Play Bass Guitar
Resources for Learning the Bass

Links to the package descriptions on this page:

Recommended Program: Roy Vogt's Teach Me Bass Guitar
Think you know Strings, think again!

Learning to Play Bass Guitar Options

There are many musicians which want to learn to play bass guitar. Although we take the time to teach the theory, which will apply to all instruments, many need more specific instruction on technique and methods to fully appreciate the complexity of playing the bass. Also, some bass players have asked about increasing their awareness of playing bass within a band. 

Currently I'm reviewing several courses and will add information about what I find. So far their are several offerings, but some of the places are non responsive so I'm holding off on even putting them up as options until I can find out more. 

Below are some quick summaries of the courses and materials I've looked at so far. The only caution is that you need to insure that you learn music theory such as offered with our music theory course as part of your education. 

Many of these play bass guitar lessons are simple geared to getting you some basic tips and techniques to get you going. Tips and tricks of the bass are great for playing around and amplifying your knowledge of playing, but there is no substitute for knowing the principals of music for which to take these tips and apply them. 

The offers listed below are different approaches and you can visit them to see if they apply to your situation.

Teach Me Bass Guitar by Roy Vogt

Top: Recommended Program: Roy Vogt offers a comprehensive bass guitar course on DVD called Teach Me Bass Guitar. It does not come cheap, and based on what is offered, you can tell he's put a lot of effort into putting a great course together.

The web was obviously designed by some geek trying to make a point. It is a little flashy and short on substance, there is some information there, but it's strictly a portal to promote the course. That's OK, because Roy has really chosen to focus on teaching bass guitar and not on empty promises. The program is designed for beginners as well as those that have been playing for awhile.

Here's a few items that are included.

• 8 DVDs with video play alongs.
• More than 16 hours of instruction and covers the basic theory through the advanced Bass lessons
• Play along tracks to hone your new skills
• 120 page PDF book to print accompaning lesson material as you progress.

For the video play-alongs that accompany the lessons, Roy has written original music - especially created to showcase the bass - which he performs with a band comprised of some of Nashville's premiere studio musicians. Really cool is the ability to play songs at slow or normal speed, and you can decide to do it without the bass for your own practice.

The downloadable book for Teach Me Bass Guitar is fully illustrated, using color illustrations, photos, and graphic examples of the principles in the DVD lessons. It contains easy-to-understand notation and charts for the examples presented in the videos. There is also an added benefit that when the book is updated, you'll always have the latest edition at your fingertips. There's no charge for community members, where you sign up for on going information.

Teach Me Bass Guitar Course Subjects

When I looked over the 24 subjects covered I found that you start out with exactly what we teach here, but only in a high level. If you truly want to the principles down you still need to work thorough the music theory course. However, you will learn enough to get you started down the right road here.

The course covers double and triple stop chords (fancy way of saying playing more than one note on the bass). Of course there is also technique on slap, thumbing and popping. I like the fact that he works on the typical styles of music like blues, country, funk, rock and my favorite, jazz. He also has a category of Bass for World Music, traditional music or folk music of a culture region.

Roy does cover some of the skills needed to play with other musicians and in a band. Do take note of this. I can tell you that it is not always easy to work with others, but the bass player is key to setting the foundation of the music flow.

Roy's folks are finally catching on about believing in value, and provide a 30 day guarantee to try out the course and learn the value of what you are pay for.

As a finally thought, Roy is renowned for his skills, the beginner will get a huge amount of instruction and even the seasoned players will get some value from this package of his knowledge of the bass.

You can get a few more details at: Teach Me Bass Guitar, but if your seriously considering how to play bass guitar, I'd go take a quick look and go purchase the package, I don't think you will be disappointed.

Mini Courses and Methods for Bass

Play Funky Slap Bass Guitar Riffs | Free Samples!. 

Features video & audio instruction that's different. No theory, no tab, just 100% funk.

Probably a great way for messing around. I wouldn't count on it for in depth learning. 

I find things like this audio course can add one or more techniques to your skill base. You'll have to decide if it's something you want to try. 100%, 60 day money back guarantee if you're not satisfied. Click image or title to see more info.

Music Master Pro - Guitar, Bass, Drums, Lessons!

These guys have lots of video to teach the various instruments and how to play bass guitar. They charge a low one time fee to get access to all the videos. It's somewhat structured but also you can get to anything you are interested in at the moment. Last I checked they were running the under $30 special.  

The program covers more than play bass guitar with lessons on drums and guitar. Expect to be hit up for other products they sell, but if you are on a really tight budget and need to get some video instruction on bass or guitar this site has something that will appeal to you. Click logo or title to visit their page.

Related Information

One of the things that you have to do is care and work with your guitar. Professor Strings (fascinating branding) offers a book on strings from history, manufacture, types, thickness, and a bunch of other stuff you should get to know about. 

What's nice is its all in one simple location to get you educated on the string issues. 

Do you know anything about ASI? That's Advanced String Intonation. I sure didn't. I haven't even seen  anything written about ASI. To be a really good player you may not want to ignore this concept. With advanced digital tuners, ASI has become more prevalent to your tuning. This is the only book you will find on the market that covers the issues of ASI.

If you are serious about playing in tune, you must get this book and read the ASI chapter.

Who should get this book and learn about strings and ASI?

1. Guitarist and bassist constantly battling tuning stability.

2. Guitarist who wish to record in tune.

3. Musicians who are meticulous about their guitars.

Music Software

For some software support and play along info visit 

Music software recommendations or

Guitar software

Here's to you and the ability to play bass guitar to your hearts content.
Stay Tuned!