Bass Guitar Learning Methods
The best way to learn Bass Guitar
As a part of our ‘Beginner’s Guide To Learning The Bass Guitar’ collection, this specific segment offers you the knowhow to choose which approach to learning will most likely be most effective for you and your personal situation.
Primary forms of Learning Methods for Bass Guitar
Humans learn in different ways. Some have got photographic memories; some can speed read, while some can’t read in any way. We are all different, and because of this, there isn’t one ‘correct’ way of studying a musical instrument.
You will find four principal choices open to you, each one with their good and bad points:
- Traditional, face-to-face, one-to-one learning
- Traditional, face-to-face, group lessons
- Video Tutorials
- AppsÂ
Whatever your own personal situation, one of those four choices are going to be perfect for you. We only need to find out which one…
Traditional, face-to-face, one-to-one classes
If you think of bass guitar lessons, you might image images that contains a teacher and a student…
Having private, one-to-one training is definitely a remarkable experience if you find the appropriate teacher. There really is no substitution for absorbing all the knowledge of your teacher.
Our Founder, Robert Emery, was in fact coached by Ruth Nye at the Royal College of Music. She really was among the best professors on earth, and the fact that Robert could soak up her knowledge in 4 years ended up being a priceless gift.
There is a challenge though:
Not every mentor has got the knowledge of Ruth Nye.
In truth, the frightening issue is the fact that to be a music trainer, you don’t need any qualifications in any way. Absolutely nothing. Zip. As a total newbie, you could be taking income from people and pass yourself off as being an expert. And this, dear viewer, is definitely the most significant disadvantage to a conventional trainer:
Quality control.
You will need to look for a really skilled instructor who you connect with. Who recognizes both you and your demands. Who makes you laugh. Who you anticipate going to see each week. When you can find this person, you have then accomplished something a lot of people fail at. Getting inspired by your instructor is the miraculous dust which will keep you learning for years to come.
Of the many possibilities in this article, this is actually the costliest. But as always with things in daily life, you are likely to get what you pay for…
PROS
- Personalised feedback
- Lessons Adapted To Your Style Of Learning
- The Most Efficient Way Of Learning
- Can Be The Most Inspiring Option
CONS
- Expensive
- Difficult Scheduling
- Finding Right Teacher Is Difficult
- Requires You To Travel
Traditional, face-to-face, Group lessons
Depending on where you live, you may be able to find group lessons. Â
The ethos is similar to one-to-one sessions, but the cost per person is much lower because the hourly rate of the teacher can be split amongst the group.
The drawback here is that the attention of the teacher must be split too though. So whilst you may get lesser personal attention you may get a much more social experience and it can be encouraging to have other students to speak and learn with.
PROS
- Personalised feedback
- Can Be Fun Learning In A Group
- Cheaper Than One-2-One Lessons
CONS
- Difficult Scheduling
- Limited Choice Of Teacher
- You'll Learn At The Speed Of The Group
- Sharing The Teacher With Others
- Requires You To Travel
Video Tutorials
Free Courses
YouTube is definitely the most significant source of video tutorials on the globe. There is absolutely no more effective place than YouTube to discover instructional content for X. Because of the sheer amount of alternatives on the platform, it’s out of the question to review all of them.
Like lots of things in daily life, 95% of the material you’ll come across is pretty terrible, with the remaining 5% being absolutely magnificent. The trick is to find the 5%, and that may be easier said than done.
If you do want to go down the YouTube root we can give you a head-start with some good channels to watch. Our top picks are Scott’s Bass Lessons, Talking Bass, Daric Bennet and Hugh Richardson.
All of these channels have websites with further courses, articles and members areas should you want to check out their paid content.
For those who would rather not shell out your hard-earned cash, and to make use of the no cost information on YouTube, you’ll need to commit a respectable amount of time choosing a well-respected teacher that you like.
Paid Courses
With numerous paid lessons online, it’s totally not possible to examine all of them. So we thought we would simply offer the two most in-demand choices:
Â
Udemy is by far the largest online source for paid courses aimed at teaching the individual how to learn to play the bass and further develop your skillset. With the average price of courses around £12, it’s fairly cost-effective to try a few and find the one for you. Udemy offers a creative, fun approach to learning to play the bass, though a word of warning in the spirit of honesty, their claims to take you from beginner to pro in under four hours are very bold! That said, you’ll likely have a solid level of proficiency at the end of any Udemy course to really enjoy playing some of your favourite songs.
This last option is a little harder to pin down and arguably more for advanced students but if there’s a bass player you’ve seen in a video that you’d like to study with and that doesn’t live close by, email them and ask for an online lesson.
A lot of bass players have been offering this service for a long time now so they can provide good quality audio and visuals of what they are doing.
It may seem daunting but don’t be scared to send your favourite bassist an email (there’s usually an address listed on their website), a tweet or a message on their social media channels.
Granted, they may not say yes or be available to teach at certain times of the year but, if you can study with them, it can be one of the most rewarding learning experiences out there.
PROS
- Low Cost or Free
- Huge Amount of Content
- Learn Whenever You Want
- No Travelling To Lessons
- Great For Popular Material
CONS
- So Much Choice It's Difficult To Find Great Content
- Quality of Content Is Questionable
- Not Great For Classical Playing
Bass Guitar Learning Methods - Summary
Let’s get straight to the point.
If you want to learn well and progress quickly, there’s no substitute for a private tutor.
If you want to be part of a community then look at group lessons or joining an online membership like Scott’s Bass Lessons. SBL has a members forum, hours of pre-recorded content from the biggest names in bass and they put on a lot of online events that bring their community together.
If you’re unable to spend money or you want to shop around before committing to a certain teacher, use YouTube.
If there’s someone in particular that you’re really inspired to learn from, send them an email and ask for an Online Lesson.
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