Get To Grips With Bass Guitar

How is it that learning bass guitar beyond all other genres of guitar holds your particular interest?

Possibly it is that the the particular respect afforded to the bass guitarist appeals to you Maybe thats not so, but learning bass guitar does give you a special status.

Although the lead guitar is usually seen as the face and voice of a band it is the bass guitar which provides the pulse that gives the band its life.

Together with the drummer the bass guitarist makes it his place to set and maintain the rhythm and the pace around which the whole of that band operates.

Through most gigs that are played the focus of attention and the applause goes to the lead guitar and vocalist with the drummer from time to time breaking up that monopoly with a display of his skills with a periodic fast and furious solo routine

But back of all this frenetic activity the heartbeat that gives life to the whole body of the band steadfastly beats on as the bass player cooly goes about his craft.

Seldom the star but often the hero the bass player steadfastly keeps his cool as he continues to give out that life giving beat to the music.

The depth and richness of tone flowing from a correctly tuned and well played bass guitar is a very addictive sound indeed. To be the one playing that sound and actually to be a part of that sound on your own bass guitar is an even greater addiction still.

If you have made the decision that learning bass guitar is what you want to do and that you want to proceed with your learning experience then where do you go from here?  

Buying yourself a bass guitar of your own would be the best start Here comes the most exciting purchase and one you should take your time over and not do impetuously, its time to choose your new bass guitar!.

Look up a specialist guitar retailer because that is where you will get to look at the biggest selection of guitars and receive the best advice in choosing the right guitar for you. Get them to not only show you all the different models, but permit you to hold them and find out which ones are most comfortable for you. A bass guitar has a slightly larger body and longer neck than other styles of guitar and you must be able to hold it and reach the farthest frets comfortably. Don’t forget that as you learn bass guitar you are going to spend many many pleasurable hours with what will ultimately become your best friend .So it is vitally important that you get it right. There is one more step that you must now take. Ask that you can hear the guitars you have short listed played through an amplifier to hear and get a sense of how it sounds.Only when you have gone through this process diligently will you be sure that you have found the right guitar and ultimately have found a new soul mate for yourself.

Great, at last you have your new bass guitar! But, if you are going to start learning bass guitar you have to be able to listen to it. Right, your next move is to get your hands on a bass amplifier.You have to hear your new guitar played through a selection of bass amplifiers that fall within your budget range so that you can identify the one that gives the sound that best gives life to your guitar . See it, try it then buy it. That’s the rule. Not, see it, buy it then try it or buy it, see it then try it! You are going to be using up a lot of your savings to buy and you are going to be spending a lot of your time in learning bass guitar. So no tears, get it right first time.

There are still things you need to buy though before you can start learning bass guitar. You will need to buy a guitar lead to connect the guitar to its amplifier. Also investing in a comfortable guitar shoulder strap will be money well spent.

Your guitar will need to be frequently tuned and the easiest way for you to do that will be with the aid of an electronic tuner. Tuning your guitar is made very much easier if you use one of these and they are not necessarily very expensive.

One more point. You will soon discover that timing is paramount when you are learning bass guitar.

As a guitarist you will get nowhere without timing. It will be your sense of timing that you show when you play your new guitar that makes you a success or a failure at any future auditions you try for.

As you begin learning bass guitar it is much easier if you start playing numbers slowly and then as your confidence increases gradually speeding up through to the correct speed for a particular song.When you start learning new songs for your guitar you will have the most success if you play the number at perhaps half speed until you feel comfortable with playing it and then little by little increase the speed up to the normal pace for the song. So if you will only take notice of one piece of advice away from reading this article it really must be, buy yourself a metronome!

Some people prefer the traditional mechanical style and if that is you then thats great they are certainly still manufactured however electronic metronomes now offer fantastic value for money and are extremely versatile in use. Try and get one with a good “woody” tick rather than a click or a bleep as it sounds so much better. Also get one that goes up in increments of one beat per minute it will make the graduation of speed increase as you are learning base guitar numbers much less frustrating.

Don’t be tempted at this stage by all the many accessories and add ons that are put in front of you in magazines and shops, these are best left to another time when you have gained a better feel for which of those things you might really need.

Now that you have put together a fine bass guitar and bass amplifier how will you now go about aquiring the techniques and skills you need to realise your dream of learning bass guitar

If it is at all possible then it is probably the favourite option to take individual private tuiton from a dedicated professional guitar teacher. If you can find such a teacher convenient to your home and you can pay his fees and are able to fit his lessons around your lifestyle then this is the route you should take.

However there is another way.

For little more than the price of a couple of private lessons you can buy a highly comprehensive multimedia home study course that can deliver fantastic results.

These courses can have you learning bass guitar at home at your own pace and be studied and practiced at the times you are able to devote to them.

As always some are more effective than others and some represent a greater investment than others.But having made your investment in equipping yourself with the right new bass guitar it makes sense that you should now continue to invest in yourself and get a really good course of instruction and start learning bass guitar in a properly structured and professional manner.

Can I suggest that you take a look at the Learn & Master Guitar course? Here is an in depth award winning multimedia suite of instruction written and hosted by renowned guitarist and teacher Steve Krenz. Learn & Master Guitar comes from the Legacy Learning Systems stable of home instruction courses and is without doubt the best of the best available to you today.