Beginner’s Guide to Bass Lessons

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In a bass lesson, the instructor trains you play bass guitar. Bass guitarists are crucial to every band. They are basically the secret to any good band. Therefore, anyone who is looking for a bass guitarist will make sure that he chooses a trained one.

So, if you love playing bass guitar and want to make a career out of it, you should definitely join bass lessons, it will help you develop your skills, giving you a more professional touch.

Here are some tips if you are planning to start your training.

  1. If you are just a beginner, then don’t invest huge amount of money into the instrument. Get a bass for beginner’s level and start practising on that. Once your skills develop, gradually start updating your guitar and soon you’ll be skilled enough to get a high-end model for yourself.
  2. Practice regularly, to master in any field practice is the key. Make sure that you practice at least 30 mins a day, anything less than that won’t have much of an impact.
  3. Develop a strong sense of time. Every bass player has to follow a certain rhythm so, you have to keep a track of time. Its better if you practice with a rhythm device, or play along a recording.
  4. Have a good grasp on root notes. A root note is the first note in the chord. As a bass guitarist you don’t play the cords, you mostly play single notes. Therefore, one of the main roles of a bass player is to play root notes. For example, if a guitarist is playing a G chord, then the bass player will play a G root note. So, make sure you master your G notes.

All of the above-mentioned tips can help you learn bass quicker and better.

Let’s look at the structure of bass to understand the instrument better.

  • Neck: The neck of the bass guitar has the headstock, fretboard and an internal truss rod which connects the neck to the instrument.
  • Headstock: It is the wide part at the end of the neck, where the tuning pegs are located.
  • Fretboard: It is a thin piece of ebony, rosewood or maple. They are slightly arched from side to side, the arch is known as the radius.
  • Frets: These are thin metal strips embedded in the fretboard. They divide the neck into half step increments and determine where each note is played. Some basses can be fretless, but they are for highly trained professionals. If you are a beginner you should definitely go for a fretted bass guitar.
  • Truss Rod: It connects the neck to the body. Bass strings are much thicker that is why they exert a lot of pressure on the neck. Truss rod prevents the neck from twisting. Adjusting the truss rod leads the neck to be straightened if its twisted or bowed.

So, this is the complete structure of any bass that you buy. Before starting your bass lessons, keep all the pointers in mind so that you can get the best out of your training.

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