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Beginner Bass Guitar Lessons: A Complete Guide (Udemy.com)

Bass guitar lessons for every beginner. Learn beginner bass up to intermediate bass. A creative & easy to follow guide

Created by: Marc Barnacle

Last updated November 2023

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What you will learn

  • Bass Guitar Anatomy & Tuning
  • A range of bass guitar riffs and songs from a mix of styles
  • Bass guitar scales
  • An introduction to music theory
  • An introduction to songwriting
  • Bass guitar playing exercises for finger strength, stretch & independence
  • How to read guitar tablature and chord boxes
  • A range of bass guitar playing techniques, that will enable you to continue to expand your playing ability after this course

How it compares

Against the other 183 rated Udemy courses in Guitar on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.5 out of 5higher than 27% of them
  • Reviews219#76 of 184 by number of reviews
  • Length1.9 hoursshorter than 77% of them
  • Last updatedNovember 2023more recently than 75% of them

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Course Description

Hey! Welcome to my Bass Guitar course. It caters for every beginner and covers songs and techniques that will take you up to intermediate Bass playing level. There is no experience necessary. And it's suitable for both electric and acoustic Bass Guitar.

I have attached plenty of PDF's, which will assist with your learning - and have also added some extra songs for you to challenge yourself with and push your playing even further. There are links that will take you to the songs we cover and all of the equipment and software I discuss. I will also link you to guitar recording and music production software and mention some tips for these areas along the way.

We are going to cover everything you need to make you feel confident and creative on the Bass Guitar, with an easy to follow structure:

SECTION 1 - GETTING STARTED

Anatomy & Understanding: A simple introduction to help you understand all the different parts of the instrument and how to read and digest the music we will be covering.

Tuning & Technique: All the tools and tips you need to correctly tune the Bass - plus the essential guidance to get you off to a great start with your playing technique.

SECTION 2 - EXERCISES & FIRST RIFFS

Exercises & Riffs: We begin building the foundations of our Bass playing, with some easy to access exercises. And we couple this with some cool riffs to learn!

SECTION 3 - INTRODUCTION TO SCALES AND MUSIC THEORY

Scales & Keys: Here we scratch the surface of music theory, but I promise it's not too heavy or overwhelming! It's demonstrated with accessible exercises and it will leave you with some great knowledge that will make the Bass guitar and music theory seem a lot less daunting.

SECTION 4 - DEVELOPING TECHNIQUE, TIMING & MORE SONGS

Exploring Further Songs: A chance to mix up our learning journey with some different styles of music.

Developing Technique: Here we will cover 3 very important techniques that add a ton of creative possibility to your playing - as well as continuing to improve your overall musicianship. They are 'Hammer-On's, Pull-Off's and Slides'.

SECTION 5 - SONGWRITING: COMPOSE YOUR OWN MUSIC

Songwriting: I'm a firm believer that everyone has their own, unique, creative ability - and I aim to demonstrate in this class how you can start to experiment with creating your own music.

SECTION 6 - CONCLUSION/FINAL THOUGHTS (AND ONE MORE SONG!)

Last song - One more brilliant bass tune to learn, before we begin to wrap things up for now. 

Final Thoughts:  A recap of everything we have worked on, with some extra final thoughts to send you forward and leave you feeling confident in your ability.

I'm available throughout your entire learning journey - so please feel free to reach out with messages at any point if you have any questions along the way.

I wish you all the best with your learning journey - and hope to see you in the course.

Good luck!

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Instructor Details

Marc Barnacle

Hey,

I’m Marc - A full time musician and Director/Instructor of the music charity T.I.M.E - Together In Musical Expression.

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years, and teaching for 15. My role at TIME means I am highly experienced at helping people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, discover their musical potential. I aim to encourage self-expression, increase confidence and creativity, and  instil the belief that participation in music can be available and accessible to everyone.

I am passionate about creating online music classes that are inspiring, fun and have a focus on discovering your own creative potential.

Please check out the first in my series - 'Beginner Guitar Lessons: Learn Guitar - The Complete Guide' - and the follow up - 'Fingerstyle Guitar Lessons: Beginner Fingerpicking' and 'Learn Guitar Chords: Electric and Acoustic For All Levels'

I have also launched a Bass Guitar Course -  'Beginner Bass Guitar Lessons: A Complete Guide'. And a Beginners Guide To Ukulele.

I am regularly creating courses, covering all aspects of the guitar, production and theory - so please keep an eye on updates and send me any suggestions for what you would like me to feature.

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Reviews

4.5

219 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Vamilumusawenkosi Zamathabela Gasa on 8/15/2025

I was looking for more theory. but the course is easy and fun. I am loving it

By Clinton Corbin on 10/18/2024

For a beginner course the teaching is too fast. The lecturer is not taking his time enough to explain the frets which notes he is playing etc. His accent as well since he is speaking to a wide audience from different backgrounds pronunciation of words more attention should be paid. As a beginner stay with simple terms and concepts to get candidates playing I taught to many difficult concepts were introduced at this stage.

By Mark Benfield on 9/16/2024

This was a great course. Just what I needed. It covered the basics, it inspired me and it encouraged me. Marc is great at giving just what you need both in skills and motivation. Thanks Marc great work.

By Oluwafisayomi Agunbiade on 1/13/2024

This is litteraly the best course for beginners on Udemy! Don't let the amount of reviews on other courses, or anyone tell you otherwise. I tried Udemy's best seller for the bass, it was not beginner firendly, but this one was, and it was everything I needed and more! Honestly got me started very well, got me excited with the music I was able to play, and boosted my confidence. Loved the expirience

By Pao Sl on 10/28/2022

As a beginner of course you want to learn to play without being overwhelmed with so much music theory, and what I loved about this course is that it introduces you to the areas you need to master in order to play bass and what is important for your development as a musician. The riffs are from popular songs and it's great to use them as practice exercises, they are fun to play and they help you to develop your dexterity and improve your technique.

By Zade Al-Sayegh on 5/6/2022

Thanks Marc for your course! I just finished and learned so much! Personally, I felt what really helped was not rushing through the course and just pausing to learn the chords. Also, as a beginner, I've just created bass chords to a song I've written and you've definitely been a big contribution towards that! Thanks again!

By Greg Ovens on 3/2/2022

Really impressed with this course. Great structure. Learning loads of cool songs and techniques. Feel like it’s developing my playing in lots of ways and giving me an all round awareness of the Bass. Good job!

By Robert Fillary on 2/24/2022

This was an incredible course and so easy to digest! I've wanted to learn the bass guitar for many years now and I'm so glad that I stumbled across this! I was thrilled that some of my favorite songs were featured too and now I can't stop playing them. It's also given me a solid foundation and the confidence to start writing my own music. Thank you Marc! Make more courses please!

By Raeanne Georgina Beckwith on 2/20/2022

Brilliant course. Great tips and examples and I really like the selection of songs. Good video and audio quality too. And I love the encouragement and advice for how to write your own songs. Looking forward to working through more of Marc’s content!

By Poppy Beckwith on 2/19/2022

I’ve gained so much from this course! It’s broken down in to really easy to follow sections. The exercises and songs included have massively improved my playing ability. I’m definitely feeling inspired to push my bass playing to the next level! And I’m looking forward to seeing more courses from Marc.

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Overall Score : 90 / 100