Learn And Master Guitar: Bass Guitar Essentials

Picking out my very first bass guitar was an exciting event.  It is the first instrument I have ever purchased that I plan on learning how to play. Why not learn guitar first?  Well, I have a love for the bass and not only that, I have been told on many occasions that is is easier to learn than the guitar. With all of the excitement of my purchase, I decided to make sure I have all of the essentials needed for my new bass.  Below covers several accessories that you may want to include if you are looking to purchase a new bass guitar as well.

Bass Guitar Cases

The first thing you will want to do is protect your new investment.  This requires a sturdy bass guitar case.  Cases come in various styles and materials.  The lower-end cases are very thin and don’t offer much protection if you plan on toting your bass around town.  There are sturdier cases which are molded and padded on the inside.  These cases have a hard shell and the padding keeps the bass secure.  I’d highly recommend a molded case if you will be doing a lot of traveling.

Extra Bass Strings

Bass guitar strings are relatively sturdy but it doesn’t hurt to keep some spare strings handy.  There are several types of bass strings available to include flatwound, roundwound, and groundwound.

Bass Guitar Straps

Depending on the bass you purchase, it may already come with a strap included.Of course there are various types of straps to choose from as well.  The most popular guitar straps are usually made of leather or suede.  Many are often woven and come in a variety of colors to suit your tastes.  If you’re not into the fancy straps, you can always choose between vinyl and polyester.

Extra Guitar Picks

Out of all of the accessories you can have for your bass, the pick comes in more styles than anything else.  You can choose from hundreds of colors as well as the thickness of the pick.  Having multiple guitar picks always comes in handy.

Guitar Tuner

Keeping your bass in tune is a must and there are various types of guitar tuners available on the market.  They all range in price from lower end tuners at $10 up to high-end versions that go for $100 or more.  If you’re a beginner, it’s probably safe to stick to a low-end model until you become better at playing the bass. You can also use the free online guitar tuner here.

Martin Guitar Strings

For all the advice that I got about buying a guitar for my friends, I learned very little about guitar strings. I had always assumed that the guitar alone determines the sound you get out of it. With an acoustic guitar, the main thing is how the body is constructed and what materials are used. If you had good tone woods, solid construction, and a large enough body to resonate, you would get a brilliant warm tone. With electric guitars, it had to do with what pickups you used. Different pickups would give sharp tones, mellow tones, or hot distorted sounds.

When I had been playing for about a year, I got sick of my guitar, but I didn’t really have money for another one. It wasn’t a very good model, and it didn’t sound great in the hands of inexperienced player. When one of my friends suggested trying some different guitar strings, I thought he was being silly. I had tried a few different acoustic guitar string brands, and had not noticed any difference. He told me to buy myself some high-quality Martin Guitar Strings and listen again. When I did, I was blown away. They really did sound warmer, brighter, and all around fuller.

That sound was great for me for a while. I have never had anything but good things to say about Martin Guitar Strings.

The problem was that my guitar was a little bit tinny. The Martin strings were too bright for the particular axe that I was using, So I knew that I had to experiment more. I wanted dark guitar strings with a much mellower, lower pitched sound. I was playing my guitar mostly for accompaniment, so I didn’t need it to project out all that much.

When I finally found the perfect set of acoustic strings, I was absolutely overjoyed. They were made by a local manufacturer who hand wound them. Hand wound guitar strings are a little bit expensive, but if you find really good ones they are more than worth it. Unfortunately, he doesn’t make the strings anymore, but fortunately I stockpiled enough for several years to come. I practice using Martin strings still, but I have my special strings waiting in a case for shows. By saving them and using them sparingly, I should be able to make them last for as long as I need them. By that point, maybe I will have bought a better guitar.

You can learn how to restring an accoustic guitar here.

Learn And Master Guitar Fast

To learn and master how to play guitar fast is not easy. There are so many methods and so many conflicting opinions, it makes it difficult to know what to do.

But the simple fact is, if you want to learn to be the best guitar player you can, as fast as you can, then all you need to do is – copy what the pro’s do…

Learn to master the guitar basics

Mastering guitar basics means being able to play in all keys. Being able to transpose any song to any other key – on the spot preferably.

Did you know that 95% of guitarists don’t learn and master the basics? Oh yes, they mean to get around to it, but they hardly ever do.

Why is that? Well, it’s because they think it’s boring, complicated and too much hard work. And most of all – no fun! And mostly they were right. Well, it needn’t be that way. Mastering guitar basics can be a lot of fun if you go about it in a methodical set-by-step way.

How to master the guitar basics

There are 6 basic steps you need to follow:

1. Learn the names of all notes on all strings, one string at a time.
2. Learn how to construct a C Major scale. Basic must-know guitar theory. Easy stuff.
3. Learn how the chords of the major scale are made and what they are… their names etc. C Dm Em F G Am Bdim. Learn basic chord construction.
4. Learn the triad patterns for the C major scale all over the fret board. Triads are simple 3-note chords. Easy and fun to learn and play.
5. Learn to play those triads with common chord progressions. Learn to play and apply the triads to the most common chord progressions that fit thousands and thousands of songs.
6. Learn to do step 5 in all keys.

Once you can do steps one to five in the key of C, it’s real easy to learn it for the other 11 major keys.

The good news: it’s much easier than you think. All the patterns are exactly the same as what you learn for C major. You don’t have to learn any new patterns. Cookie cutter stuff. It really is not hard at all. All you need is a methodical step-by-step method that makes sense and is easy and fun to use.