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What book should I use to teach playing on a bass guitar?

Thinking of playing a bass guitar, and tips for a beginner?

  • I'm more of a rock-type guy and I've looked at some bass covers on youtube. Mike Dirnt and Duff McKagan are really a kick *** players for me. I could say the two of them inspired me for start thinking about playing a bass guitar. I don't have any musical knowledge whatsoever and I would be thankful if you could give me some tips how to star. A friend of mine from school plays bass for more than a year now I believe and a friend of my dad is playing one too so one or the other could teach me something. I have no intention to be in a band (for now) let alone having a musical career, because I have other plans to do in my life. I just want to play an instrument for fun and for myself in free time. You can see people saying all over the place that playing an instrument using tabs will get you nowhere. What are your thoughts about that? How to actually start playing and if using tabs is not OK, how to train your ear to be able to play properly?

  • Answer:

    Getting a human teacher is the best possible route. A teacher will help you avoid learning bad habits (some of which can end of damaging your hands) and, if they're any good, get you on the road to learning the technique and music theory that will enable you to really make progress as a musician. Having said that, if you work hard and use the resources that are out there it is possible to successfully self-teach. It works better if you already have some background in music. There are lots of youtube teachers, and www.studybass.com is a good resource. Just remember that this is all free and you get what you pay for. You should also take a look at a website called Shakin' the Grounds for information on health issues. http://chriskeuken.nl/ I'm not a tab-hater, they have their uses, but it is best not to rely on them. For one thing, just learning the tab to a song usually doesn't teach you much about music, it just teaches you to follow the tab. For another, tabs often become a crutch to avoid learning how to read proper sheet music. For a third, they are just what other players have come up with as a way to play this or that song, and quite often they turn out to be wrong. Far better to learn to read sheet music, and above all train your ear so that you can figure out a song by listening. Still, having said that, when you're first starting out it can be a real encouragement to be able to actually play a song you know and like and a tab is likely to be the quickest way to do that. Never underestimate the importance of staying motivated. They can also be handy if there's some tricky bit in a song and you can't figure out what the bassist did on the recording - somebody may have posted a tab that will help you work it out. It's a great instrument! Have fun!

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The best thing you can do is take lessons with a good qualified local instructor. A good teacher can show you the correct techniques and help you understand the role of the bass guitar in a band situation. You say you have no intention of being in a band but the bass is an instrument that plays a support part in a band. It is not an instrument that you can really sit around and play by itself. It is designed to be part of an ensemble. Whereas guitar can easily be played solo or in a group context. It is much more fun to play bass in a band.

gtarczar

The bass is pretty relevant to the guitar as in terms with the learning process, I have been playing guitar for three years (which isn't much) and I have been learning to play both rock (through tabs) and classical music (through note reading). The rock songs on tabs are usually funner and are easier to learn, while the note reading on the classical music will eventually while I progress give techniques to just free playing. I find it worth it to read the music because I normally just solo (which is fun) rather than read tabs. I am actually looking to play the bass eventually. However most important over everything is that you play (at least in the beginning weeks/months) everyday for a set amount of time (15-60). The thing that cripples me as a guitar player is the fact that I basically solo and play semi-classical music, which doesn't allow me to memorize songs to play if someone was watching me play.It is really up to you on whether you on how you want to go about learning because I believe if you start on one path you end up doing it most of the time (My friend starting reading tab and he plays and memorizes rock songs, and that's all he can do) while I try to learn techniques and sample of tabs as a reference yet I know only half as many song at the top of my head because I don't practice them as much. Either way is perfectly valid in becoming good at playing, it really depends on what road you want to down, each one will put you as a good guitar-bass player. I don't have a reference on an amazing bass solo, but the Allman Brothers usually play really good bass solos in their songs, (like High Falls and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed) yet I don't know if you like that type of music.

Vancord

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