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Never played one but do love the look of them. One of the bass podcasts we’re talking about them and preferred the even cheaper Intro series. Passive not active but they reckoned the cheap preamps in the Sub series weren’t great anyway. Also the pickups in the Intro are wired like the Ernie Ball ones, so sound more like a proper Stingray.
Low End Lobster on YouTube did a pretty deep dive into the Sub series and compared a whole lot of mods, both preamp and pick ups.
just picked up the bass, looks like the amp ive borrowed is a rumble 15, got a lead and tuner so im good to go. just need to source a strap now.
also need to suss out how to tune it. its got an input and output, so do i plug the lead into it then a 2nd lead from tuner to amp or somethings? ill have to find a video or two.
ill sign up to yousician for a year and see how i progress.
cheers
EDIT: cant see a discount on there now, have i missed the boat with that?
A few codes here. Not sure if any work though, but worth a try.
https://yousician.valuecom.com
You can just plug into tuner to quickly check tuning then swap lead over to amp. Make sure amp is switched off before plugging in.
A few codes here. Not sure if any work though, but worth a try.
https://yousician.valuecom.com
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thanks, doesnt seem to be any option to add a code tho, just goes through to free 7 day trial, stick your card details in and we'll take it in 7 days time. ive emailed them, see if they reply with anything.Make sure amp is switched off before plugging in.
yeah? so always connect leads before switching on yes? thats good to know.
thanks
I've got a crackle somewhere.
Playing through an iRig into the MacBook and listening through headphones via Yousician. All the connections are spotlessly clean.
Sometimes it's fine then and almighty electronic crackling sound kicks in when I play. It's not fret buzz or anything it sounds like static.
Any idea what to investigate before I break something?
well those nice people at yousician sent me a 25% off code, so im in now for a 7 day free trial. could have timed it better as i start 5 days work but im sure ill just keep the sub anyway.
work pc wont allow the app download, so am i right in thinking that you can only use it within the app? no interaction from within the website itself?
cheers
Yes I've got the app launcher on the desk top. I never go to the website.
Do you like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Steppenwolf, Thin Lizzy Beach Boys etc? Loads of stuff to get going at.
Looks like Fender Play has locked me in for a year. I got a cracking discount last year and forgot to cancel it before auto renewal. Oh well...
Do you like AC/DC, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Steppenwolf, Thin Lizzy Beach Boys etc? Loads of stuff to get going at.
i dont mind the odd one, but im hoping that yousician will do more than just let me copy other songs by showing me bass tabs. im hoping that itll teach me the basic nuts and bolts of playing bass, how to play it, tips and tricks, fretboard hand placements, strumming/plectrum comparisons, maybe some music theory, scales, keys, all that sort of thing.
will it?
I really liked bassbuz when I first started learning, I think he just gets the delivery and pacing right for learners
is that a paid sub too, and if so how does it compare to yousician?
thanks
Its not a sub, it is just a course, probably takes about 3 -4 months, I don't know about yousician, but I thought it was better as a grounding "base" than fender or scots bass lessons. But after you finish it you will move onto one of the others. In my experience, I wouldn't jump into an annual subscription straight away, try them for a month and then swap to annual if you get on with their offering.
A week isn't long enough to really sample if their teaching style fits you IMO.
will it?
No.
The guitar program is a lot more educational. The bass one is more about playing.
As an absolute beginner what you'll realise is that playing bass is physically difficult and your fingers won't want to do it. You'll have no speed, no stamina, terrible accuracy and you won't be able to hop strings and quickly fret notes. It'll sound horrible.
If you jump straight into music theory at this stage you'll be trying to memorise abstract concepts like the C major scale, the circle of fifths or something (stuff that makes no sense at this stage) while also not being able to actually play it.
Yousician will have you playing to a beat and keeping time from day one which I'd argue is an essential skill for a bass player. It'll teach you to keep your head up because you can't watch the monitor if you're staring at the fretboard. Treat it like going to the gym. Pick an easy tune and just play it repeatedly until it's easy then move up a level. It'll take a few months to start feeling good but it's so much better than just sitting in an otherwise silent room going bom-bom-bom-twang-buzz-bom-bom.
I'm time poor. I work all day and have a kid so for an hour after his bedtime I can plug in and bang out full tunes for an hour. When I've got more time I'll go back to SBL and learn some theory. But then I think what's the point? I'll probably never play outside the house, I'm hardly going to compose any music.
When I do go back to music theory now I see lots of techniques that make more sense now because they're actually useful and pop up in the dozens of songs and millions of notes I've played so that's something.
When you do want to start with theory learn chord tones. I don't know why they're not page 1, lesson 1 of all bass education but for some reason scales always come first. Learn chords and you can instantly play along with other instruments like guitars and pianos. But, only if you've been putting in the hours on your fingers.
As an absolute beginner what you’ll realise is that playing bass is physically difficult and your fingers won’t want to do it. You’ll have no speed, no stamina, terrible accuracy and you won’t be able to hop strings and quickly fret notes. It’ll sound horrible.
you would appear to be bang on the money there. who'd have thought Warhead and Blitzkrieg Bop could ever sound so sh1t?? 😀
incidentally, did you ever install the app on your phone? thought id try that for work but once in it i cant come out of it to go back to normal phone duties. cant see an 'exit app' anywhere. any ideas other than switching the phone off and then back on?
thanks
Never used it on the phone sorry. MacBook with an amp at first then and iRig with headphones.
Are you playing with fingers or a pick?
Another thing you'll notice is that even on technically easy songs where you're just pedalling away it's hard to get a consistent tone from each note. Like volume, duration, lack of fret buzz and whatnot. I sometimes play really long, repetitive songs just to practice making all the notes sound the same.
Another thing you’ll notice is that even on technically easy songs where you’re just pedalling away it’s hard to get a consistent tone from each note. Like volume, duration, lack of fret buzz and whatnot. I sometimes play really long, repetitive songs just to practice making all the notes sound the same.
This is an underrated point. It makes perfect sense when you think about it, but in practice, everyone always wants to zoom off somewhere more interesting, but the ability to play in consistent tempo and dynamic level, with pick, fingers or whatever, is so important. As an ex-drummer, its exactly like practicing rudiments, for exactly the same reasons.
I have simple tastes when it comes to music, so I'm perfectly happy to pick or pluck alone to relatively simple and repetitive tunes that I enjoy. Hysteria will come one day!
Are you playing with fingers or a pick?
im open to trying both, but naturally finding a pick easier.
Funny, I find pick much harder, due to having to remember to mute unplayed strings. Fingers kind of takes care of that for you, once you get used to it.
I try to practice both.
Funny, I find pick much harder, due to having to remember to mute unplayed strings. Fingers kind of takes care of that for you, once you get used to it.
i should probably expand by saying i find the pick gets me 'better' results, i find it not so ergonomically efficient tho. strumming more efficient but im hitting 2 strings at once, getting different results each 'pluck', it just doesnt sound as efficient as the pick. altho the downside of the pick as you say is that the open E string is still ringing long after ive moved onto a different string 😀
only day 2 tho, and i probably wont get much chance to practice again til monday. hence just going through the yousician app on my phone to see what its all about, altho first impressions are its very limited. not had a thorough look at it yet tho.
I play with my fingers 90% of the time. It's more difficult to learn and everyone I know who started with a pick never bothered to play with fingers as it felt like a frustrating step backwards. Starting out with a pick is probably like doing driving lessons in an automatic.
I started with my thumb anchored on the pickup but it's almost impossible to mute the strings and prevent all kinds of horrible noises. Then I found the 'floating thumb' on YouTube and switched. I had to slow down a lot to adopt a new habit but it was absolutely worth it.
I save the pick for rock stuff like Pixies, Buzzcocks, Ramones and stuff.
I've been hitting a wall recently like I've run into a speed limit. I've been trying to play stuff with proper solos in or tricky little fills and finding my fingers just don't move that fast. I'm getting there though. I always start slow and build up to it. I can feel it coming but some days I'm useless so I have a break.
When I said it's like going to the gym I wasn't joking!
Sharkattack hit the nail on the head. Yousician is great for playing actual music but IMO not a great teaching resource. When I started I got a free Fender Play trial and then took a year at half price. Used it for about 4-5 months to get the basics but it was pretty boring stuff. It was only later after playing lots of actual music that I understood where the teaching was leading. I moved to Scott's Bass Lessons and am still there. I started back at the beginning and did the Beginners Journey all the way through. Some of it just reinforced what I knew, other bits were really informative. Currently working my way through the Blues course. It's not the cheapest but a years sub is the price of five one hour face to face lessons. You can also download workbooks and tabs to keep. Bass Buzz Beginner to Badass is a similar idea but a one off fee.
Lots of other free resources online but I don't think anything can beat a good structured program to start you off.
SBL is great but there's a lifetime of practice on there. Really deep educational courses that will teach you everything you could ever need to know. I made the mistake of diving in as a total beginner and as I said, I didn't understand the concepts and I also couldn't physically play the bloody thing yet so it was a waste of time.
Those big bass strings push back on soft, pink untrained fingers! Now I've got fingertips like conkers and I can rip up and down the fretboard a fair bit without coming out in cramps and blisters.
SBL will be there if I ever get the spare time to dedicate to it.
I started on Yousician and still use it( first song i leaned was Bad Moon Rising). Also using Ultimate Guitar, which has lots of tabs. I then started having lessons with a guitar teacher and learned a lot. They put me onto a site called RockSchool learning, which has a cheap subscription(about £40 for a year) with a 30 day trial, although my trial lasted about 5 months, lots of stuff about arpeggios, scales etc.
SBL is great but there’s a lifetime of practice on there
Totally, but the updated Beginner Journey that launched last year, is a very good three part course starting from the very basics up. Much the same as Beginner to Badass.
These courses aren’t cheap but for me they’re worth paying for.
Next time they have a big discount I'm buying a lifetime membership. Then I don't have to think about it anymore! I'll just be in for life.
Then when junior starts school and I'm 'working from home' I can start learning the theory behind what I'm already playing.
Next time they have a big discount I’m buying a lifetime membership
That's what I did just before xmas. Was half price, which after the $ to £ conversion was £394.
hmmm not got chance to practice for a few days so just doing the knowledge elements on yousician. is that all there is to it with knowledge, just the 9 steps or am i missing some progression somewhere?
gut feeling is i dont think ill get much from this other than practising songs, and that therell be better programmes out there. ill suss out some of your suggestions over the next few days.
wish id started the trial at the start of my days off now to fully test it.
I’ve been hitting a wall recently like I’ve run into a speed limit. I’ve been trying to play stuff with proper solos in or tricky little fills and finding my fingers just don’t move that fast. I’m getting there though. I always start slow and build up to it. I can feel it coming but some days I’m useless so I have a break.
A learning from sports coaching. Practise doing things properly, not fast. Accuracy of plucking, hitting the frets just behind the fret, etc. Really concentrate on getting it right.
Then leave it.
your brain starts by building neural connections and subsequently lays down insulation (myelin) around them which improves the signal. So you want first of all to lay down a really sharp and accurate connection, not a vague and muddy one. You want your fingers to do exactly the right thing, not approximately - even if approximately sounds OK for a beginner. If you're doing it wrong entirely - you'll just get better and eventually really good at doing the wrong thing.
And even without playing, the myelin insulates the signal and makes it faster and stronger.
If there's a tricky transition in a song, I isolate that and play it really slowly and deliberately, over and over. Set yourself (I do) 20 repetitions, making each one as good as possible. If you think you've nailed it after 10 - do another 10 anyway, it's repetition. If after 20 it isn't nailed down - stop. You don't want to overtrain a mucky pathway.
And then you come back a couple of days later and with no apparent effort, you just somehow got better.
Taught to me / my son by a Romanian basketball coach, and it translates, try it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myelin
Thanks for the detailed explanation!
That's what I already do to be honest but I didn't know the science behind it.
When I get stuck I don't get frustrated I just slow it right down and play every note right. Then you can set the speed to increase 5% automatically on every repetition until failure happens again. That's how I've built up to everything I've tackled so far.
I can't believe the stuff I'm playing now when I think about it.
gut feeling is i dont think ill get much from this other than practising songs,
What else do you want at this stage? Playing songs IS learning to play bass. Listen to the drums, play in time, build your strength and synchronise your hands.
Even if you could magically download all music theory straight into your brain it wouldn't be any use unless you've done the hours of actually physically playing and listening.
And then you come back a couple of days later and with no apparent effort, you just somehow got better
I found this too. I learn a lot of songs from You Tube, which has the helpful option of slowing things down without changing pitch. Then even fast difficult bass lines like Kid Charlemagne seem almost playable at 50% speed. Slowly, practicing then letting it embed in my mind overnight, I can build up to 75, 80 90, 95, and 100% - a feat that seemed impossible when I first start learning the song.
sharkattackFull Member
I play with my fingers 90% of the time. It’s more difficult to learn and everyone I know who started with a pick never bothered to play with fingers as it felt like a frustrating step backwards. Starting out with a pick is probably like doing driving lessons in an automatic.
I think I am weird then, because I can't fingerstyle guitar to save my life (or play with a plectrum argueably) but on bass I'm much more comfortable playing with fingers. I think it's because I started guitar with a pick, and bass fingerstyle.
Then you can set the speed to increase 5% automatically on every repetition until failure happens again
If it works for you, great, I would try and avoid temptation to get to where you fail. Or rather, find that point and then come back 2 or 3 steps again and focus on precision at that point.
Yeah, I know what you mean. Still some songs in my blues course that I still can’t play at full speed. Use an audio programme to as alter the speed and build up from there. If I get to a point where I feel frustrated then I move on to another tune and come back later. Some teachers say not to move on to new pieces until you’ve perfected the last, but for me, I progress better if I give it some space and come back. In my course I’ve recently gone back to the start and the improvement in my playing of early pieces is huge.
I can build up to 75, 80 90, 95, and 100%
It's also fun to try and play at 105% so that when you go back to 100% it doesn't feel quite so on the limit and you feel more in control
They put me onto a site called RockSchool learning, which has a cheap subscription(about £40 for a year) with a 30 day trial, although my trial lasted about 5 months, lots of stuff about arpeggios, scales etc.
just had a look, cant see a sub or any 'playing' resources, just books and exams?
gut feeling is i dont think ill get much from this other than practising songs,
What else do you want at this stage? Playing songs IS learning to play bass.
well i guess so, i just thought that that part of it i could get anywhere, youtube etc. i was hoping for more not theory as such, reading music etc, but beginner basics such as practising hand positions, finger positions, economical hand movements and the like. help in not twanging two strings at once, finger dexterity, you know, just basics to get comfortable with it before practicing songs. yousician seems to gloss over those with a few 1 minute soundbites with beardy bloke giving it a smug little flourish at the end 😀
so my question is, is a large catalogue of songs worth a yearly yousician sub, or is there better out there for getting better at the basics?
ill maybe cancel this trial after my 7 days is up and try the SBL trial.
Give them all a try*, I find it a very personal thing as they all have their own personalities and teaching methods. I really liked Josh’s Beginner to Badass course on BassBuzz, he’s great fun and I picked up loads and is easily my favourite. I’ve done three of Mark Smith’s courses on Talking Bass, I don’t find him as engaging, but he knows his stuff and there’s a really extensive catalogue of lessons. Luke (Become an Bassist) nice chap but it didn’t work for me. Jazz Moss (Bass Skool), very laid back, I like his easy going approach. Rich Brown (The Brown’stone) even more laid back. Dan Hawkins, nope. Scott’s Bass Lessons, there’s a reason Danny Sapko constantly takes the piss, so also no. Oh, and Fender Play is like having your teeth pulled imho. Good luck.
*All of these people have a YouTube presence.
This tells you how to get on rockschool learning
its becoming clear i need some headphones to plug into the amp so i dont annoy the wife in the evenings whilst she's reading.
should i just get the cheapest ones i can find, or are there fairly decent ones for not much more.
oh and same question for a stand. ebay mucho cheapo? or something a bit better?
thanks
what's the point? I'll probably never play outside the house, I'm hardly going to compose any music.
Don’t underestimate yourself! There’s so much to be said for just noodling about trying to find cool riffs or chord changes (like putting together sequences of eighth note roots). Embrace that punk mindset - anyone can write a song (or parts for a song)!
Coming up with new music is a strange thing - so much of the time I’m just messing about and cool parts just pop into existence. It feels like they’re things that that always existed and were just waiting for someone to find them.
I've just got some cheap Roland headphones. I'll check the exact model later but they have a really long wire and come with the jack adapter you need for your amp.
They were less than £30.
Well, for everyone who might have thought that I was dead or something, I’m not......
Still doing some playing, although not as much as I would like - gigs aren’t that easy to come by.
Basses that I’m mainly using now are Peavey RJIV (very rare this side of the Atlantic), Peavey Rudy Sarzo signature (ex Rudy Sarzo) with Glockenklang three band EQ and coil switching and a GR Lasido fretless with Zeta Piezo bridge, Andreas Richter buffer stage (with trim pots for each string) and John East two band EQ. The two Peaveys are 1990, and the GR is, I think, 1987.
Amplification I’m using TC Electronics RH450, RH750 and Blacksmith heads with an assortment of RS cabs to choose from (2x10, 2x12, 1x12). Mostly I use 1x12 (x2or3) and a 2x10 driven by another head.
It seems, at the minute, I can’t attach files otherwise I’d post a few bass photos.......
Well, for everyone who might have thought that I was dead or something, I’m not......
Still doing some playing, although not as much as I would like - gigs aren’t that easy to come by.
Basses that I’m mainly using now are Peavey RJIV (very rare this side of the Atlantic), Peavey Rudy Sarzo signature (ex Rudy Sarzo) with Glockenklang three band EQ and coil switching and a GR Lasido fretless with Zeta Piezo bridge, Andreas Richter buffer stage (with trim pots for each string) and John East two band EQ. The two Peaveys are 1990, and the GR is, I think, 1987.
Amplification I’m using TC Electronics RH450, RH750 and Blacksmith heads with an assortment of RS cabs to choose from (2x10, 2x12, 1x12). Mostly I use 1x12 (x2or3) and a 2x10 driven by another head.
It seems, at the minute, I can’t attach files otherwise I’d post a few bass photos.......
I've just got some cheap Roland headphones. I'll check the exact model later but they have a really long wire and come with the jack adapter you need for your amp.
They were less than £30.
thanks, id be interested in finding out what options there are with a proper jack.