I'm working my way through what seems to be a pretty decent online, self-paced tutorial. It's at
http://www.studybass.com. It's pretty obvious to me that the author has been very successful at teaching bass for several years. His insights about presenting a measured level of content, at a reasonable pace, keeps me engaged and motivated.
Though the site does not present a super-rich multimedia experience, the limited videos, slide shows, interactive graphics and sound samples are very much on target.
The author's instruction is predictably geared to the common 4-string electric bass. However, the concepts and his teaching method are so generic, they really work well with the Ashbory. It's all about "E", "A", "D" and "G". Those bass-playing techniques that are possible on the electric bass, but not easily done on the 'bory, can be skipped over without any loss of continuity.
I really like the step-wise progression that the author is taking me though in the lessons. He's really sticking to the time-tested teaching strategy: "You have to learn to crawl before you walk or run." And so, each section logically builds on the previous topic section. Good exercises (with audio) are strategically located throughout.
This is not a formal music theory learning environment. Though there are plenty of alternative learning references offered to investigate, the content is geared much more to presenting the practical, immediately usable knowledge and physical skills that keep the student moving along. I don't know about you, but I really don't like getting bogged down in theoretical topic details when I'm learning something new. All I want initially is the bare necessities to keep my interest up, and to give me some encouragement to dig deeper once I've gained a working foundation. So far, that's EXACTLY what I'm getting...and I really appreciate the extraordinary effort and consideration the author has volunteered.
Check out
StudyBass.com when you get a chance.
Can you recommend other online bass-centric tutorials? How about some method books?
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Topic: Working through the online tutorial at StudyBass.com (Read 1438 times)