Has anyone looked at this guy’s bass instruction material?

dvs

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
Yes, I have. I did a couple of his courses - Level Up Your Ear and Level Up Your Groove. Both were pretty good, I thought. Level Up Your Groove was a HUGE help to me in getting on top of my timing.
 
Elio

Elio

Student Of The Blues
I've used some of his materials in the past and also thought they were pretty good, although his marketing materials scream otherwise :cool: My favorite introductory courses are actually free on Truefire and done by one of my favorite bass legends, Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani's bass player). For more intermediate work, I've done a couple live challenge courses with James Eager at ebassguitar.com, which I also thought were very good, as well as some song-specific courses.
 
Dr. Ron

Dr. Ron

Nuthin’ But The Blues!
Hey...I saw your recording of you playing bass at your local open jam. You were solid. Kudos!
 
PapaRaptor

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
MarkDyson said:
The hype on the page dredges up all the snake oil marketing red flags I have, but I wanted some sanity checks from you, the discerning reader.

becomeabassist.com

Beginner Bass Challenge - Become A Bassist

becomeabassist.com becomeabassist.com
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I can't opine on that course.
However, I concur with @Elio about Stu Hamm's Beginning bass course from Truefire. It's free and will give you a good foundation, no matter which direction you choose to go afterwards. If you like his course, he also offers a Part two for the course, which isn't free, but it's pretty reasonable. I've been through both of them and I like them. Stu's course covers all the beginner stuff, but won't insult your intelligence by belaboring many things you will already know as a guitarist.

I also picked up Billy Sheehan's beginning courses on Truefire over the holiday break. I've been through his first part, although it's not nearly as well focused as Stu Hamm's course. I haven't had time to get through his part two.
 
dvs

dvs

Green Mountain Blues
I agree with Elio and Paparaptor, if you have access to Truefire, take a look at Stu Hamm.

I bought a lifetime membership to Scott's Bass Lessons a while ago (was pretty reasonable at the time - not sure what a subscription goes for now). There's a lot of good stuff there by a bunch of different instructors for all levels.

Ariane Cap has some courses available on her own website, though I haven't done those. She has a few things on Truefire and SBL which are good (and have titles that sound pretty similar to her own courses).
 
MarkDyson

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
Elio said:
My favorite introductory courses are actually free on Truefire and done by one of my favorite bass legends, Stu Hamm (Joe Satriani's bass player).
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PapaRaptor said:
... I concur with Elio about Stu Hamm's Beginning bass course from Truefire.
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Well, as it turns out I do have a Truefire account, that I'd basically forgotten about. I re-installed the app, found my login stuff, and there it was. I found Stu Hamm's material quite easily.

Okay, now actually to make use of them. :unsure:
 
Elio

Elio

Student Of The Blues
MarkDyson said:
Well, as it turns out I do have a Truefire account, that I'd basically forgotten about. I re-installed the app, found my login stuff, and there it was. I found Stu Hamm's material quite easily.

Okay, now actually to make use of them. :unsure:
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PapaR reminded me that the 2nd course in the series isn't free, but it was around $20 as I recall. Stu Hamm occasionally plays at a small jazz club in my area, so I keep meaning to get over there to introduce myself and thank him for the courses.
 
TexBill

TexBill

Blues in Texas
Hey @MarkDyson, thanks for reminding me that I have a TrueFire account as well.

When you went to the TF site, did you search for Stu Hamm or some other word, phrase or something entirely diffferent?

Reason I ask, I had trouble locating anything relating to Stu Hamm on first attempt. Then after entering other terms in the search bar, I did finally find info on his First Steps for Beginners course. It is not free. Is that the same as what you found?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you may provide.
 
PapaRaptor

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
TexBill said:
Reason I ask, I had trouble locating anything relating to Stu Hamm on first attempt. Then after entering other terms in the search bar, I did finally find info on his First Steps for Beginners course. It is not free. Is that the same as what you found?
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Part 1 of Stu Hamm's bass course is indeed free. I'm not sure if this link will work, as it is through my account and I have a copy of it, but you might try this.
truefire.com

Learn Bass Guitar 1: First Steps for Beginners - Stu Hamm - TrueFire

Learn How To Play Bass for Free with this Sure-Fire Method for Beginners
truefire.com truefire.com
 
MarkDyson

MarkDyson

Blues Hound Wannabe
Yeah, I just searched on "Stu Hamm" and when his page came up, partway down was featured courses and the free bass intro one was the first one shown.
 
PapaRaptor

PapaRaptor

Father Vyvian O'Blivion
Staff member
MarkDyson said:
Yeah, I just searched on "Stu Hamm" and when his page came up, partway down was featured courses and the free bass intro one was the first one shown.
Click to expand...
When you get comfortable with Stu's course, you should check out Dave LaRue's course. I think this may be my next bass study course.
truefire.com

Modes Made Easy with Dave - JamPlay

Virtuoso bassist Dave LaRue takes you into the world of the modes. With his vast experience and straight forward teaching style, Dave debunks the mystery that is
truefire.com truefire.com

If you're not familiar with Dave LaRue, he has played for quite a few of the guitar gods, Satriani, Vai, Petrucci and Morse. I've seen him play with Satriani, Petrucci and multiple times with Steve Morse in both the Dixie Dregs and the Steve Morse Band. He and Steve Morse become a force to be reckoned with. They do the musical equivalent of finishing each others' sentences.
 
Elio

Elio

Student Of The Blues
TexBill said:
Thanks, Papa.... that did work.
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I started to reply and realized that everyone beat me to it. The next logical one after the free course would be Learn Bass 2: Next Steps for Beginners. Between those two, you will have a pretty good foundation to go on to almost any other course. There are also Steve Araujo's courses on the BGU Member's page (Steve played in Laura and Griff's band, Yard Sale for many years). I noticed recently that he had a second course on the BGU site called "8 Blues Bass Riffs", which has how-to lessons for playing some common blue songs typically played at blues jams. I picked up a couple that I had not previously known from that course and now have the printed tabs in my song book that I take to jams.
 
TexBill

TexBill

Blues in Texas
Elio said:
I started to reply and realized that everyone beat me to it. The next logical one after the free course would be Learn Bass 2: Next Steps for Beginners. Between those two, you will have a pretty good foundation to go on to almost any other course. There are also Steve Araujo's courses on the BGU Member's page (Steve played in Laura and Griff's band, Yard Sale for many years). I noticed recently that he had a second course on the BGU site called "8 Blues Bass Riffs", which has how-to lessons for playing some common blue songs typically played at blues jams. I picked up a couple that I had not previously known from that course and now have the printed tabs in my song book that I take to jams.
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Thanks for the thought. That Counts, you know!

And for the suggestions on where to look in the future. Since I have a bass gathering dust, I have been tempted to start learning some bass lines....

Will see where and if it leads me down another path of destruction:unsure:
 
Elio

Elio

Student Of The Blues
TexBill said:
Thanks for the thought. That Counts, you know!

And for the suggestions on where to look in the future. Since I have a bass gathering dust, I have been tempted to start learning some bass lines....

Will see where and if it leads me down another path of destruction:unsure:
Click to expand...
You have a dusty bass there? In that case, heck yeah! I find the bass to be a really nice diversion from the 6-string. It forces me to really learn the fretboard from a little different perspective, and there is something really cathartic about settling into a nice bass groove. Plus, you'll toughen up those fingers!
 
TexBill

TexBill

Blues in Texas
@Elio Yes it is a true story.

I thought it would be great if my wife learned bass back several years past. I even took her to a music store (independent business) and let her choose color and etc. My only suggestion was it had to be short scale and made by Fender.

So we arrive at the chosen store who had one of the chosen models in stock. After a few minutes of casual conversation with the owner, he brings forth a Fender Mustang Red 4 string bass. My wife liked the feel, looks and color. We brought it home. Then I got her signed up for lessons with a mutual friend of my instructor at the time. That unfortunately only lasted two weeks. The act of attempting to fret any of the strings resulted in pain in the wrist and she gave up learning to play.

I have on one or two occasions played the bass part of one song that has a very easy groove. That has been a few months past and today was a turning point for me. I want to learn more about playing bass. If I can get some relief of pain in my hands, I look forward to gaining more knowledge of the bass. I have an appointment with a specialist next week. Will see how that goes.

Again, thanks for ideas on how to approach learning to play bass.
 
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