What is the next step after buying a bass guitar?
I haven’t found a teacher yet. The bass & amp were cheap. 0(this is the Philippines).Will it last?
I have a friend who is willing to teach me , he knows how to play but does not know music theory.
Can I do it alone without a teacher? How many minutes to practice? Precautions for hands and equipment?
by the way i have no picks or a strap or effects.
alri i’ll keep this short cause im off to get my hair cut now in a minute.
eh okay the only problem with your friend teaching you is that he may not actually be good technique wise & that will hamper your playing later down the road.
as for minutes to practice, we are all different some learn certain things easier than others (eg i found the F chord on guitar easy to play alot of people have difficulty with it)
so basically as long as it takes you.
you can do it without a teacher but if your looking to seriously play i would recommend a teacher even for a short period of time.
as for equipment just keep it clean polish your bass about once every week (depending on how dusty the place is where its left) & don’t go thrashing it around, treat it like you would treat your mobile phone basically.
here is an old post that may naswer some questions you got.
alot of people i see here post things such as ”i taught myself piano its easy”
let me say any instrument is easy, but to properly play it & understand what the heck your doing (this helps your creative process when writing your own stuff) is another different matter.
i could be taught to recite out 10 basic piano tunes, but give me the likes of Mozarts music & ask me to use certain techniques that are heard on piano. i would fail (as would all the people claiming ”its easy”)
the problem with teaching yourself guitar (or any instrument) is that alot of people give up they get frustrated. (supposedly 90% of self taught musicians quit)
also alot of people can ”play” guitar, ie bang out a few songs & intros eg starirway to heaven.
guitarists are a dime a dozen, everybody plays guitar (heck i play guitar) however a decent guitarist is hard to find this is where you can benifit from lessons.
Lessons are definitely a great idea, a teacher can show you techniques & correct you. i still get corrected over things i do at my lessons.
alot of the internet resources aren’t that great, again it is alot of amateurs with bad technique or looking to make a quick buck.
every music autobiography i have read (& i read quite a fair bit of them) the guitarist/any instrument, has gotten lessons at some point.
there are a rare few virtuoso (ie talented) people who didn’t get lessons but even at that they start practicing with other people who have got lessons & learn off them.
As somebody said those ”guitar for dummies” are great, however that is as a side tool to reference to. not to just teach yourself, at a glance you learn the basics but when you study those books they can get quite complicated & a teacher can clear any questions you have.
a teacher also encourages you to practice & gives you set goals.
PS try not to ask people to give you the chords to a song, its better if you can work them out yourself it creates an ear for certain notes. however make sure what you are playing is correct.
Sure you can learn it by yourself…
I did…
There is so mach information on the internet, you just need to find it.
Check out my FREE mini-course: http://www.beginner-bass-guitar.com
Well, you can teach yourself, but it is best to get lessons from someone at least for a few months. Music lessons can end up costing more than the instrument itself over time so it is not always an option for everyone. You should at least play with other musicians that have some experience so they would be able to give you some advice and constructive criticisms to improve your technique.
If you want to learn music theory you could take a class in it or just look up chords, scales, etc. on the internet; it doesn’t really require a private teacher to learn, just a bit of repetition and practice.
As for practicing, you should try to practice a minimum of 30 minutes a day, but try not to play for more than 2-3 hours because it can start to damage your hands after awhile, especially if you are a beginner. If your hands or wrist ever start hurting while practicing you should stop and let them rest for awhile. It sounds kind of odd, but you can injure yourself by playing an instrument. Stretching your arms and hands before you play can reduce the risk greatly.
the beauty of bass is you can use your fingers to pluck the strings and do what i do go on the internet about different styles of playing and look up tabs play songs that you like all of that helps
you dont need a pick, you dont need effects. you most definitely dont need lessons. first thing i did when i bought a bass was play my favorite songs. i think you should do that.
The best thing to do when teaching yourself guitar is to go on youtube and looking for beginning bass lessons there. If you have further questions that those youtube people don’t answer, just ask here. Start out with learning all your notes on the guitar and from there learn your major and minor scales. After that start learning some easy songs. You’ll get it.
Good Luck!