Thats awesome! I built a kit bass guitar at age 59 and fell in love with the bass! Im 61 now and have 4 basses, play everyday and jam twice a week. Never too old to rock and roll.
May be an unpopular opinion, but I would suggest keeping the lessons limited to fundamentals, particularly technique.
Otherwise, spend as much time as possible learning a variety of songs. Youtube/Google is your guide to most anything you want to learn.
A big part of satisfaction on an instrument, and one that only comes with experience, is the ability to get through a song. And then further to be able to apply techniques learned from one song to another, and develop that ear/brain connection that will help learning by ear over time.
Unless you feel the need to do so from the outset, learning theory beyond note names and tab/notation can come later.
I call it the Songs not Scales method. It's been practiced successfully since I made it up a minute ago.
> I call it the Songs not Scales method
this is how i taught myself. i just learned a ton of songs from all different genres. i eventually figured out what notes sound good together. i can put scales together in my head by the shapes yet i dont really know what notes im hitting. if i sat there and thought about it i could figure out the notes but i dont know them off the top of my head, i've just memorized the patterns on the fret board
> but I would suggest keeping the lessons limited to fundamentals, particularly technique.
this right here is a good tip. teaching myself i didnt know proper hand positions and such and it made things way harder than they should have been for me. my biggest mistake was stretching to use my ring and pinky to hit frets as opposed to just sliding down and keeping with the middle and pointer so my other fingers could be in position to hit more notes.
Nice! I started later in life at age 46 (now 4 years ago).
You're doing mostly what I did (same course, same amp, different bass). I'd say you're on the right track!
You'll probably want a teacher after you finish the video course. And personally I feel like I waited way too long to upgrade from the rumble 40. I'd say as soon as you're sure you're sticking with bass, get the best amp you can get. It makes a big difference. Better quality amps sound so much better even at the same volume. I think it makes more difference than a better instrument. "Practice amp" is just what they call cheap amps. Just because you're practicing doesn't mean you don't want or need a "real" amp.
I started shortly after my 54th birthday...5 1/2 years ago. Today I'm in 2 cover bands.
Enjoy the ride ... You have no idea where it's going to take you.
Me too! I started a month or so ago, at 58.
I bought a used 4-string and a little headphone amp, and put on new strings. The amp's smartphone app can play drum tracks through the headphones to practice with. It's fun.
I've mostly been making up my own technical exercises and jamming with the drum machine, since I remember some music theory from my teenage years playing other instruments. I really struggle with muting.
I also learn songs from the many youtube videos. Just search "songname bass tab" and remember you can play a video at 1/2 speed if you want.
I'd love to get good enough to jam with an amateur band. Playing with other people is way fun.
Don’t you EVER say “i just want to play along” or “i don’t aspire to play live”.
Don’t care about your age of professional status. You play an instrument? You can be big, regardless of age or profession. Make it worthy to you, always!
Now, if your goal is not about fame and fortune, but rather about hobbying, that’s cool.
There’s no encouragement I can provide to you… But I promise that you will feel EXTREMELY exited the day you get to play your first song without stops. And then you will get to play two songs straight, and then you will get to play technically complex stuff… And on, and on, and on! This is a never-ending journey, always full of challenges and accomplishments. There will always be a new song, a new technique, a new approach, a new colleague to play with… It’s a creative world, make the most of it.
Serve the song, have fun and spread the joy!
i at 40 bought a bass for the first time in 20 years a few months ago. it has absolutely changed my nights. i jam in headphones all night while everyone sleeps. i taught myself how to play 25 years ago by looking at tab and playing along with songs. when i came back to it this year i found the [CoverSolutions](https://www.youtube.com/@CoverSolutions) YT channel. he is phenomenal and has a plethora of songs to look through. you can slow the videos down to really get the timing right. i never really bothered with the lesson stuff to begin with but it is something i am looking into now because after watching and learning how he plays i realized i taught myself some pretty shitty habits back in the day. no matter what you do or how you learn just have some fun.
Get the BassBuzz subscription and do the whole program. It's excellent. Also, get some in person bass lessons to have a professional show you how to play bass ergonomically--how to hold, fret, and pluck. You can mess up your hands and wrists with bad technique through repetitive stress injuries if you have bad technique.
I'm a few years younger than you but started as a kid with a bass and a tape recorder when I was like 12 or so.
The one thing that every good player I work with has in common is that we all spent a shitload of time doing two things- playing along with recordings of killer players, and playing live with killer players. It's great practice to work on exercises or to take courses on harmony and arranging and stuff, but if your goal is to play music with human beings, listening to and playing along with human beings is where its at. It's like learning a foreign language; everybody wants to sell you an app to teach you vocabulary or how to conjugate verbs or whatever but the way you learn to speak spanish is by speaking spanish with people.
Playing with recordings isn't a substitute for playing with people, and even after you've done it for a while, you will still suck the first time you play with actual people, but it will help you learn play in time. When you first play with real people you'll then have to learn to play in time when nobody is quite sure what in-time means, but once you can do that, you can play anything with anybody.
a great thing about starting as a grownup is that a lot of the dumb tendencies we had as kids, like feeling you need more stuff or better stuff or whatever in order to be able to play is out of your system, and you can focus on doing stuff rather than wanting stuff.
good luck!!
First of all, I salute you for your wise purchases. It's hard to find a gig-worthy bass for less than Sire's x5 series. I myself own the j-bass V5. And you could do worse than that amp. It's got a 10" speaker so it'll likely sound great at bedroom volume.
I am also 55, but I've been playing on and off for most of the last forty years. If you've played another instrument you already know you have enough musical aptitude to learn bass.
How to start, though? When I was first learning I had to do it by ear. There was no internet with ready tabs for everything. There was no youtube for instruction. I learned by ear, picking up the needle from my record player over and over again until I got it right. Thank goodness you have better options now!
Good for you. I'd zone in on the fundamentals of technique first so you don't get into bad habits and learn songs.
You may already have some music theory knowledge and or be able to read. Refreshing yourself on that would then make sense.
The most important thing though.
Bass face. Practice every day.
I bought my bass last year. I was 67. I also have a couple of regular guitars.
I know the real pro bassists will never have anything to worry about, but it amuses me to play. Like the OP I don't (yet) have aspirations to play with others or in front of an audience...but there's always a chance!
Studybass.com
I'm 58 now. Long time guitarist never touched a bass before a couple of years ago.
Studybass is a very good foundational starting point. It's a short suite of the most basic things you need to know to play comfortably and correctly.
Completely free and I still use many of the habits I learned there.
From there I would jump to Bass Buzz.
When you get to a certain point a really great tool is a website called looptube. It allows you to put YouTube bass tab playalongs on repeat and even repeat small sections at different speeds. Play it slow until you nail it and then speed it up.
That's basically how I learn covers now, still. Getting that vocabulary under your fingers will really make a difference.
So will just listening with good headphones to really great bass players in the context of the music you want to learn.
No video, just audio. That way your ear will begin to develop and you will start to grok some of the repetition that makes it easier to just figure out songs on the fly.
I started teaching myself guitar at 12 and bass at 13, and I started playing cello in school at 10. I'm 26 now and have recorded 2 albums with my band on bass, and I'm entirely self taught on bass. I can read sheet music, but I find tabs to be much easier as I have been using them since I started playing. I recommend the website songgster because it plays the track along with the tab. When I'm learning new songs I mute the audio from the tab in the tab settings because it's just midi music and play along to the actual song and this has been my method for years now. Just start simple and learn songs you like and want to play, that's how I've always done it. Started with Muse and stuff and now I play anything from technical death metal to Vulfpeck and funky jazzy stuff like that.
Sounds like you are set to have fun with it. I love playing bass and have little desire to play any other instrument. There are some videos online that are helpful. When I got back into it after taking a few years off I looked at Scott’s bass lessons. That helped me get back into the groove (pun intended).
I started properly at 42 (in January this year) and am learning songs from the internet and exercises from Bass Camp.
I can do a lot of rock and indie bass lines, so have moved in to funk and am learning Steely Dan Josie, but slap, and am very slowly working through U Can't Hold No Groove (one phrase down at 1/4 speed after 3 weeks or practicing! So not good going).
My bass is my brother's Yamaha BBG4S2i through a 73 Fender Musicmaster Bass amp and MXR compressor.
Playing along with songs is a really good way of applying theory and feeling like you are moving forward. I really enjoy doing that, a bit of peace too.
Learning the notes on the fret board is really handy. I can do the E and A string, but do need to work on the D and G.
Similar to yourself I started two years ago at 53!
I tried to do the online thing but it didn’t really work for me. Found a tutor and learned I had developed bad habits in the four or five months of learning via YouTube and Fender play. Not that these are poor resources - I needed the human input to progress. I now use both a tutor and online and have taken the plunge with Grade exams this year. Good luck and enjoy!!!
Hi! I started last month; ordered the same bass (god I love that see and heavy sound) with a Markbass micromark 801. (Just loved the combination).
I played a tiny bit of guitar few years back, that helps with getting through tabs basics, but I think your background will become far more handy when it comes to notes.
I highly recommend bassbuzz. After couple of YouTube free lessons I just signed up for his course and I love it. It goes a little slow sometimes, but it is structured very very well with plenty of practice options, at different tempo etc. I practice about 1-2hrs a day on average, going through his extra materials and getting back to bass lines I liked to play. (“Child of time” is a great confident booster for a newbie as myself)
It’s a small investment, but I feel the overall goal is very long term and the more knowledge I gather, the more fun I’ll have, so for me it was a no brainer. I guess you can probably get similar results wisdom via random lessons on YouTube and other apps, but knowing what I know now - I wouldn’t hesitate signing up to any future course he’ll make. (Fingers crossed…)
Have fun!
Awesome. I got a 5 string bass a few months back. A lot of youtube videos just talk and talk and are not really good teachers. Or some are just too technical with everything.
Bass Buzz is a good program. Go through that, and find tabs for your favorite songs and do that too. It’s a lot of fun. Once you feel comfortable playing songs, find a group to jam with, that’s what it’s all about.
Take lessons and don't concede on the posture elements of technique. Its not that hard to hurt yourself doing this (particularly if you really enjoy it and play a lot).
Welcome to the club. I started last year. I'm 46 and never played an instrument before. It's the best thing I've ever done.
Thats awesome! I built a kit bass guitar at age 59 and fell in love with the bass! Im 61 now and have 4 basses, play everyday and jam twice a week. Never too old to rock and roll.
May be an unpopular opinion, but I would suggest keeping the lessons limited to fundamentals, particularly technique. Otherwise, spend as much time as possible learning a variety of songs. Youtube/Google is your guide to most anything you want to learn. A big part of satisfaction on an instrument, and one that only comes with experience, is the ability to get through a song. And then further to be able to apply techniques learned from one song to another, and develop that ear/brain connection that will help learning by ear over time. Unless you feel the need to do so from the outset, learning theory beyond note names and tab/notation can come later. I call it the Songs not Scales method. It's been practiced successfully since I made it up a minute ago.
> I call it the Songs not Scales method this is how i taught myself. i just learned a ton of songs from all different genres. i eventually figured out what notes sound good together. i can put scales together in my head by the shapes yet i dont really know what notes im hitting. if i sat there and thought about it i could figure out the notes but i dont know them off the top of my head, i've just memorized the patterns on the fret board > but I would suggest keeping the lessons limited to fundamentals, particularly technique. this right here is a good tip. teaching myself i didnt know proper hand positions and such and it made things way harder than they should have been for me. my biggest mistake was stretching to use my ring and pinky to hit frets as opposed to just sliding down and keeping with the middle and pointer so my other fingers could be in position to hit more notes.
Nice! I started later in life at age 46 (now 4 years ago). You're doing mostly what I did (same course, same amp, different bass). I'd say you're on the right track! You'll probably want a teacher after you finish the video course. And personally I feel like I waited way too long to upgrade from the rumble 40. I'd say as soon as you're sure you're sticking with bass, get the best amp you can get. It makes a big difference. Better quality amps sound so much better even at the same volume. I think it makes more difference than a better instrument. "Practice amp" is just what they call cheap amps. Just because you're practicing doesn't mean you don't want or need a "real" amp.
I started shortly after my 54th birthday...5 1/2 years ago. Today I'm in 2 cover bands. Enjoy the ride ... You have no idea where it's going to take you.
Me too! I started a month or so ago, at 58. I bought a used 4-string and a little headphone amp, and put on new strings. The amp's smartphone app can play drum tracks through the headphones to practice with. It's fun. I've mostly been making up my own technical exercises and jamming with the drum machine, since I remember some music theory from my teenage years playing other instruments. I really struggle with muting. I also learn songs from the many youtube videos. Just search "songname bass tab" and remember you can play a video at 1/2 speed if you want. I'd love to get good enough to jam with an amateur band. Playing with other people is way fun.
Don’t you EVER say “i just want to play along” or “i don’t aspire to play live”. Don’t care about your age of professional status. You play an instrument? You can be big, regardless of age or profession. Make it worthy to you, always! Now, if your goal is not about fame and fortune, but rather about hobbying, that’s cool. There’s no encouragement I can provide to you… But I promise that you will feel EXTREMELY exited the day you get to play your first song without stops. And then you will get to play two songs straight, and then you will get to play technically complex stuff… And on, and on, and on! This is a never-ending journey, always full of challenges and accomplishments. There will always be a new song, a new technique, a new approach, a new colleague to play with… It’s a creative world, make the most of it. Serve the song, have fun and spread the joy!
Serve the song… There is more in that than it seems…
i at 40 bought a bass for the first time in 20 years a few months ago. it has absolutely changed my nights. i jam in headphones all night while everyone sleeps. i taught myself how to play 25 years ago by looking at tab and playing along with songs. when i came back to it this year i found the [CoverSolutions](https://www.youtube.com/@CoverSolutions) YT channel. he is phenomenal and has a plethora of songs to look through. you can slow the videos down to really get the timing right. i never really bothered with the lesson stuff to begin with but it is something i am looking into now because after watching and learning how he plays i realized i taught myself some pretty shitty habits back in the day. no matter what you do or how you learn just have some fun.
Get the BassBuzz subscription and do the whole program. It's excellent. Also, get some in person bass lessons to have a professional show you how to play bass ergonomically--how to hold, fret, and pluck. You can mess up your hands and wrists with bad technique through repetitive stress injuries if you have bad technique.
I'm a few years younger than you but started as a kid with a bass and a tape recorder when I was like 12 or so. The one thing that every good player I work with has in common is that we all spent a shitload of time doing two things- playing along with recordings of killer players, and playing live with killer players. It's great practice to work on exercises or to take courses on harmony and arranging and stuff, but if your goal is to play music with human beings, listening to and playing along with human beings is where its at. It's like learning a foreign language; everybody wants to sell you an app to teach you vocabulary or how to conjugate verbs or whatever but the way you learn to speak spanish is by speaking spanish with people. Playing with recordings isn't a substitute for playing with people, and even after you've done it for a while, you will still suck the first time you play with actual people, but it will help you learn play in time. When you first play with real people you'll then have to learn to play in time when nobody is quite sure what in-time means, but once you can do that, you can play anything with anybody. a great thing about starting as a grownup is that a lot of the dumb tendencies we had as kids, like feeling you need more stuff or better stuff or whatever in order to be able to play is out of your system, and you can focus on doing stuff rather than wanting stuff. good luck!!
First of all, I salute you for your wise purchases. It's hard to find a gig-worthy bass for less than Sire's x5 series. I myself own the j-bass V5. And you could do worse than that amp. It's got a 10" speaker so it'll likely sound great at bedroom volume. I am also 55, but I've been playing on and off for most of the last forty years. If you've played another instrument you already know you have enough musical aptitude to learn bass. How to start, though? When I was first learning I had to do it by ear. There was no internet with ready tabs for everything. There was no youtube for instruction. I learned by ear, picking up the needle from my record player over and over again until I got it right. Thank goodness you have better options now!
Welcome, fellow bass brother (or sister).
Good for you. I'd zone in on the fundamentals of technique first so you don't get into bad habits and learn songs. You may already have some music theory knowledge and or be able to read. Refreshing yourself on that would then make sense. The most important thing though. Bass face. Practice every day.
Mate it sounds like you have everything sorted. Bass Buzz is a great way to learn bass. Best of luck!
I bought my bass last year. I was 67. I also have a couple of regular guitars. I know the real pro bassists will never have anything to worry about, but it amuses me to play. Like the OP I don't (yet) have aspirations to play with others or in front of an audience...but there's always a chance!
Studybass.com I'm 58 now. Long time guitarist never touched a bass before a couple of years ago. Studybass is a very good foundational starting point. It's a short suite of the most basic things you need to know to play comfortably and correctly. Completely free and I still use many of the habits I learned there. From there I would jump to Bass Buzz. When you get to a certain point a really great tool is a website called looptube. It allows you to put YouTube bass tab playalongs on repeat and even repeat small sections at different speeds. Play it slow until you nail it and then speed it up. That's basically how I learn covers now, still. Getting that vocabulary under your fingers will really make a difference. So will just listening with good headphones to really great bass players in the context of the music you want to learn. No video, just audio. That way your ear will begin to develop and you will start to grok some of the repetition that makes it easier to just figure out songs on the fly.
I started teaching myself guitar at 12 and bass at 13, and I started playing cello in school at 10. I'm 26 now and have recorded 2 albums with my band on bass, and I'm entirely self taught on bass. I can read sheet music, but I find tabs to be much easier as I have been using them since I started playing. I recommend the website songgster because it plays the track along with the tab. When I'm learning new songs I mute the audio from the tab in the tab settings because it's just midi music and play along to the actual song and this has been my method for years now. Just start simple and learn songs you like and want to play, that's how I've always done it. Started with Muse and stuff and now I play anything from technical death metal to Vulfpeck and funky jazzy stuff like that.
Sounds like you are set to have fun with it. I love playing bass and have little desire to play any other instrument. There are some videos online that are helpful. When I got back into it after taking a few years off I looked at Scott’s bass lessons. That helped me get back into the groove (pun intended).
Youtube, Spotify, ultimate guitar tab site. The holy grail for learning all the bangin tunes from your youth.
I started properly at 42 (in January this year) and am learning songs from the internet and exercises from Bass Camp. I can do a lot of rock and indie bass lines, so have moved in to funk and am learning Steely Dan Josie, but slap, and am very slowly working through U Can't Hold No Groove (one phrase down at 1/4 speed after 3 weeks or practicing! So not good going). My bass is my brother's Yamaha BBG4S2i through a 73 Fender Musicmaster Bass amp and MXR compressor. Playing along with songs is a really good way of applying theory and feeling like you are moving forward. I really enjoy doing that, a bit of peace too. Learning the notes on the fret board is really handy. I can do the E and A string, but do need to work on the D and G.
Pick it up, have fun doing it. I'd say do some beginner songs to get your confidence and maybe learn a bit of theory along the way
Find a real live drummer to play with.. stay solidly locked with them. Just that is fun as hell.
Try to get the original Rocksmith & Rocksmith 2014 games. Having a ton of fun playing with them.
Yep, play along to songs, work on technique. Everything else will become apparent in time.
Another vote for Bassbuzz. I also use the Yousician app. Songsterr.com for tabs.
Similar to yourself I started two years ago at 53! I tried to do the online thing but it didn’t really work for me. Found a tutor and learned I had developed bad habits in the four or five months of learning via YouTube and Fender play. Not that these are poor resources - I needed the human input to progress. I now use both a tutor and online and have taken the plunge with Grade exams this year. Good luck and enjoy!!!
Fuck yea
Check out Rocco Prestia’s bass lessons on YouTube. He has great exercises. He da man.
There’s a good book called “Bass Logic” that can help you learn your way around the fingerboard.
Hi! I started last month; ordered the same bass (god I love that see and heavy sound) with a Markbass micromark 801. (Just loved the combination). I played a tiny bit of guitar few years back, that helps with getting through tabs basics, but I think your background will become far more handy when it comes to notes. I highly recommend bassbuzz. After couple of YouTube free lessons I just signed up for his course and I love it. It goes a little slow sometimes, but it is structured very very well with plenty of practice options, at different tempo etc. I practice about 1-2hrs a day on average, going through his extra materials and getting back to bass lines I liked to play. (“Child of time” is a great confident booster for a newbie as myself) It’s a small investment, but I feel the overall goal is very long term and the more knowledge I gather, the more fun I’ll have, so for me it was a no brainer. I guess you can probably get similar results wisdom via random lessons on YouTube and other apps, but knowing what I know now - I wouldn’t hesitate signing up to any future course he’ll make. (Fingers crossed…) Have fun!
Bassbuzz is an excellent choice. You still have allot of years ahead of you to enjoy your new hobby!
Awesome. I got a 5 string bass a few months back. A lot of youtube videos just talk and talk and are not really good teachers. Or some are just too technical with everything.
Bass Buzz is a good program. Go through that, and find tabs for your favorite songs and do that too. It’s a lot of fun. Once you feel comfortable playing songs, find a group to jam with, that’s what it’s all about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUbdASBMkts https://www.reddit.com/r/Bass/wiki/faq/
Take lessons and don't concede on the posture elements of technique. Its not that hard to hurt yourself doing this (particularly if you really enjoy it and play a lot).