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Aargh, if only Brian could also teach bass!!!!
I have thought about that for a while now and also did some research, so this might be helpful for you, Gary.
Let’s just start with stating the obvious, there is NOBODY that teaches like Brian.But – there are some good bass teachers out there and it’s just a matter of finding one that works for you. Here a a few:
Mark J. Smith (TalkingBass)
Like Brian, Mark focuses heavily on the conceptual side of the fretboard, teaching you how to build your own lines rather than just reading tabs. He provides extremely thorough, high-quality video lessons with a similar “note-by-note” breakdown, uses the CAGED system to unlock the guitar.Scott’s Bass Lessons
If you enjoy the membership and community aspect of Active Melody, Scott’s Bass Lessons is the most robust alternative.
The “Players Path” – song-based assignments where you learn specific techniques by playing original compositions designed for each level, weekly bass challenges, “seminars”, etc. Both Scott and Brian share a passion for “unlocking the fretboard” so you are never lost, regardless of the key.Dan Hawkins Bass Lessons
So far, this is my personal favorite. I like his “no-nonsense” highly detailed teaching style and calm demeanor.🎸JoLa
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I now have 3 electric basses. I’ve been playing bass for several years now, and the best online teacher I’ve found is Mark from “talkingbass”. This guy:
He’s all over Youtube, but I wanted to do a deep dive, so I signed up for some of his lessons from his web site. They are all nicely organized and graded according to difficulty.. To me, Mark is the best at explaining things, kind of like a bass player’s version of Brian. He also has a forum, but it’s not as popular as our AM forum. I guess bass players are not all that sociable.
And then there’s this: Any decent guitar player can just pick up a bass and become instantly fairly good. But how long will it take you to learn slap-bass? And how long will it take you to learn walking bass? That’s where the real challenges lie.
Sunjamr Steve
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There are obviously some different techniques involved like that straight two finger twiddle that is similar to finger picking but is executed much differently. But if you know the guitar well, you can easily already navigate and absorb all the bass guitar teacher stuff very easily because of the complete overlap of strings 3, 4, 5, & 6 being the same as with your guitar. The beauty of the bass guitar is that the patterns fall into perfect 4th tuning, so there is no shift from G to B as there is for standard tuning guitar. Bass is all about bass lines and not so much chords so it’s easier overall IMO. The only thing is some of the unique techniques that are used and the different feel. So that’s where the bass teacher might be of some help to get started on the right track right away.
Anyone that has mastered all the concepts here on AM can play bass after they get used to the feel of those thicker strings which is going to take some time. It’s all the same exact theory and scales, but now there is less improv and more focus on bass lines that just work. yes there are many variations on bass lines, but the core concept is still the same, just in a lower octave.
Another bonus about bass is you pretty much never have to change strings after everything is setup properly. Must be nice.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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You sound like as experienced bass player?
No sir, I’m an experienced guitar player who can play the bottom four strings of my guitar with skinny strings really well. It would take me some time to develop the feel using the thicker bass strings and build up a repertoire of all the common bass lines. I would bet my house that I could become pretty darn good at the basics of it all in a short period of time. It’s just four strings tuned in 4ths. Very simple.
I might pick up a cheap one just to prove the point. Going from bass to guitar is a whole different thing as now there are chords and lead playing with bending and that pesky B string compensation. But going the other way actually simplifies things IMO.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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And then there’s this: Any decent guitar player can just pick up a bass and become instantly fairly good. But how long will it take you to learn slap-bass? And how long will it take you to learn walking bass? That’s where the real challenges lie.
Slap bass is definitely one of the techniques that requires some skill, but it’s kind of comparable to flamenco style guitar technique. I don’t need to play flamenco style to play guitar well, that’s just a particular style that I may never need to learn. Same with slap bass. If you really like that style of bass playing, by all means go for it, but it only shows up in certain styles of music like funk or on old episodes of Seinfeld. I don’t ever see country bass players doing slap bass. It’s usually just a funk thing.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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They sent me the wrong model bass (Ibanez GSR100EX), it’s one model lower down from the one I ordered so I’ll send it back on Monday and try again. I did a quick setup on it and this bass plays really good. Very happy with it, so I hope after the correct one gets delivered, it plays as good as this one. The only difference is there is an extra set of pickups on the 200TR which has a better spot for the thumb to anchor down for E string plucks.
NOTE: These pickups are hot compared to my Strat or Tele and even when the audio interface is turned all the way down, I cannot get the signal low enough to prevent clipping. So I just reduced the volume knob on the bass till it worked. If you have a PAD button on your interface, this won’t be an issue.
I also want to mention, that there is definitely a different right hand and left hand technique going on, but since I’m playing simple bass lines, it’s not difficult to do well. Here is what I noticed or learned after just two days.
1. Have to play each note with a distinct beginning and end. Muting technique is very important especially when playing lower notes. It’s also critical to fret each note cleanly and control the pressure for sounding a note and muting that note.
2. The thumb rests on the pickup for the E string plucks, it transitions to the E string for A string plucks, etc… That’s something new, but I’m getting it pretty quickly.
3. There is definitely a clear plucking technique that has to be understood up front as you practice, I picked up right away.
4. There is no need to stretch your left hand fretting fingers to cover all the frets like we do when playing, just move your whole hand as needed.
5. I’m using my pinky as recommended by the talking bass guy instead of ring finger. This is definitely different from guitar, so I’ll have to shift my thinking a little on this point.
I also noticed that there is more pressure needed to fret bass notes, so that also takes some getting used to, but overall I still think this is going to be an easy transition. It’s actually more relaxing to have less note choices and focus on the pulse in time. I should have done this a long time ago.
I have not signed up for his lessons yet, just gleaning as much as I can from the free stuff.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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I started going through these beginner bass lessons from Rich Brown. He mostly caters to more experienced bass players, but he has an excellent beginners series that had a lot of what I was looking for technique and exercise wise. A lot of my questions were answered in this series of video’s. His stuff working on rhythm patterns is really good as well.
Go slow and practice correct technique, and your abilities will dramatically improve.
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