The Best Learn to Play Bass Guitar DVDs

The DVD Advantage

The beauty of having an instructional guitar DVD is that, unlike formal practice with a teacher, after the lesson is over you can immediately start the session again. Being able to play a DVD over and over makes it a great financial investment. Many of the better DVDs also offer slowed down video of difficult musical sections to help you master the most challenging techniques of the bass guitar.

When you're working with an instructional DVD, you are in charge of how fast or slow your practice progresses. There are many titles on the market today, so we LTK has taken some of the leg work out of the process for you by highlighting an assortment of quality DVDs that cover a wide range of styles and techniques.

A Selection of Some of the Best Bass Guitar DVDs

Because "the best" is a relative term that depends on which type of music you want to play, we have organized the following section into several musical genres to help you find the information you're looking for.

Rock

• Bass Method: For the Beginning Electric Bassist: This well-reviewed DVD is published by Hal Leonard, one of the pioneering companies in the video music instruction market. In 68 minutes, Ed Friedland takes you through all the important basic concepts of bass guitar including the notes on all four strings, reading music and tablature, and basic rock time signatures. The video also includes songs to jam along with from The Beatles to Blink 182.

Funk

• Beginning Funk Bass: Another Hal Leonard title, this DVD features Abe Laboriel and covers the essential techniques of funk playing: thumping, slapping, snapping and popping. Abe also takes you through playing with a drummer, basic scales and basic chord structures. This DVD runs for 40 minutes.

Jazz

• Music Clinic: Jazz Workshop: Featuring bassist David Friesen and guitarist Jerry Hahn, this workshop is a recording of a clinic with student bassists from 2003. The clinic covers important aspects of jazz bass playing including how to practice efficiently, how to listen effectively and how to strengthen your sense of time. At 67 minutes long, this DVD provides a wealth of information.

Bluegrass/Country

• Beginning Bluegrass Bass: Taught by Mark Schatz, this 67 minute DVD covers basic bluegrass and country patterns and scales, chord progressions and fingering techniques. Mark also takes you through several bluegrass standards to get you up and running with the band.

Gospel

• Soulful Bass Styles: Concepts for Contemporary Worship: This DVD clocks in at three hours and features bassist Wes Stephenson. Wes covers gospel techniques as well as dabbling in many other genres including reggae and hip-hop.

Where To Find The Best Learn to Play Bass Guitar DVDs

• Netflix: One of the greatest innovations of the last decade has to be Netflix. For a low monthly service fee, you can rent DVDs and have them shipped to your door. If that's not enough, the best part of the service is that their collection of available materials is second to none. Netflix carries a full line of instructional musical DVDs including several for bass guitar.

• Blockbuster: Not to be outdone by Netflix, video store titan Blockbuster has recently added a service that delivers movies to your door. The service works very similarly to Netflix except you can exchange your DVDs in any Blockbuster store and are not restricted to shipping them through the mail. In addition, Blockbuster sells many of the best learn to play bass guitar DVDs through their retail sales department.

• Amazon: Online media giant Amazon offers a full line of instructional bass guitar DVDs with over 100 titles to choose from.

Time to Practice

If you already have a bass and an amp, for a small amount of money you can make a great investment towards your musical proficiency. Pick up one of the best learn to play bass guitar DVDs that is geared toward your favorite style of music and set aside some time to practice. You'll be playing along like a pro in no time.