Teachers

I think I have finally found a teacher that fits for me, so will begin lessons soon. It was a long search to find a good instructor that is willing to have a dog as a student. Many of the local options were either music stores that had a rather rigid method with books and such, or else bass players who were mainly teaching how to play songs.

The teacher I settled on has a fair amount of overlap with some of my group and song interests, but more importantly has experience as a teacher, and in teaching musical theory. He plays several instruments and will also be willing to help me learn how a Bass should interact with those. I'm excited to begin these lessons.

That sounds great! Congratulations! How are the lessons going?

kittyt wrote:That sounds great! Congratulations! How are the lessons going?

Lessons have been going very well. It's helped to have someone point out the intricate things that will make my technique better. Just simple stuff like advice on which finger to lead with on my plucking paw for certain portions of a riff, or the angle I pluck at, or such. Having my bad habits corrected quickly has helped quite a bit. We also go into theory, and he even taught me to use a tuning fork to tune my bass and begin learning the sounds of notes.

I also learn to play things quicker when he's playing beside me, and he also can play lead guitar and other instruments, so I can get a feel for where my bass should fit in with the music he teaches me. He's also teaching me how to do my own setup and repair work on my gear, so the lessons have kind of paid for themselves already. Eventually he can arrange for me to meet other students to practice along with.

Of course, it's also nice having someone very musically competent encouraging me every week. Dogs love positive reinforcement. It's been great.

I hope he gives you treats!

My bass teacher focused on the bass, rhythm and groove mostly and he gave me lots and lots of material to learn from. Tons of videos, bass books and audio files. This helped me a lot because there was so much to do. Most of the stuff I never used before and since the lessons are over I find myself digging through it all to learn something new.

If he's not doing this, then make sure you take notes or something, otherwise you'll end up forgetting some very basic and important stuff within about 5 years.

Good luck in the adventures to come

Stryfer wrote:I hope he gives you treats!

My bass teacher focused on the bass, rhythm and groove mostly and he gave me lots and lots of material to learn from. Tons of videos, bass books and audio files. This helped me a lot because there was so much to do. Most of the stuff I never used before and since the lessons are over I find myself digging through it all to learn something new.

If he's not doing this, then make sure you take notes or something, otherwise you'll end up forgetting some very basic and important stuff within about 5 years.

Good luck in the adventures to come

I get quite a bit of material from my teacher. He often makes me charts or such and writes in notes, patterns, instructions, and other important things. Sometimes an hour a week just doesn't seem like enough. Treats are always a bonus, though.