Does Guitar Tricks teach bass?

Parent article: Guitar Tricks Review

Though Guitar Tricks is a long-standing and popular guitar learning platform, the company has never produced a single bass lesson. To the best of my knowledge, they do not currently have plans to add bass-related content in the future.

In 2019 they added smaller programs for singing and playing piano, but still nothing for bass players.

So, unfortunately, the answer is still no. Guitar Tricks does not teach bass.

If you're interested in a guitar program, checkout my full Guitar Tricks review here for a complete rundown of what they do offer.

It's quite good.

Why don't they teach bass?

While I know that some of the Guitar Tricks development team has discussed the possibility of providing bass lessons, the exact reason as to why they don't provide them is not something I understand fully. Part of the issue is that they would have to start from scratch, building entire courses.

This takes time, money, and ultimately pulls resources away from their core guitar courses and the content people already pay for.

They would also need to re-structure their current membership setup to offer a separate section for bass, like JamPlay does. 

But don't they provide voice and piano lessons?

It is curious to me that Guitar Tricks has provided measures of vocal and piano lessons before striking out into any kind of bass content. However, I know their voice and piano programs are much smaller and function more as specialized standalone resources as opposed to a full course-load like their guitar program.

Sure, they could do the same thing with bass, but I would suspect if they were to tackle bass as a topic, they would want to do more than what they've done with their voice and piano content.

While I wouldn't completely discount the possibility of them adding a bass program in the future, their reasons for avoiding it thus far remains a bit of a mystery.

Can bass players benefit from a Guitar Tricks membership?

While it's true that there are plenty of universally-applicable musical topics and theory covered in the Guitar Tricks courses, I would be hesitant to recommend this to aspiring bass players, just because it's presented in an exclusively guitar context. 

Although, a lot of people who know guitar can transition to bass or "pick up" bass given time and experience with the guitar.

It's just a longer route to start playing bass as opposed to learning bass directly.

For those interested in the bass particularly, there are better options.

Where can bass students go?

The other reasons I would recommend bass players look outside of Guitar Tricks is that there are some excellent bass-specific options available. I've covered five of the best online bass lessons before, but I talk about a couple specific examples here.

JamPlay's Bass Membership

JamPlay is the second-biggest guitar lesson website behind Guitar Tricks, and they actually have a membership specifically for bass players that's autonomous from their guitar content.

While I've only been through small amounts of the material, I know that JamPlay's guitar program is fantastic, so I feel comfortable recommending their bass program as well.

I'd recommend browsing the course contents and then signing up for a free trial if it appeals to you.

TrueFire's Standalone Bass Courses

Another option for bass players is the TrueFire program.

It might even be more appealing than JamPlay because you can buy and download individual courses without a monthly or yearly membership (one-time purchase). The conventional all-access monthly membership is also available, but a lot of folks prefer not being tied into a regular payment.

The bass program or learning path can be accessed here:

• Beginner's Bass Learning Path

This section might be more easily worked through with a monthly membership. If you go to the courses section and search bass, you'll get a ton of excellent standalone courses.

• Standalone Bass Courses

In this section you'll even notice that some of the courses are taught by recognizable artists. Stu Hamm, Tony Franklin, Ariane Capp, and Andrew Ford all have courses available here. It's a useful resource for intermediate or advanced players that want to get into more specific playing styles and topics.

Blues, Jazz, Funk, Motown, and a wide variety of other topics are covered here.

Why are online bass lessons less common?

The unfortunate reality for prospective bass players is that the online bass lesson market hasn't taken off nearly as much as guitar lessons. There's just a lot more demand for guitar than there is for bass, which has led to a wide variety of online guitar programs, but only a handful of decent bass-focused options.

The Future of Online Bass Lessons

My prediction is that this will start to even out, especially as pop culture's influence of music leads to a less guitar-focused landscape.

Bass has become a more important and more appealing instrument. 

While it isn't ever likely to overtake the guitar in popularity, it's going to take a bigger share of the market than it has historically. 

How can I keep up with Guitar Tricks content updates?

The easiest way to keep up with what Guitar Tricks is offering is by signing up for their email list. If and when they decide to offer a bass program, it will be communicated via email directly to subscribers.

This subscription is of course free and can be signed up for quickly.

If you want to try out the guitar section (or know someone who does), you can use the promo code 60OFF to get your first month for about seven bucks.

Conclusion

Guitar Tricks is a great company, and one of the longest-standing online guitar lesson video resources. And while they don't currently offer bass lessons, I wouldn't be surprised to see it explored in the future. 

I would also be confident in saying that they won't put out bass content unless they can do so with the same level of quality with which they've produced so many guitar lessons.

For now, checkout one of the other two resources recommended above and keep an eye on the newsletter.

Your Questions

If you have questions about Guitar Tricks or other bass guitar lesson resources, drop me a note in the comments section below and I'll do my best to help out.

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