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Question: Tips on starting out, Bass!?
My brother traded me his old bass, for a guitar that I never used!. I wanted to learn bass, he wanted guitar!. good deal; thing is, I cant seem to grasp the concept of the bass!.!.!. I've read books that are suppose to help, they just confuse me more; I have a lot of trouble with learning cords and stuff!.!.!. am I just hopeless at learning this instrument!?
Are there easier ways to learn!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
yea know what your saying,
first job of a bassist is to keep the beat, that's the hardest part, your the back bone for the lead and rhythm guitars,but you follow the beat of the drummer, it's actually a lot harder than it seems, my suggestion would be to find a riff you can play, then do it over and over, must keep the beat though, thats your job! your fingers will take punishment, but once you get the hang of it it will become clear and then start trying to make sence of reading the music, bass doesent use tabs like the guitar so much, but this is what I got from my bassist, so what do I knowWww@QuestionHome@Com

Buy a metronome and let it become your friend, really feel the time you are playing in and figure out some grooves :)

You will still use a metronome even when you're an advanced player, some of John Myungs bass solos I start of learning at 1/2 the speed then just work my way up with the metronome, makes hitting every note a lot easier than just going at full speed right away!. also learning new techniques, metronome will help you pick them up without losing your rhythm!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Look up Youtube videos, a lot of really cool guys on there have little lessons that can get you started pretty well!.Www@QuestionHome@Com