Learning Bass Guitar From Scratch...

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has any info on some good resources (internet/books/other) for learning bass guitar from scratch. I've wanted to learn for a while, but seeing Hooky play his DJ set in Guangzhou, China (even though he never picked up the instrument of course!) and geting the chance to meet him finally inspired me to get off my arse and do it Plus the fact that I've just been divorced and moved to a new country... so I've got time on my hands! Picked up a nice "beginner's model" pretty cheap in Thailand and it's sitting on the couch taunting me as I write... Cheers everyone!

All I did when I started playing bass 25 years ago was just listen to what Hooky plays and try and pick them out on the fretboard, going up and down the frets rather than across all the time. It'll soon come!

I'd recommend going to a guitar tab website like OLGA...but the Record Industry Gestapo have gone so far as to recently threaten such websites into shutting down because apparently even making available information about how to play copywritten songs is illegal. I'm sure your average guitar bum sitting in his parents' basement plucking out some Zepplin song by ear and typing out some tabs is quite unaware that he's dabbling in legally unfriendly waters. What absolute idiocy. Bomb the recording industry.

Just pick it up and start making sounds with it. Do it on a regular basis, like for an hour every day. Eventually, you'll start making sounds you like. Soon after that you'll learn how to do it consistently.

This goes for any instrument.

My mate played the bass and he swore by putting on a record quite loud and then going into another room. As anyone with a noisy neighbour knows, the bass travels through the walls much better than the rest of the tune so you can hear the bass line nice and clear.

If you're planning to play like Hooky that won't work because he plays it like a lead instrument.

What's the difference between a bass and a guitar anyway? They look the same to me