Review:

Bass Guitar Secrets

by Alex Sampson

Our Highest Rated Bass Guitar Program: 8.5 out of 10

I happen to believe that learning to play bass guitar can improve your total understanding and feel for music. As a result, songwriters, rhythm guitar players and even lead guitarists can benefit from learning bass.

Also, bass players are often in short supply, so learning these skills can be a golden ticket into a great band.

Of course playing bass is great fun and makes anyone playing one automatically cool. (Come on, you know I’m right).

If any of the above appeals to you, then you might want to take a serious look at this review of Bass Guitar Secrets instructional program by Alex Sampson.

The Goal of Bass Guitar Secrets:

As written by Alex Sampson, the creator of Bass Guitar Secrets: The Goal of Bass Guitar Secrets is “…to play performance-level bass in the fastest time possible”.

Who Will Benefit Most From This Program?:

This bass guitar instructional program is designed for rank beginners that wish to start from scratch to more advanced players that are frustrated by not being able to consistently come up with tasty bass lines on the fly.

What Kind Of Bass Guitar Does Bass Guitar Secrets Teach You To Play?

This course is designed to teach for 4,5 and 6 string electric bass guitar.

The Contents of Blues Guitar Secrets:

 

 

(2) Illustrated Instructional Manuals - 250 pages total

 

Audio Examples, (over 350 sound files total) that provide demonstrations and riffs that are designed to enhance the lessons in the 2 main manuals.

 

JamBox: 101 audio, play along, full band, Jam tracks. Alex offers excellent variety of styles and the production quality is top notch.

 

Fretboard Genius Training Software for developing “an almost effortless fluidity all over the neck“.

 

Groove Station: 107 audio drum tracks - “Your sharpest groove skills will develop from woodshedding solo with just a drummer”.

 

Insiders Guide To Chord Mastery For Bass Players: This 24 page manual is a book of chord formulas for learning how to build the 5 common chord types and their variations. This knowledge can be especially helpful if you need to play a new chord and you have forgotten to bring along a chord chart book.

 

Bass Guitar Tuning Software

Three Bonus Lessons sent 30 days after the initial purchase

Free Membership to the BGS 1-on-1 personal coaching program

Free Lifetime Lesson Updates

A Partial List of The Lessons:

Volume 1: 18 lessons (102 Pages)

Kinds of Bass Guitars

Identifying the Parts of the Bass

How to Replace Strings

Tools to Compliment the Bass

Tuning

How to Hold the Bass

Hand Technique, Dexterity and Speed

The Role of the Bass

The Four Golden Rules of Bass Playing

The Musical Alphabet

Four Vital Note Equations

Major Scales

Scale Degrees and Intervals

The Fundamentals of Fretboard Mastery

Modes

Diatonic Harmonization

The 14 Day Road Map To Bass Playing

 

Volume 2: 18 Lessons (151 Pages)

The CG-X Method to Groovy Bass Playing

How to Make Any Groove You Play Irresistible to Your Listener’s Ear!

Chord Fundamentals

Arpeggios

Rhythmic Basics

Scale Mastery

Note Choice

The secret “Groove-Suck” Method

Groove Mechanics

Riffs and Fills For Your Songs

Genres: Rock, Latin, Funk, Reggae and More

Groove Analysis

The X-Factor Revealed

The Negatives:

Bass Guitar Secrets doesn’t utilize video as a teaching tool. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the content or quality of the lessons suffer but I do believe that some people, based on their learning style, may have to work a little harder to understand some of the lessons.

However, quality all-video guitar instruction programs (I haven’t found one yet for the bass), can cost up to $200. Since Bass Guitar Secrets is currently available for under $50 and includes audio tracks, a tuner and other valuable software, the price tag more than makes sense.

Access to the audio files, however, could be a little more convenient. As it stands right now, the instruction manuals have special logos placed through out the lessons to indicate when to refer to an audio file (which, by the way, are of excellent quality and well produced). In order to play the audio files it is necessary to manually locate the files on your computer.

It would be nice to just click on the audio logo in a particular lesson and have the audio is automatically located, loaded and played. ( I know, I know, I sound a bit lazy). An easy solution was to keep the appropriate audio files folder open and just toggle between it and the instruction manual. No big deal.

The Positives:

All Inclusive: This is a turnkey bass guitar lesson program. Everything needed to go from rank beginner to creating interesting bass lines for many different styles of music is included.

Beyond The Basics: This course is jam packed with tons of small but essential tips from learning to buy a bass to tuning it. You are not just told what to do but also given lots of detailed tips for learning to execute each lesson well.

Written From A Student Perspective: You can be the most professional and gifted bass player in the world but if you can’t relate to the way students think and learn you aren’t going to teach the average student much. Alex Sampson does an effective job of painting a picture of the destination of this course as well as showing the best way to get there.

Excellent After The Purchase Support: Nothing is as frustrating as stalling out in the course because there is no way ask questions or request clarification. Bass Guitar Secrets has 5 avenues of support, (see the “Support” section below for details).

Fun: Playing along side the very real (though recorded), Jambox band is the most fun and satisfying part of this course. The quality of the production and selection of the music both combine to give as much realism as possible while still remaining in the safe atmosphere of your own bedroom.

Computer Compatibility:

Both Macintosh and Window PCs are supported.

TIP: If your laptop speakers cannot reproduce the rich bass guitar parts of the jam tracks audio, try using a decent pair of headphones.

I noticed that the volume on the bass parts of the jam tracks was a little too low to be heard distinctly on my laptop. It was as if the other instruments were drowning it out. It turned out that my laptop speakers couldn’t reproduce the lowest sound frequencies and consequently some of the bass guitar audio just disappeared.

The easy solution was to plug in a $20 pair of head phones… and what a difference. The bass came blasting out of the head phones in full, beautiful, balanced glory.

 

The Price :

Bass Guitar Secrets is available in 3 different versions which all contain the same information, software tools and audio files but vary in convenience of delivery, speed of delivery and price.

Option 1: $97 USD (as of this writing ), This version of Bass Guitar Secrets includes a convenient printed version of all the manuals. The software and audio files are provided on CD. The printed manuals come in handy if you wish to have quick access to some of the lessons with out having to boot up your computer. This version is a plus if you don’t especially like to read from a computer screen.

Option 2: $59.95 USD This version saves you over $37 by not giving you a printed version of the eBook instruction manuals. All of the items mentioned above ,including the manuals, arrive at your house on CD.

Option 3: $49.95 USD This is the instantly downloadable version. All of the files for the written manuals, software and audio are sent instantly via the internet upon receipt of payment by most major credit cards, eCheck or PayPal. The surprising part about this low cost option is that nothing is left out. Absolutely all of the manuals, the audio files, jam tracks, bass tuner, etc. that are part of the $97 version are included.

The Cost Analysis: Bass Guitar Secrets vs. a Local Instructor

Bass Guitar Secrets by Alex Sampson contains the equivalent of 6 months to one years worth of guitar lessons if you were to space them out as if you were taking lessons from a local guitar instructor. A local instructor typically will charge anywhere from $20 to $50 per weekly lesson. Your minimum cost, (not including materials), at only $20 per lesson for 6 months would be at least $520.

The choice comes down to:  Bass Guitar Secrets at $49.95 to $97 or a local instructor at $520 to $1040.

Guarantee:

“ You have 365 days to put Bass Guitar Secrets to the test and if you aren’t absolutely thrilled with the results you accomplish, so much so that even others point out your marked improvements, there’s no need to complain or eat yourself up… Just send me an email and I’m the one who eats his shirt -- not you. Simple as that!”

Support:

 

1. Free dedicated internet Support Site

2. A blog that allows you to interact with experienced bassists

3. Free Membership to the BGS 1-on-1 personal coaching program

4. Free Lifetime Updates for the two main instructional manuals

5. Two Free Video Tutorials for downloading and setting up Bass Guitar Secrets program.

The Bottom Line:

At first I was not expecting to like Bass Guitar Secrets because it doesn’t include video in the lessons but, slowly I was won over. The lesson content and quality are definitely on the mark. Alex Sampson is the real deal as a bassist that has a flair for teaching and it shows in the details of his course.

The quality of the 400 plus audio examples and play along jam tracks are top notch which lends an essential degree of realism to the learning experience, (not to mention a great deal of fun as well).

I am pleased with the overall reasonable price but, I am surprised and especially impressed that even the lowest cost, instant download version ($49.95) of Bass Guitar Secrets includes everything and I mean everything that the more expensive printed version offers.

The bottom line is that Alex Sampson’s Bass Guitar Secrets get the job done at an excellent price. It has clearly earned my recommendation. Now it’s up to you.

Click here for more details, samples, testimonials or to buy Bass Guitar Secrets