and honest discussion about what you want to learn, and ask them for feedback on your progress.

 

30yo is a mere boy compared to most of us here on Basschat!

[lidl e]

Find a drummer who you like on youtube, get an amp with headphones out and aux in and play along.

[diskwave]

Reading music is not easy and if you cant do it then dont worry. Also forget about tabs and all of it, just put ur fav tunes on ur phone...stick ur buds in, plug in and play along... u'll be amazed how soon things will start to gel.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Learning to play a musical instrument is a marathon, not a sprint - if you are putting in the work it is often difficult to see the improvement because it happens gradually, so as your skill increases also so does your awareness of your mistakes.

 

Be kind to yourself, and keep turning up to put the work in and you will get there.

[OliverBlackman]

You need to learn theory to make sense of it all, otherwise you will always be limited. I would love to start again now with the likes of SBL online.

[Boodang]

‘It’s me that’s the issue’ raises a red flag regarding your teacher! You can be a musical genius but it doesn’t mean you can teach. Not saying he’s a bad teacher (well, mostly) but a pupil should never feel that way. Definitely chat over with your teacher how you’re feeling. 
As for theory, it’ll happen over time, don’t force it too much, but stick with it, small chunks. I’ve been playing for over 40 years and there’s always something new to learn, so theory is not something that you put a tick in the box, done that!

Maybe try some other avenues for learning for some inspiration. I take online lessons with two teachers, mostly because they have an approach that I’m interested in. Plus I love digging into books that take my eye, like Gwizdala’s iconic lines (I’ve got dozens of books purely for the inspiration), and then there’s the online courses. In other words, mix it up and find what inspired you. 

Edited February 17 by Boodang

[Boodang]

16 minutes ago, OliverBlackman said:

You need to learn theory to make sense of it all, otherwise you will always be limited. I would love to start again now with the likes of SBL online.

Once you get past the BS headlines of their PR, SBL is awesome. And it’s never too late to start. 

[Cheeto726]

I appreciate everyone's response and advice! My lessons are every Saturday in the morning and I talked to my teacher today and express my concern and he completely understood. Today he started teaching me a few other things and I feel like I learned more today than I have in the past few weeks. I'm going to keep at it for a bit longer and see if it improves. My teacher is one of the coolest and most understanding people I've ever met and he was one of the highly recommended and most regarded instructors in the area.

[JoeEvans]

For bass especially, playing with other people is incredibly important. It's like the bass part doesn't hold meaning on its own. So I'd recommend finding someone or more than one person to play with, as the best way to make progress.

[Boodang]

8 minutes ago, Cheeto726 said:

I appreciate everyone's response and advice! My lessons are every Saturday in the morning and I talked to my teacher today and express my concern and he completely understood. Today he started teaching me a few other things and I feel like I learned more today than I have in the past few weeks. I'm going to keep at it for a bit longer and see if it improves. My teacher is one of the coolest and most understanding people I've ever met and he was one of the highly recommended and most regarded instructors in the area.

That’s cool. Keep at it. But look for that inspiration, the thing that makes you want to play. 

[TheGreek]

Personally I think it's important to learn your major and minor scales.  This will help you build bass lines and improvise. 

You will also "find" riffs that you recognise which, in turn, will help you develop your own style. 

Perseverance is important when you are learning anything. 

Think of learning bass like juggling - neither will come to you if you don't persevere or practice. 

[Cheeto726]

2 hours ago, lidl e said:

To me, it depends on what you want to get out of it.

 

I never took lessons, because i wasnt really interested in theory or technique. 

 

At 30, do you want to do some home recording  and get into a band and play for fun or do you want to "master" the instrument. 

 

 

To me, the most imprtant thing is to learn the notes on the fretboard.

 

I learned by making a drawing of a fretboard and remembering it and then using bass tabs to learn songs i liked. 

 

Now this was years before the internet so my tabs came from bass magazines.

 

Thats how i learned.  Im not jaco, but i can play with almost anyone at a moment's notice and not embarass myself.

 

 

I want to master the instrument and eventually gig 

[nilorius]

A bit of theory sooner or later is good, but You must also get some own feel about the instrument You are trying to make friendship. As i understood You got it with Your brass, so now think how You could make it with bass.

[ambient]

I dislike the term ‘music theory. The bass guitar is a musical instrument. Why would you not want to learn about how music works, the inner workings for want of a better term? 

[Boodang]

32 minutes ago, Cheeto726 said:

I want to master the instrument and eventually gig 

Hey, if you can jam with other musicians that will accelerate your playing no end. 

[Bassfinger]

The bass is about the only instrument I haven't had formal lessons on.  That's probably why I still enjoy it!

[Dad3353]

One may read, write and speak with no formal knowledge of grammar and punctuation, but it's much better with at least a working knowledge of the basics of these. Communication with other musicians (including your tutor...) will be much improved with these basics. It's only hard for the first forty years or so, after which things sometimes tend to get slightly better. 

[SumOne]

46 minutes ago, Cheeto726 said:

I want to master the instrument and eventually gig 

I gig with a couple of bands, one plays well known rock covers, including: Led Zeppelin 'whole lotta love', AC/DC 'highway to hell', Free 'All right now', The Cult ' She sells sanctuary'. Give them a go, honestly it doesn't take mastering the bass to play a lot of the most popular gigging songs. 

[Cato]

I learnt by working out and playing along to my favourite songs.

 

It helped that my favourite band was the Ramones so the learning curve wasn't too steep.

[itu]

I did this one with a matrix printer a long ago. Play these to learn the sounds they represent. These are for three strings, because you can start the chord from B (5-string bass), E, or A string.

 

Here are 3 non-standard letters (v, d, y):

v = diminished (dim)

m = minor (min, m)

d = major

y = augmented (aug)

 

sus = suspended, a third suspended and replaced with a 4

 

Edited February 17 by itu

[SimonK]

The nice thing with the bass is it has a fairly shallow initial learning curve - I picked one up for the first time ever in a band that had two guitarists but no bass player, started with roots & octaves, then discovered fifths, and then how to walk up a scale. But by far the most important part is locking in with a drummer, a communication thing you can't really practice on your own.

 

Of course the fun thing is that although the initial curve is shallow, it all gets a lot steeper after that even if you only stick to one string...

 

 

 

[Paolo85]

4 hours ago, Cheeto726 said:

I've been learning bass for about 6-7 months. I've had a bass for about a year but never really played it until then. I'm taking lessons every week but I feel like I'm not headed the way I want. My teacher is AMAZING and has a lot of patience and is bad ass bassist and musical GENIUS! It's me that's the issue. I tried guitar but didn't "feel it" like I do a bass. I'm 30 years old so I am a bit older. I was in band all my middle and high school life and played a brass instrument and the way I learned was by listening and watching. I never really learned music theory. What do you all think? I know everyone says learn theory but I just never could really get it. I feel stuck just trying to learn songs and tabs and feel like I'm not getting anywhere... 

 

Playing music should not be a source of frustration. If you can learn songs and tabs, you can already start playing with other people, gig, and you can just do that for the rest of your life if that makes you happy. If you cannot learn songs from tabs (I am not fully clear on that), you can ask your teacher for some guidance on that, and a lot would be chosing songs at the right level.

Theory is great but a lot of people first learn how to play songs, play with others, gig, even write music, and then start learning theory. There are famous musicians who have never learnt much theory, if at all.

I am not reccommending against theory. Just saying the important thing is to make sure you have fun and enjoy the journey.

Also, there isn't a level at which one has "mastered" the instrument. That's mostly a psychological thing. Some people get to a level where they can get through some simple things and feel they have arrived, some other people become famous musicians that others want to imitate and still feel inadequate