Playing great bass in 6 months - 12 months?

Question

I am a former keyboardist and I am getting ready to buy a bass guitar. I am buying lots of resources such as music theory books, training books and DVDs. I was just wondering if I was to sweat it out for 2 or 3 hours a day training on my bass I might be good enough to get an act together? Since I live in a city that completely lacks bass players I want to do my part. Back on track now. here's the materials I am buying next week: Ibanez IJSB190 Bass Jumpstart Pack, Hal Leonard Bass Fitness – An exercising handbook, Korg Ca-30 Chromatic Tuner, Planet Waves Bass Pro String Winder/Cutter.
Anybody think that maybe I could get something started if I busted my *** for 6 months straight? Thanks and any tips will be greatly appreciated

Answer 1

Yeah you could get going after 6 months, I've played with a bassist that was only going for 2 months at a time, if you work at it, you could do it easy man, and by the sounds of it, not a bad set up at all, wish you the best of luck, practice it up man!

Answer 2

i played bass for 20 some years without lessons or getting into theory. playing bass is more of a feel than anything else. once you get the fretboard down and develope a style, hopefully your own, you should have no problems. ive found that bass notes for keyboard and guitar differ some, but you could incorperate the 2. a bass player does more than just play notes, youve got to be insync with the drummer and you can actually control the tempo of the song. you can slow it down or speed it up. listen to other bass players to see what they do. i started playing in a band 2 mo. after i bought my first bass, not much practice time, so i sucked for about a year. after that it just got better and better. try and remember also that a bass is not a lead instrument. some of them play it like it is and walk all over the other musicians, there is a time to flash, and a time to be simple. sometimes its not what you play, but what you dont play, that counts. take care and good luck. ps. if you fingers blister real easy, i found that super glue works. put a little on your finger tips.

Answer 3

If you practice hard enough, absolutely. It just depends on how good you want to be. Pretty much anyone can pick up a bass and play some simple lines, but to be GOOD is something completely different.

I got my first bass pretty much on a whim, I've been playing for six years now. I haven't taken any lessions or anything, but I feel like I'm a pretty good bassist. I'm doing some stuff now that I thought I'd NEVER be able to do.

I feel like you don't really need all sorts of books and DVDs, just a few basic pointers, because, chances are, you'll find your own style, and it might not be exactly what the books tell you. The exercise book would definitely help, and maybe an exercise tool or some fingerweights. Really, I suppose that anything squishy would probably help you in that area.

Some good bassists for inspiration are Cliff Burton of Metallica (check out the song "Anesthesia") Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, and Alex Webster. Webster plays for a death metal band called Cannibal Corpse, so you might hate the music, but I really do recommend checking this video out because it really is incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Dtfqy8jrg8

Les Claypool is just too good for words, so definitely check out some of his solos and any of his bajillion bands, most notably Primus.

Victor Wooten is considered possibly the best bassist ever. I try not to say that anything is the best EVER, simply because nobody can be sure, but, that's not a title to be taken lightly. So, if there's anyone whose videos and lessons you should check out, it's his.

Here's a video of Victor Wooten frustrating every other bassist on earth by playing Amazing Grace in harmonics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR6t47pV8Qc

I think that looking at stuff like this is one of the best ways to learn, because if you see something you want to be able to do enough, then you'll learn to do it.

Anyway, that's kind of a roundabout way of saying "you can do anything if you practice hard enough," but, yeah. You can!

Answer 4

X-Raided – Psycho Active. I'm a huge X-Raided fan, but I'll admit that he's not for everyone. Also The Unforgiven Vol.1 Is slept on a lot I think. Herb Mcgruff – The Demo EP. I'm also a huge Children of the Corn fan, so I love most music that has come from the artists. Too Short – Raw, Uncut, and X-Rated. I didn't really like this one too much tbh. He has a lot more better material than this. Cool list though. Props. How long did It take you to make this???

Answer 5

Yeah, you should be able to handle it, if you stay committed to it. Do finger excercises to familiarize yourself with the bass, and learn scales. Start listening to the bass lines in songs too. I would recommend you get some practice DVDs to help you with technique.....because being versatile is the key. If you want gigs being a bass player, then you'll need to be able to play country, rock, funk....and anything in between. So the more you practice, the better you'll be. Some good practice DVDs and tapes are by Stuart Ham, Beaver Feldon. Also, remember that bass strings wear out, so if it gets hard to tune, then change your strings, and always have a spare set in your case.....especially on gigs....just in case. Best of luck to you.....and jam on..........

Answer 6

I've been playing guitar for two and a half years. If you know any music theory at all bass will be a breeze. Personally I never did many finger exercises, I just picked a scale and started soloing.