From time to time I get asked, "What’s the best way to use StudyBass.com?"
Well, the site is nowhere near complete. In fact, I don’t even feel like it has started yet! But, let me explain how I expect the site to be used and not used at this point.
Find a Good Teacher
Firstly, I can’t emphasize enough that the best way to learn is by having a real live teacher guiding your way. Unfortunately, I can't answer questions on an individual basis for everyone visiting StudyBass.com. If you're in Houston, TX, you can look me up for private lessons or contact me through the feedback form.
StudyBass is a great supplement to private lessons – especially for beginners. A good teacher is irreplaceable and will really accelerate your learning. You may have to go through a number of bass teachers before you find him or her. You’ll know when you find the right teacher.
If you can’t find or afford a teacher, I hope this site will eventually be a decent substitute and help with your bass-playing goals. Without a teacher you should be extra critical of yourself. It’s easy to think you know something when you don’t. Consider frequently recording yourself to hear how you really sound.
Online, Not Offline
I created StudyBass as an online educational resource and it is designed for online use. The site won’t work offline if you try to download it. Ripping or automatically downloading the site may cause you to lose access to the site – so don’t. Bandwidth costs money and you slow down the site for other users.
I have a lot of plans for the site and I don’t plan to take it down. Just bookmark the site and visit when you want to learn or review something. It won't disappear.
Site Technology
I try to design everything as user-friendly as I know how. Most of you will have the most recent version of Flash Player installed. Flash is used extensively on the site. If you can watch a YouTube video, you're set.
Using the Bass Lessons
On the site’s menu you will find lessons grouped into categories – basics, technique, etc. Currently, these categories are more or less in the order I would expect you to study them.
You shouldn’t ever get too lost in a lesson since I’ll always refer you to prerequisite knowledge and lessons when needed. If you find you get lost a lot you’re not hopeless — you probably just need a private teacher. Get one.
The first few categories are really essential. I’d spend a lot of time working on and understanding those lessons – basics, practicing, technique, reading music, common bass patterns, and rhythm. Getting those down will set you up for learning everything else I present.
Within each category the lessons go in order from the top down. Be careful not to skip each category’s introductory article. It often contains an important perspective on approaching and understanding the whole lesson category.
You should pick one or two lessons to work on at a time. Go at your own pace. Some may take a day to master while most may take a week or more.
Don't skim like people are prone to do on the web. Read thoroughly. I write everything for a reason and you can miss some essential details!
Just reading through a lesson doesn’t mean you’ve learned it. You need to apply it – a lot! To help you apply things, many of the bass lessons have exercises and quizzes...
Using the Bass Exercises
There’s nothing like learning by example. When appropriate I post exercises and examples applying the concept(s) of the lesson.
A number of people have asked if it’s possible to slow down the exercises. Since I opted for real recorded bass and not midi, it’s not possible to slow them down on the site.
If an exercise seems too fast, I suggest you work through it slowly with the metronome first. In fact, most of the time it’s a good idea to practice things at many different tempos and in different keys and areas of the fretboard. A metronome will help you with that.
I'm aware of some of the exercise printing issues. Hopefully I'll get to fixing it soon.
Using the Bass and Music Theory Quizzes
Learning music requires a lot of memorization. Whenever memory is an important factor in mastering a lesson, I add a quiz to drill you on the important points. I made the quizzes randomized so you can’t cheat and memorize the answers too well. Good luck!
Get New Lesson Updates
If you want to hear about new lessons as I post them, subscribe to the StudyBass.com RSS feed.
RSS, if you aren’t familiar with it, is a web technology that keeps track of websites in which you’re interested. When you subscribe to an RSS feed it’s like joining an email list without giving out your email address.
To use RSS, you need an RSS reader (which you probably already have). Browsers, like Firefox, can subscribe to feeds as can email clients like Thunderbird. Or, you can use Google’s Google Reader.
Once you’ve subscribed to my RSS feed, your RSS reader will automatically check for when I’ve posted a new lesson and give you a link to it.
The Future
As I expand and develop StudyBass.com I’ll continue to update this page on how to use all the latest features and lessons.
Good luck studying bass!
Andrew Pouska
StudyBass.com
Houston, TX
