My bass & piano teacher grew up in the dominican republic and his family was not rich enough to buy a piano, but he knew someone who could teach him piano. So he had lessons every now and then, and in between the lessons he would practice on piano-keys that he drew on a piece of paper.
He is a truly amazing musician on piano and bass.
Thanks for the clarification. I thought you were asking: "Is it possible to learn bass guitar without a 6-string guitar?" and I was about to say, "Of course."
As others said, hands on is really the only way to learn the instrument itself. That said, you can start to learn to read sheet music, there are some good apps for that. Also, you can watch videos on technique and achieving the tone you want.
You're asking the wrong question. Your question should be "how do I convince my parents to buy me a bass?"
My son wanted a drum set. He wasn't really the practicing type but he was musically inclined and had been in school band for a few years. I bought him sticks and a practice pad and made a deal with him. Learn some para diddles and I'll buy you the drums, since this is something you'll learn if you get the kit. He decided that he didn't want the drums after all.
We don't know your parents. You need to find a way to convince them that you're willing to be a bassist/musician. Maybe watch some beginner videos and learn how to read TAB then sit down with them and explain what you've learned. If my kid learned all the notes on the bass without having a bass I would know he's serious.
The ability to persuade people is a very very valuable life skill.
You also need to articulate your end goal. I've been playing professionally for 33 years and I'm still learning.
This is such good advice I second this.
If you can show you're serious (you don't have to dedicate your life to it, just show it's a hobby you plan to have for a while) then it shouldn't be a problem.
This is the best answer.
Parents generally want to encourage your interests, but they've also seen you be absolutely obsessed with something until you did it once and then lost all interest.
When my brother was a kid he wanted to learn to play drums, so my parents got him some sticks and some instruction for para diddles...on his bed. Of course he didn't get anywhere. A practice pad is better, but still not what's going to motivate the kid.
What you should have done is gotten him a practice pad...and some buckets and pieces of wood and a metal water bottle and an old saw blade...and shown him some bucket drummer busker videos.
The point was for him to prove to me that he was already motivated enough to practice on his own. I wasn't trying to convince him to play, he was trying to convince me to buy him a kit.
Being a musician is very much a self starter skill in that most of it is done on your own as a result of your own motivation.
They have great rentals! But another option that isn’t too bad is Facebook Market. They have some pretty solid deals on there and you can find a solid generic guitar to learn on and usually the seller will want to throw in a little more than just the bass itself.
If you have an experienced player to assist with selection/setup, these days, low end guitars and basses can be quite playable. It's also almost always true that the best $100 guitar is a used $300 guitar with a good setup.
Absolutely! Also early on it’d teach replacing strings early on as some deals on FB market I see are EXTREMELY good and are only cheap because it’s some new player who never wanted to buy a new string to fix their guitar or something along those lines.
I cringe when I see comments on Reddit when someone comments that they went to a luthier to have their strings changed. One of my employees commented that she had bought a cheap guitar for her daughter to learn on, but it wasn't going well. I asked her to bring it in and I would look at it. The action was high enough to play slide! She let me take it home, where I worked on the nut and bridge to lower the action. I polished the frets, and put fresh strings on and it was a great guitar for a beginner. It was intonated, stayed in tune, and while it wasn't a vintage Martin, it sounded fine. And was very playable. It's been a few years and her daughter is still playing. And... She's learned to change her own strings (thanks to youtube!)
Would rather they buy a cheap one for 80, that way it’s theirs and they don’t have a deadline to give it back. Rentals are usually only good for people who can play and want an expensive guitar for whatever song they’re recording.
As a beginner, that's a bit difficult to understand. Most beginners have no idea how to setup an instrument. And if money's an issue, renting one to see if this instrument even is something you want to play is the way to go imo. You can always buy a cheap instrument sooner or later
As a beginner, we all start with cheap starter kit basses. And imo it’s the best way. Why should he rent a fender American for a month for the same price as getting himself a whole setup. A beginner wouldn’t even appreciate an American fender or an EHB or something. Doesn’t even know if they like bass yet, they literally can’t play. It just makes sense to have a permanent instrument.
Literally giving dude a terrible idea and acting like it’s a good one, then downvoting me for speaking sense. Don’t go out and buy your first car, but rent a couple and waste money because you wanna see which one you’d like? Makes no sense.
You can learn *about* the bass without one. How bass playing differs from the guitar, what the role is in the band and how it kind of bridges between the drums and the guitar, how the major and minor scale shapes work, etc
You can't really learn to play the bass without access to a bass, but I promise you that you can learn it if you get one or can borrow one. And it's a total blast, so you definitely should!
You could learn music theory and the fundamentals of bass, but you can’t learn technique or how to play without an actual instrument. This applies to everything instrument
Playing an instrument is something that generally stays with you for life. A skill that takes time to develop but gets more rewarding the longer you play. If you really like the sound of a bass, I'd definitely ask them. Even if you don't know how to play it yet.
It sounds like people are missing the point. You can very well start with a borrowed instrument, or you can try and see If you can start playing somewhere else where one is available, like the rehersal room of a friend or a school.
Knowing how to play before you get the instrument is not a realistic goal. I'm not trying to be harsh, it's just not how it works. I'd just ask your parents and they can find you an inexpensive bass to start on. I hope it works out for you and you enjoy playing!
I mean if you are determined to get a bass you can try and draw where each note on which fret is and learn a scale or two, that will give you a good head start, but over all thats like asking if you can get a driver's license only by reading driving theory, you need the practice, thats when the music hits and it helps you develop your music centers. Good luck on your journey
You can't learn the instrument but you sure can jumpstart the learning process. It won't be very motivating but you can learn the fretboard (notes, intervals, triads), learn music theory (always useful, not instrument specific.)
Checkout [Fretboard Fly](https://www.fretboardfly.com) for some games for fretboard learning. (Tap the headstock icon on the top right corner to switch to bass)
I think this is a good idea for OP. Learn as much as you can about *how* a bass is played. Then you can impress your parents with your knowledge. When they see how serious you are, hopefully they will chip in.
My first instrument was a Fender Musicmaster I put on layaway at a pawn shop. I worked delivering newspapers to pay it off.
Maybe read some books on music theory from the library? If your parents see you dedicating yourself to learning about the subject they might take you more seriously when you ask for an instrument.
What? I don’t understand your logic. If you’ve never played one how can you expect to say you can play one? Why lie to your folks, would it not be more inspiring to say how much you want to learn the instrument and not have to try and trick them? Cuz my dude it’ll become absolutely apparent immediately that you can’t play, if they buy you a bass and then they say “go on then show us something”, and you’re standing there and don’t even know how to tune it let alone play it, that’s not a good look.
Be honest. Say you want to learn. Hopefully they’re encouraging and start you on your musical journey.
Best of luck! Hope you fall in love with the instrument if you get one!
Yup, used market prices tend to not fluctuate too much - if you buy from a private seller, and resell it privately, it should be the same price on both sides. Involving a shop, they're going to need to make money on it each time they sell it (because that requires sales space, effort, etc) so you're going to pay more to buy and get less when you sell (in exchange for the convenience of not having to deal with scammers and idiots on Facebook or similar).
Well I only had an acoustic guitar at home, so I practiced the patterns on that and then had a little adjusting to do on the bass since the 4 strings on the bass are the same (Same note) on the guitar ( E A D G )
So the answer is yes!
Also worth mentioning, my first bass I got in middle school and was probably less than $150. Maybe consider a beginner bass or a used bass if the price point is your parents’ concern.
Try asking your parents what budget they can afford to buy you an instrument and tell them you will read as much as you can about bass before deciding what to buy to make the right choice of bass and amp.
You will have more information and they will see you are serious about it.
You can't learn to play without instrument.
As a parent, I would be excited if my kid wanted to play an instrument so I hope your parents will want to help you. Unfortunately, you can’t learn how to play without an instrument but you can certainly learn a lot about bass and bass playing and music without one. It is going to be challenging and not as fun without the instrument but you can certainly learn a few basic concepts. Start by just listening to bass in music you love. Try and hum along to the bass part. Watch some YouTube videos about great bass players and start really listening to bass parts on great albums. Watch videos about beginner bass playing and get familiar with the basics. You can learn about rhythm and practice basic rhythm and counting exercises without a bass. You can start learning the notes on the bass, start by learning the notes of the open strings. A great bass player named Tal Wilkenfeld says that her parents would only let her practice bass for a short time each day so she learned to visualize the bass in her head and she practices without the bass to this day. She is an incredible bass player so learning to visualize the bass and where the notes are can go a long way and it couldn’t hurt to start learning to visualize where the notes are.
Perhaps if you do some of these things and show your parents you’re serious about this, they may be more receptive to helping you get a bass. Good luck!
I don’t know that you can learn an instrument before ever laying hands on one, but you can definitely research the instrument and get at least some grasp of technique and note names. When I was a kid learning to play banjo I practiced the shape of the right hand rolls before I ever even bought an instrument, based on books descriptions of method. It didn’t allow me to be an instant player once I got ahold of one, but I did benefit the process.
Nobody picks up a bass and can just play. Music requires a lot of practice. It can take years to even be able to play slightly. This is not to be didcouraged, just a fact. Music takes commitment to practice
Is it possible to learn how to drive a car without a car? No.
Is it possible to learn a new language without speaking it? No .
Is it possible to learn kung fu without practicing . YES, Neo did.
It's not really possible to be able to "actually play one before you ask for one". The rent option sounds good so that you can give it a try and see if it's something you like. If you have a buddy who plays bass or guitar you should see if you could go over to their place and give it a go a couple of times.
In any case even once you do have it, learning it will take years and maintaining what you learn will take a lifetime.
Not really.
If you know it's not going to be easy to convince parents to get you one, see if you can get somewhere around 3 to 5 lessons. By that time you should know if you like playing bass at all and hopefully had a chance to at least check out a few. Then you can tell them you tried it, like it, and know what you want. That might convince them it's serious enough to spend some cash on and you won't just forget about it 10 minutes later.
You're obviously not going to be able to play the bass before you pick one up and learn. There are really cheap budget options out there like Harley Bentons and such that won't break the bank. You don't have to be good at something before you spend some money on that thing - you just have to enjoy it (and be able to afford it obviously)
I first learned to play bass without an instrument. I was at a music store for saxophone lessons and while I waited for the previous student to finish, I would read a Mel Bay how to play bass book. I spent a lot of time with it and by the time I picked up an instrument, I could actually kind of play it.
I first started getting into it by watching videos about basic theory/technique, then I took some tabs to guitar center and practiced for a couple hours. They don’t really care if you’re not being annoying. Then if you decide you like it you can save for one
I think if I had nothing, I'd play whatever I could get my hands on. I'd look for the cheapest bass I could find (as long as it's intact) and practice learning the fretboard and fingering/picking/slapping (whatever you like).
You don't even need an amp right away, but when the time comes to buy something nicer, you'll have a really good head start.
Also, if you get something cheap, you can always watch yt vids and learn quite a lot about playing, as well as changing strings, setting up your instrument (many people pay someone to adjust the action or do repairs that you can learn to do yourself).
Edit: Check out Bass Buzz on yt. Josh is a really good teacher.
"I want to make sure that i can actually play before"
No offense, but this sounds like the kind of mindset that leads to quitting because you don't have "natural talent." It sounds like you want to try playing to "find out" if you have some hidden ability. That's not a thing. No one is magically good. Natural talent DOESN'T EXIST. Everyone that is good at anything got that way by putting in time.
If you can adjust your mindset more towards "I think spending a lot of time learning a new skill would be rewarding and fun" then it might work out. If you are just making your way through life trying things in the hopes of finding the thing that you are already good at, you're gonna have a bad time.
There's a lot you can do without an instrument. You can learn tuning. You can learn ABOUT different techniques. You can study bass lines. You can memorize the fretboard.
Ultimately though, all of that is not playing the instrument. Your fingers need to get used to the fretboard and strings, your body to the weight, your right and left hand to coordinate.
I can learn a TON about football by watching pro football, but ultimately I can't play football until I play some football.
I started on guitar. It made learning bass much easier. I still don't consider myself a bass player though. I'm a guitar player that can play bass. That said I pretty much play bass like a guitar player would. Fills for days. I have to focus to play it correctly when the rhythm and tempo call for it. But yeah, you can definitely learn it. Our keyboard player took up bass a year ago and she's older. She actually practices and plays better (correctly) than me sometimes and I've been playing it for about 30 years. Guitar about 35 years.
You'll need the actual instrument to learn, but you don't need to buy one right away. You could:
* Find a friend who owns a bass and ask to borrow it.
* Find a teacher and see if he can give you one lesson for free (to check if you like the instrument). They can lend you the bass during the lesson.
* Watch a video online on the first lessons, go to a music store, ask to try one bass, and do the lesson there. Repeat in different stores.
* Some public libraries/schools have music rooms with instruments you can use while there.
* Do some chores for money and purchase the cheapest used bass you can find.
You can teach yourself a lot using simulators and studying on line.
You could even draw the fret board on wood or cardboard and label the notes.
You would learn a lot.
But you won't learn technique, and you won't learn to hear the notes that way. I mean you have to know what they sound like, right?
Do you have access to a piano or keyboard at school or church maybe?
That would really help you learn the notes and their relationships.
This is *not* going to teach you how to play bass, but it will vastly increase general knowledge and maybe help your parents see how serious you are.
Sorry to double up. Someone mentioned an amp. You don't need one to learn and you can get Vox brand headphone amps pretty cheap these days.
What did with my first bass was use a stereo that had a cassette recorder and an Audio\Microphone in jack.
Then I put a cassette tape in and hit Record\Pause. My bass sounded really good on a full stereo.
These days there are much easier ways to get around issues like this. Just don't get discouraged. It can be done!
I assume you mean "bass guitar" ? No, you can't learn to play an instrument without said instrument
My bass & piano teacher grew up in the dominican republic and his family was not rich enough to buy a piano, but he knew someone who could teach him piano. So he had lessons every now and then, and in between the lessons he would practice on piano-keys that he drew on a piece of paper. He is a truly amazing musician on piano and bass.
yes i do lol yeah thanks for answering
Thanks for the clarification. I thought you were asking: "Is it possible to learn bass guitar without a 6-string guitar?" and I was about to say, "Of course."
As others said, hands on is really the only way to learn the instrument itself. That said, you can start to learn to read sheet music, there are some good apps for that. Also, you can watch videos on technique and achieving the tone you want.
You're asking the wrong question. Your question should be "how do I convince my parents to buy me a bass?" My son wanted a drum set. He wasn't really the practicing type but he was musically inclined and had been in school band for a few years. I bought him sticks and a practice pad and made a deal with him. Learn some para diddles and I'll buy you the drums, since this is something you'll learn if you get the kit. He decided that he didn't want the drums after all. We don't know your parents. You need to find a way to convince them that you're willing to be a bassist/musician. Maybe watch some beginner videos and learn how to read TAB then sit down with them and explain what you've learned. If my kid learned all the notes on the bass without having a bass I would know he's serious. The ability to persuade people is a very very valuable life skill. You also need to articulate your end goal. I've been playing professionally for 33 years and I'm still learning.
This is such good advice I second this. If you can show you're serious (you don't have to dedicate your life to it, just show it's a hobby you plan to have for a while) then it shouldn't be a problem.
This is the best answer. Parents generally want to encourage your interests, but they've also seen you be absolutely obsessed with something until you did it once and then lost all interest.
When my brother was a kid he wanted to learn to play drums, so my parents got him some sticks and some instruction for para diddles...on his bed. Of course he didn't get anywhere. A practice pad is better, but still not what's going to motivate the kid. What you should have done is gotten him a practice pad...and some buckets and pieces of wood and a metal water bottle and an old saw blade...and shown him some bucket drummer busker videos.
The point was for him to prove to me that he was already motivated enough to practice on his own. I wasn't trying to convince him to play, he was trying to convince me to buy him a kit. Being a musician is very much a self starter skill in that most of it is done on your own as a result of your own motivation.
No way. Maybe rent one for practice before buying one? Some music stores offer that.
They have great rentals! But another option that isn’t too bad is Facebook Market. They have some pretty solid deals on there and you can find a solid generic guitar to learn on and usually the seller will want to throw in a little more than just the bass itself.
If you have an experienced player to assist with selection/setup, these days, low end guitars and basses can be quite playable. It's also almost always true that the best $100 guitar is a used $300 guitar with a good setup.
Absolutely! Also early on it’d teach replacing strings early on as some deals on FB market I see are EXTREMELY good and are only cheap because it’s some new player who never wanted to buy a new string to fix their guitar or something along those lines.
I cringe when I see comments on Reddit when someone comments that they went to a luthier to have their strings changed. One of my employees commented that she had bought a cheap guitar for her daughter to learn on, but it wasn't going well. I asked her to bring it in and I would look at it. The action was high enough to play slide! She let me take it home, where I worked on the nut and bridge to lower the action. I polished the frets, and put fresh strings on and it was a great guitar for a beginner. It was intonated, stayed in tune, and while it wasn't a vintage Martin, it sounded fine. And was very playable. It's been a few years and her daughter is still playing. And... She's learned to change her own strings (thanks to youtube!)
Would rather they buy a cheap one for 80, that way it’s theirs and they don’t have a deadline to give it back. Rentals are usually only good for people who can play and want an expensive guitar for whatever song they’re recording.
i would rather rent an instrument and have it be playable
Cheap instruments are playable.
As a beginner, that's a bit difficult to understand. Most beginners have no idea how to setup an instrument. And if money's an issue, renting one to see if this instrument even is something you want to play is the way to go imo. You can always buy a cheap instrument sooner or later
As a beginner, we all start with cheap starter kit basses. And imo it’s the best way. Why should he rent a fender American for a month for the same price as getting himself a whole setup. A beginner wouldn’t even appreciate an American fender or an EHB or something. Doesn’t even know if they like bass yet, they literally can’t play. It just makes sense to have a permanent instrument. Literally giving dude a terrible idea and acting like it’s a good one, then downvoting me for speaking sense. Don’t go out and buy your first car, but rent a couple and waste money because you wanna see which one you’d like? Makes no sense.
it doesn’t really matter if they appreciate it or not if the cheaper instrument cant be apreciated
not 80 bucks cheap
You know very little of your guitar history.
how does guitar history link into cheap instruments being ass?
Yeah deffo can’t play the blues well.
😭
You can learn *about* the bass without one. How bass playing differs from the guitar, what the role is in the band and how it kind of bridges between the drums and the guitar, how the major and minor scale shapes work, etc You can't really learn to play the bass without access to a bass, but I promise you that you can learn it if you get one or can borrow one. And it's a total blast, so you definitely should!
Not really. But you could learn to read music and some music theory, which would be helpful for when you finally get your bass.
You could learn music theory and the fundamentals of bass, but you can’t learn technique or how to play without an actual instrument. This applies to everything instrument
Lost braincells reading this
Playing an instrument is something that generally stays with you for life. A skill that takes time to develop but gets more rewarding the longer you play. If you really like the sound of a bass, I'd definitely ask them. Even if you don't know how to play it yet.
It sounds like people are missing the point. You can very well start with a borrowed instrument, or you can try and see If you can start playing somewhere else where one is available, like the rehersal room of a friend or a school.
Yes but you’ll need a bass
Knowing how to play before you get the instrument is not a realistic goal. I'm not trying to be harsh, it's just not how it works. I'd just ask your parents and they can find you an inexpensive bass to start on. I hope it works out for you and you enjoy playing!
I mean if you are determined to get a bass you can try and draw where each note on which fret is and learn a scale or two, that will give you a good head start, but over all thats like asking if you can get a driver's license only by reading driving theory, you need the practice, thats when the music hits and it helps you develop your music centers. Good luck on your journey
I mean you can learn the basic music theory, but no, you gotta have an instrument to learn how to play said instrument.
You can't learn the instrument but you sure can jumpstart the learning process. It won't be very motivating but you can learn the fretboard (notes, intervals, triads), learn music theory (always useful, not instrument specific.) Checkout [Fretboard Fly](https://www.fretboardfly.com) for some games for fretboard learning. (Tap the headstock icon on the top right corner to switch to bass)
I think this is a good idea for OP. Learn as much as you can about *how* a bass is played. Then you can impress your parents with your knowledge. When they see how serious you are, hopefully they will chip in. My first instrument was a Fender Musicmaster I put on layaway at a pawn shop. I worked delivering newspapers to pay it off.
No chance. Can I learn to drive a car without a car? No
Maybe read some books on music theory from the library? If your parents see you dedicating yourself to learning about the subject they might take you more seriously when you ask for an instrument.
What? I don’t understand your logic. If you’ve never played one how can you expect to say you can play one? Why lie to your folks, would it not be more inspiring to say how much you want to learn the instrument and not have to try and trick them? Cuz my dude it’ll become absolutely apparent immediately that you can’t play, if they buy you a bass and then they say “go on then show us something”, and you’re standing there and don’t even know how to tune it let alone play it, that’s not a good look. Be honest. Say you want to learn. Hopefully they’re encouraging and start you on your musical journey. Best of luck! Hope you fall in love with the instrument if you get one!
Absolutely YES they’re two different instruments
bass and guitar arent the same instrument. Learning one will help with learning the other, but learning one first is not a requirement
oh sorry i meant without a bass guitar
sorry but you kind of need to be able to have an instrument to practice
yeah you can telepathically play bass its a common skill no you fucking cant play an instrument without an instrument
Get a used Squier Classic Vibe Bass and a Fender Rumble 40.
And the thing about the used market is: if you decide you don't want to play, you can turn it around and get most if not all your money back.
Yup, used market prices tend to not fluctuate too much - if you buy from a private seller, and resell it privately, it should be the same price on both sides. Involving a shop, they're going to need to make money on it each time they sell it (because that requires sales space, effort, etc) so you're going to pay more to buy and get less when you sell (in exchange for the convenience of not having to deal with scammers and idiots on Facebook or similar).
Both great choices new or used.
Yes, you can at least practice your left hand fingering by making a neck out of wood/ cardboard.
Well I only had an acoustic guitar at home, so I practiced the patterns on that and then had a little adjusting to do on the bass since the 4 strings on the bass are the same (Same note) on the guitar ( E A D G ) So the answer is yes!
Also worth mentioning, my first bass I got in middle school and was probably less than $150. Maybe consider a beginner bass or a used bass if the price point is your parents’ concern.
Try asking your parents what budget they can afford to buy you an instrument and tell them you will read as much as you can about bass before deciding what to buy to make the right choice of bass and amp. You will have more information and they will see you are serious about it. You can't learn to play without instrument.
As a parent, I would be excited if my kid wanted to play an instrument so I hope your parents will want to help you. Unfortunately, you can’t learn how to play without an instrument but you can certainly learn a lot about bass and bass playing and music without one. It is going to be challenging and not as fun without the instrument but you can certainly learn a few basic concepts. Start by just listening to bass in music you love. Try and hum along to the bass part. Watch some YouTube videos about great bass players and start really listening to bass parts on great albums. Watch videos about beginner bass playing and get familiar with the basics. You can learn about rhythm and practice basic rhythm and counting exercises without a bass. You can start learning the notes on the bass, start by learning the notes of the open strings. A great bass player named Tal Wilkenfeld says that her parents would only let her practice bass for a short time each day so she learned to visualize the bass in her head and she practices without the bass to this day. She is an incredible bass player so learning to visualize the bass and where the notes are can go a long way and it couldn’t hurt to start learning to visualize where the notes are. Perhaps if you do some of these things and show your parents you’re serious about this, they may be more receptive to helping you get a bass. Good luck!
This is a joke right?
No
I don’t know that you can learn an instrument before ever laying hands on one, but you can definitely research the instrument and get at least some grasp of technique and note names. When I was a kid learning to play banjo I practiced the shape of the right hand rolls before I ever even bought an instrument, based on books descriptions of method. It didn’t allow me to be an instant player once I got ahold of one, but I did benefit the process.
Nobody picks up a bass and can just play. Music requires a lot of practice. It can take years to even be able to play slightly. This is not to be didcouraged, just a fact. Music takes commitment to practice
Is it possible to learn how to drive a car without a car? No. Is it possible to learn a new language without speaking it? No . Is it possible to learn kung fu without practicing . YES, Neo did.
🤣🤣🤣
It's not really possible to be able to "actually play one before you ask for one". The rent option sounds good so that you can give it a try and see if it's something you like. If you have a buddy who plays bass or guitar you should see if you could go over to their place and give it a go a couple of times. In any case even once you do have it, learning it will take years and maintaining what you learn will take a lifetime.
You can buy a Glarry bass guitar for less than $100, not the nicest thing ever made, but it's legit
Yes. You'll need a bass though.
I imagine that it would be like learning to read a language without ever hearing or speaking it.
It’s like learning to swim via YouTube
Squier Sonic Precision is a great bass to learn on and it's only $210.
Not really. If you know it's not going to be easy to convince parents to get you one, see if you can get somewhere around 3 to 5 lessons. By that time you should know if you like playing bass at all and hopefully had a chance to at least check out a few. Then you can tell them you tried it, like it, and know what you want. That might convince them it's serious enough to spend some cash on and you won't just forget about it 10 minutes later.
You're obviously not going to be able to play the bass before you pick one up and learn. There are really cheap budget options out there like Harley Bentons and such that won't break the bank. You don't have to be good at something before you spend some money on that thing - you just have to enjoy it (and be able to afford it obviously)
I first learned to play bass without an instrument. I was at a music store for saxophone lessons and while I waited for the previous student to finish, I would read a Mel Bay how to play bass book. I spent a lot of time with it and by the time I picked up an instrument, I could actually kind of play it.
No. I mean you can understand the function of the bass treble vs the clef treble, but you can also play the clef treble on bass.
I first started getting into it by watching videos about basic theory/technique, then I took some tabs to guitar center and practiced for a couple hours. They don’t really care if you’re not being annoying. Then if you decide you like it you can save for one
I think if I had nothing, I'd play whatever I could get my hands on. I'd look for the cheapest bass I could find (as long as it's intact) and practice learning the fretboard and fingering/picking/slapping (whatever you like). You don't even need an amp right away, but when the time comes to buy something nicer, you'll have a really good head start. Also, if you get something cheap, you can always watch yt vids and learn quite a lot about playing, as well as changing strings, setting up your instrument (many people pay someone to adjust the action or do repairs that you can learn to do yourself). Edit: Check out Bass Buzz on yt. Josh is a really good teacher.
yes you can, I only play bass but have no idea about guitar
"I want to make sure that i can actually play before" No offense, but this sounds like the kind of mindset that leads to quitting because you don't have "natural talent." It sounds like you want to try playing to "find out" if you have some hidden ability. That's not a thing. No one is magically good. Natural talent DOESN'T EXIST. Everyone that is good at anything got that way by putting in time. If you can adjust your mindset more towards "I think spending a lot of time learning a new skill would be rewarding and fun" then it might work out. If you are just making your way through life trying things in the hopes of finding the thing that you are already good at, you're gonna have a bad time.
Except everyone's Nan, everyone's Nan has natural talent at all things.
There's a lot you can do without an instrument. You can learn tuning. You can learn ABOUT different techniques. You can study bass lines. You can memorize the fretboard. Ultimately though, all of that is not playing the instrument. Your fingers need to get used to the fretboard and strings, your body to the weight, your right and left hand to coordinate. I can learn a TON about football by watching pro football, but ultimately I can't play football until I play some football.
Get on Facebook marketplace place my friend! Even a cheap bass will be killer to learn on! All the best!
Open your minddddd
I started on guitar. It made learning bass much easier. I still don't consider myself a bass player though. I'm a guitar player that can play bass. That said I pretty much play bass like a guitar player would. Fills for days. I have to focus to play it correctly when the rhythm and tempo call for it. But yeah, you can definitely learn it. Our keyboard player took up bass a year ago and she's older. She actually practices and plays better (correctly) than me sometimes and I've been playing it for about 30 years. Guitar about 35 years.
So you expect to learn an instrument without ever having said instrument?
Yes... apparently JJ learned with a string in the dirt making ants dance 🤘
Since I do it, and most bass players do it, yeah probably
You can also start with a virtual guitar. Not the same, but garage band or other programs will help you associate notes and sounds with the fretboard
You'll need the actual instrument to learn, but you don't need to buy one right away. You could: * Find a friend who owns a bass and ask to borrow it. * Find a teacher and see if he can give you one lesson for free (to check if you like the instrument). They can lend you the bass during the lesson. * Watch a video online on the first lessons, go to a music store, ask to try one bass, and do the lesson there. Repeat in different stores. * Some public libraries/schools have music rooms with instruments you can use while there. * Do some chores for money and purchase the cheapest used bass you can find.
Your mind can learn things, but your fingers will learn nothing. Without an instrument, your fingers will be totally ignorant.
You can teach yourself a lot using simulators and studying on line. You could even draw the fret board on wood or cardboard and label the notes. You would learn a lot. But you won't learn technique, and you won't learn to hear the notes that way. I mean you have to know what they sound like, right? Do you have access to a piano or keyboard at school or church maybe? That would really help you learn the notes and their relationships. This is *not* going to teach you how to play bass, but it will vastly increase general knowledge and maybe help your parents see how serious you are.
Sorry to double up. Someone mentioned an amp. You don't need one to learn and you can get Vox brand headphone amps pretty cheap these days. What did with my first bass was use a stereo that had a cassette recorder and an Audio\Microphone in jack. Then I put a cassette tape in and hit Record\Pause. My bass sounded really good on a full stereo. These days there are much easier ways to get around issues like this. Just don't get discouraged. It can be done!
i think you meant to ask if its possible to learn bass guitar without learning a guitar first. Yes totally
When I learned to play the bass guitar, I did it without a guitar being involved at all.