Online Bass Lessons Reviews & Recommendations –> We hope you find Bass Player Center to be useful for helping you learn to play bass guitar. Our lessons focus on getting you started on bass by providing the foundation needed to build and grow your playing ability. If you’ve reached a point where you’re interested in a more comprehensive & professional level of instruction we offer reviews & recommendations for several online premium bass lessons sites.
There are a lot of options out there for learning bass online. We have personally reviewed and/or used the services offered by many well-known (and lesser-known) sites. For anyone serious about reaching the highest levels of bass playing we recommend the sites listed below. If you are willing to take the time, and put in the work to learn and practice, these sites can help get you where you want to be as a bassist.
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1. TrueFire Bass Guitar
What We Like Most About TrueFire
Full Site Access for Free: When you join TrueFire you gain access to their entire site FREE FOR 14 DAYS and become a “TrueFire Student” (this includes access to lessons for guitar and all other instruments). After the first 14 days of access you still remain a “Student” and continue to have access to many lessons and courses for free. While most of these courses are geared towards the beginner level bassist, they are still very valuable lessons taught by the same instructors that you get at the intermediate and advanced levels.
The Instructors: TrueFire prides itself on their instructors – and for good reason. Their list of bass instructors is comprised of professional bassists who hold music education degrees from the world’s top music colleges. These are some of the most sought-after and in-demand teachers in the business. In addition you’ll get lessons from legendary, iconic bassists – such as Stu Hamm, Andrew Ford, and Andy Irvine to name a few.
Variety of Lessons: Their lessons cover a wide variety of genres and styles. From funk, to blues, to reggae, to acoustic bass – TrueFire offers lessons that cater to just about any type of playing style, and musical interest & taste.
Advanced Lessons: TrueFire stands out as the best online bass lesson site for accessing lessons at the advanced learning levels. There are over 50 courses (broken down in to 1000’s of lessons) for bassists who need instruction at the late-intermediate to advanced levels.
Quality: The video instruction is high-quality with an interface that has features such as speed control, views of the bass from various angles, and bass tabs that move in time with what’s playing in the video (when you need them).
What We Like Least About TrueFire
Less Beginner Content: While TrueFire has a ton of content there are fewer lessons offered at the beginner levels. While most of their beginner level lessons are offered for free, the bulk of their content is for those interested in intermediate to advanced level instruction.
TrueFire – Cost & Format
TrueFire’s pricing and service offerings tend to vary and change over time. But with that said, one of their best aspects is the flexibility they offer for gaining access to their services, and what you choose to learn and pay for. Let us break it down in simple terms:
| Membership Type | Cost | Accessibility |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Day Free Trial Access | FREE (no credit card required) | Full Site Access for 14 Days. Once your trail period ends you will still remain a “TrueFire Student” with access to any available free lessons and content. |
| Monthly Membership | $19.99 | Full Site Access. Some supplementary features and materials may require additional fees. |
| Annual Membership | $199 | Full Site Access. Some supplementary features and materials may require additional fees. |
| Supplementary Features | Fees Will Vary | Examples of supplementary materials include “Private Lessons”, and lesson downloads |
Click Here to Visit TrueFire Bass
2. JamPlay Bass
What We Like Most About JamPlay
The Instructors: From legendary famous bassists, to bass professors at top music colleges, you will not find a better assembly of online bass instructors. Each instructor is accomplished in various styles and genres of playing bass, allowing you to choose to learn from those that best match your individual interests.
Quality: All lessons are delivered in high-quality HD video format. The lessons and bass are filmed at various angles allowing complete comprehension of what is being played. Each video has an interface that is simple to use that allows full interactive control of the lessons you are viewing. Videos can be played at speeds from 10% to 100%. Users can bookmark and return to sections of the video lessons. There is also a looping feature that allows you to continuously loop any section of a video.
Features Galore: Few can compete with the years of development and range of features JamPlay has built. Features include – instructor interaction, enharmonic scale diagrams, interactive tabs and notation, custom progress reports, an enormous library of scales, and customized learning materials to supplement each lesson.
Structure: For those wanting to learn bass online, structure should be a key component. JamPlay separates their teaching material into 4 distinct phases. You can progress through the lessons in order, or move to the phase/lessons most appropriate for your level. Custom progress reports are provided to help track your progress as you move through the lessons/courses.
What We Like Least About JamPlay
More Content: There are not a lot negative things to say about JamPlay Bass. One of the only real gripes we have is that we wish they had a little more content. Some of this stems from knowing what we do about the JamPlay Guitar Lessons section of the site. For example, the guitar section includes a “Riffs & Licks” section and a “Song Writing” section. It would be nice to have sections similar to these for bass. We also wish there were more songs to learn in the “Learning Songs” section. There are plenty of songs to learn, but we wish there was more variety with the types of genres.
JamPlay Cost & Format
JamPlay is a subscription-based service. You sign-up for monthly, quarterly, or annual subscriptions. Subscriptions can be cancelled with no penalty at any time.
JAMPLAY BASS IS CURRENTLY OFFERING A 50% DISCOUNT ON A ONE MONTH MEMBERSHIP
* CLICK HERE FOR THE CURRENT DISCOUNT CODE *
| Membership Type | Cost | Accessibility |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Subscription | $19.95 billed each month – cancel any time | Full Access to JamPlay Bass |
| Quarterly Subscription | $49.95 ($16.95/month) billed every 3 months – cancel any time | Full Access to JamPlay Bass |
| Yearly Subscription | $159.95 ($13.33/month) billed every 12 months – cancel any time | Full Access to JamPlay Bass |
Click Here to Visit JamPlay Bass
3. Teach Me Bass Guitar
What We Like Most About Teach Me Bass Guitar
The Teacher – The video lessons on Teach Me Bass Guitar (TMBG) are designed and delivered by world-renowned bassist Roy Vogt. Roy is one of the most respected educators in the international bass community. Simply put, he is gifted at teaching bass. He takes complicated subject matter and makes it easy to understand. He has a knack for breaking things down in to their basic, core, components – and then putting them back together to teach you complicated skills and techniques. Roy’s instruction has a very personal feel – almost like being face-to-face in a private lesson.
High Success Rates: If you put in the time and effort to complete the TMBG lessons they are very effective at teaching how to play bass. TMBG prides themselves on having high success rates – and they have the statistics to back it up. Roy has taught MANY students who have gone on to have highly successful careers as bassists. A lot of his students have gone on to record and tour with iconic musicians – Trisha Yearwood, Faith Hill, Little Texas, and Michael W. Smith – to name a few.
Learn At Your Own Pace – TMBG is non-subscription based. You download the lessons and they are yours to keep forever. This means that you can take your time going through the lessons. You don’t need to worrying about having to continue paying monthly subscription fees if you need more time to complete any of the lessons.
Member Benefits – Regardless of what lessons or packages you purchase, you automatically receive a membership to TMBG at no additional cost. Membership features include being able to take the “stage” to practice your newly acquired riffs with a band of Nashville studio musicians. You also have access to the TMBG bass community website hosted by Roy himself, where you can ask him questions directly, and even upload your own video or audio files to get feedback on your progress and suggestions for how to improve.
Educational Tools – TMBG is packed with tools to help you learn. Features include animated fretboards, easy-access menus, extensive loop library, play-along with a singer, animated sheet music, and four-color course books downloadable with every purchase.
What We Like Least About Teach Me Bass Guitar
Static Content – As mentioned above, TMBG is non-subscription based. You purchase the content and it’s yours to keep. However, that also means that the content you get is static and doesn’t change. So you won’t get any new additions, upgrades, features, or improvements to the content. Which may not be a big deal, because what you get is a ton of great material that will keep you busy for a long time. Plus you still get the all of the online member benefits for life!
Teach Me Bass Guitar Cost & Format
TMBG is non-subscription based. You pay for and download the lessons want. They are yours to keep forever. You can purchase the Full Digital Course, or purchase sections of the course individually. Here is a break down of Teach Me Bass Guitar’s fees:
| Course | Cost | What’s Included? |
|---|---|---|
| The FULL Digital Course | $79.95 | Full Course of 20 Lessons available to download & stream |
| Bundled Lessons | $29.95 Each | Download & stream the bundle of Beginner Lessons (6 lessons total), Intermediate Lessons (7 lessons total), or the Advanced Lessons (7 lessons total) |
| Individual Lessons | $5.95 Each | Download & stream any of the 20 lessons individually |
Click Here to Visit Teach Me Bass Guitar
Other Bass Learning Sites & Resources to Consider
Here are a few other bass learning resources to consider. These are less comprehensive than the sites reviewed above, but we recommend them to consider including as a part of your bass education portfolio:
eMedia Bass Method
The best-selling eMedia Bass Method features bass guitar lessons for beginners from noted bassist and teacher John Arbo. This course is complete bass guitar instruction that runs on your Windows or Mac computer with interactive technology to make understanding the lessons easier. You can even get eMedia Instant Feedback as you play your first, easy bass guitar songs and exercises.
Learn how to play bass fast with over 140 easy-to-follow bass guitar lessons that take you from basics such as how to tune a bass guitar to learning how to play bass lines, playing bass guitar scales, how to read bass guitar tabs, how to read bass guitar music notation, and much more. Learning bass guitar is made fun with popular songs made famous by Bob Dylan, Steve Miller, The Grateful Dead, Credence Clearwater Revival, and others.
This downloadable eBook includes 140 bass lessons that cover the following topics: About the Bass, Simple Bass Lines with Catchy Rhythms, Developing More Bass Lines and Fills, Walkups / Walkdowns and Syncopation, Reading Tablature, Reading Standard Music Notation, Intervals, Scales, and Triads. This is a great book for beginning bassists.
- Cost: $59.95
- What’s Included: Download the lessons in eBook format for Windows or Mac
Click for more Details about the eMedia Bass Method
Electric Bass with Nathan East
Nathan East is one of the most in-demand bassists of all time. As the regular touring bassist for Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Toto, and Fourplay with Bob James, he has played with just about everyone in the music industry. Seamlessly blending rock, pop and funk, East’s bass influences include Charles Mingus, James Jamerson, Jack Bruce, Paul McCartney and Monk Montgomery. In the studio, Nathan East has played bass for legendary artists including Barry White, Stevie Wonder, Anita Baker, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Elton John, Daft Punk and many more. Nathan has been teaching how to play bass guitar for decades and teaching online with ArtistWorks since 2012.
Nathan East has taken his years of formidable playing and created hundreds of electric bass guitar lessons online. Students in the bass guitar course have access to video lessons, bass guitar tabs and backing tracks.
What ultimately sets these electric bass guitar lessons apart from other offerings is the ability to submit a video for review using the ArtistWorks Video Exchange Learning® platform. Nathan reviews each submission and records a video response, offering specific guidance to take your bass playing to the next level. All students can access the Video Exchange library and watch each other’s interactions with Nathan. This library is constantly expanding and may contain the key to unlock your playing.
- Cost: $105
- What’s Included: 3 Month Access to Electric Bass with Nathan East
- Unlimited Access to Lessons
- Limited Access to Video Exchange Library
- Up to 5 Video Submissions to Teacher
- Music Theory Workshop
Click Here to Visit Electric Bass with Nathan East
To Conclude: Thanks for checking out our Online Bass Lessons Reviews & Recommendations. There are a lot of options out there for learning bass online. Deciding what to choose can be quite overwhelming, so we hope we’ve provided you some insight and guidance. Our goal was to give reviews & recommendations for those sites that we believe are actually effective at teaching you bass. We’ll continue to review and cover any additional sites that are worthy of your time. Of course understand that, whatever bass education route you decide to go, you’ve got to put in the necessary time and work to learn and practice. If you’re committed to doing that, the sites we’ve covered above can help get you where you want to be as a bassist!
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