by Should you get bass lessons? Or should you just go it alone and teach yourself bass instead? What’s the right answer?
I’ve had a lot of experience with both. I’ve had some incredible teachers and spent a lot of time learning for myself. Both have their upsides and downsides and a lot of people have asked which route they should take.
However, they’re almost always disappointed when I tell them what I think they should do…
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Real Life Bass Lessons – Pros And Cons
The obvious advantages of getting bass lessons with a teacher are:
- Personalized, real-time feedback
- They can provide structure and the ‘step-by-step‘
One of the less obvious perks of having a real-life teacher is the relationship that you can develop with them. Some of my most cherished relationships are with old teachers and mentors of mine. I still stay in contact with some of them, even though it’s been years since I last saw them.
The same goes for some old students of mine. I’m still good friends with some students – years after any ‘official‘ teaching relationship has ended.
Nothing forges friendships quite like music.
It’s not all sunshine and roses though. Some of the advantages of in-person bass lessons are:
- They can be expensive
- Some players are not great teachers
- A teacher might not teach the things you want to learn
The hidden disadvantage of getting in-person bass lessons is the search for your teacher. You may get lucky and get a great teacher on the first try. On the other hand you may have to search around for ages before you find a teacher who really connects with you.
This can make the search itself quite expensive and potentially frustrating.
Teach Yourself Bass – Pros And Cons
The short term advantages of teaching yourself can be incredibly tempting:
- Free to get started (provide you already have a bass)
- The freedom to learn whatever you want
- It can be unbelievably rewarding
However, the short-term upside though is balanced pretty heavily with long-term disadvantages though:
- It can be hard and confusing to know where to start
- Plateaus in your playing come fast and stick around for longer which can lead to:
- Frustration and overwhelm setting in
- Risk of accidentally developing bad habits that could stop you playing later – permanently
So again, what’s the right answer? Which one should you do? Well, you’ll have to watch the video to find out.
I want to hear from you now. Leave a comment below and let me know 2 things:
1 – Do you prefer to teach yourself bass? Or do you prefer real-life, in-person bass lessons?
2 – Share one big ‘eureka‘ or ‘a-ha‘ moment that you got from either teaching yourself or getting bass lessons. I shared examples of both in the video, so if you need some inspiration, be sure to check it out.
As always, I’m here to answer any questions you might have about the lesson. Feel free to send me an email, leave a comment below or use the contact form.
Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a ton of fun and learn lots!
Good luck and happy playing!
Cheers,
Luke I think taking lessons from a teacher is most always a good thing. I took lessons from you when you were a student in Louisville and that was a turning point in my bass playing.
What stands out the most is hand positioning and drones, both of which are a part of my music practice, and I can’t forget the elbow!
Glad to see you going forward with this site, I remember encouraging you to put your methods online.
To this day I consider you a friend and you made a difference in the music I make, if you ever get back to Kentucky look me up.
Doug
Doug! It’s so great to hear from you again! Whenever someone asks me why I started this site, I always tell the story of giving you lessons in that stuffy basement next to I-65 and you telling me I should put what I was teaching you online. I think it took a while to get through to me, but I’m glad I eventually did.
You are one of the main reasons this site exists – I’m so grateful you pushed me to do it. It’s incredibly satisfying work and it’s helped a lot of people so far – and my biggest growth is still ahead of me.
I’ll definitely look you up when I’m in Kentucky next time. Maybe even check out one of your gigs. The band was Fresh Cut Grass, right?
Thanks again Doug!
Thanks, Luke. I really appreciate all your help & input. While Ive been a drummer all my life, I always wanted to play bass. With the help of a few local musicians & your BAB modules, I’m becoming more & more comfortable with my playing.
Thanks again, John Comer
Hey John – Thanks for commenting and I’m so happy I can help out. That’s the whole goal of what I’m doing, so I’m glad it’s working! I like the hybrid approach you’re taking too – in person, and online learning! Great work!
Good afternoon Luke,
What a BRILLIANT lesson.
Over the past 45 years that I have been teaching, in four most diverse studies you could ever imagine !!! May I comment ? Besides being a good Pro Bassist YOU are A GREAT TEACHER, believe me.
Caring and going out of your way, to help fellow Bassists and Students.
I could go on……
Well Done, Luke…..Top Bloke.
Bob Eberlein,
Beautiful Leicester,
England.
Hey Bob. Thanks so much for your kind words. I work hard to make everything as good as it possibly can be, so I’m thrilled to hear it resonates with you. I’ll keep going and making more and more lessons!
Hello Luke!
I started playing bass about a year ago. I started learning by myself from internet, youtube and books with CDs. I wanted to play 50s r’n’r and rockabilly. Found some great videos but not so many teaching this in double bass. Electric bass blues riff teaching videos I found quite a lot, so I watched them and “converted” the lessons so I could play it with double bass. I wanted for someone to teach me what I wanted to learn, as you said in your video, not only arpegios =) As I live in a small city, even though we have a music academy, I couldn’t find myself a teacher…until one day I found out my ukulele teacher plays the double bass!!! I asked him if he could give me lessons once a month or so. He accepted! The first class I had was great (and all after that!)…it was like a huge “ahaa” moment the whole lesson! So many things I saw on internet opened in a whole new level! And I got to play the music I like =) But if I wouldn’t have tought myself some basics, it would have taken more time to get into the music I want to play. And also it’s so helpful to have someone you can ask if you have doubts about something. So yes, I think you benefit from both teaching yourself and having a teacher.
Awesome Anna! I love that your first lesson was like one huge eureka moment – those kinds of lessons are the best! But like you said, you wouldn’t have got as much out of it if you hadn’t done some work before you got there. Thanks for sharing!