Advice?

As a beginner I get frustrated and quit working on lessons and just strum around on my bass. Is this a good thing to do? or should I keep soldiering through on the lessons? Any suggestions would be welcome.

as a fellow beginner I'd say if you get frustrated: don't try to do something that's still too hard, I have had that I tried to master a song that was above my level and got annoyed and frustrated but when I tried it again a month or so later I could do it without to much trouble. also, if you really get annoyed or bored just take a break and go do something completely different.
Just a bit of strumming around never hurt anybody though & I do it a lot too.

Thanks,
It's not so much that I am trying something too hard, been there . It's little things like I'll screw up the timing or pace.

weller7503 wrote:Thanks,
It's not so much that I am trying something too hard, been there . It's little things like I'll screw up the timing or pace.

oh yeah, i have that too, can be annoying, you could use a metronome and put it slower and then slowly speed up.
http://www.metronomeonline.com/ something like that might help

Just keep at it and go slow. You'll nail whatever it is you're trying to play before you know it, just keep up the patience and perseverance. From personal experience, I can tell you that it took me a month to be able to play Hysteria at full speed

It only took me a day or so after I learned the line.

Advice: Try to make the random strumming into some sort of pattern. Starting early with jamming might make it easier later on. Try to parctice certain stretches, for example octaves (2 strings lower on the neck, 2 frets closer to the body) or things like that.

Thanks for the input, can't really jam with anyone around here not too many people that play. I put a flier up at the local gas station looking for someone or a band to jam with so far no luck but still hoping. So for now I am driving my in-laws nuts everyday HAHAHA......

am a noob too and i know how bad it is to make the same 1-2-3-4 exercises for twenty minutes on the whole fretboard, but if you really love bass you wouldn't mind.

If it helps you, I will tell you what I did: I am doing practice for 10 minutes or so, hammer ons and some scales (usually the C, Cm) and then I try to work on a tab song that I trully like playing it on bass. Even if I don't play with metronome the song tho, I am definately using one during the exercises!

Take care hope I helped.