Best way to learn bass

I wouldn't say lessons are a waste of time or money. Sure they can get rather expensive, but you'll be the best gauge when you think you can fly on your own.

I think lessons are important for learning the basics and proper technique. That's not to say any one way is better than the next, but having knowledge of those fundamentals passed down by an instructor definitely helps the learning curve.

I think it's easy for people to be “self-taught” now with all the lessons and tutorials you can find on the Internet.

when I first took up the bass in 1991, there weren't a lot of options to learn a new instrument other than trial and error, or taking lessons. I took lessons, which covered the basics and then eventually got me into enough music theory to make my head spin. Sure there were VHS tapes in 1991 that you could pause and rewind to learn certain things on the bass. (See kids… a VHS tape was a large cassette tape that was played through a large player like a DVD player, but not as cool). But those VHS tapes were very expensive for what they were.

I think if I were to do it all over again, I would have stuck with instructor lessons to learn more about sight reading sheet music and more about theory before I went off on my own to find my chops.

Ok, got the bass playing spot in my High School Jazz Band my freshman year. The music teaching staff wasn't much help, so I took it home and started to learn bass clef in the staff again because, after playing the Tuba for 2 years at that point, I got used to reading just below the staff. I just spent a lot of time learning by ear and playing along with classic Metallica tunes. Now there are 4 bass players in my school, including me, and the only dream of being able to do what I can. There are about 60 where I live, including me, and I'm second best. The top guy is the guy that's been giving me some useful tips and taught me how to tap. He's 40 or so and been playing for about 30 years. That's how I learned bass. Good enough?

I think we do. I just recently learned it. It's on UG or here

hey string guy… fb? lol

I've never written a tab before, but I will certainly give it a try.

I haven't played the song in probably 10 years, but I'll see what I can do.