As most guitarists know, the Ibanez guitar, even if it is for classic or for bass, is always known for its crisp, warm tone. The name of the guitar itself has a rock star sound to it and most of their bass guitars are very comfortable to play with. If you are a bass player looking for a bass guitar, try looking for an Ibanez bass guitar and you are definitely not going to be disappointed.

Most beginners in the field of the bass playing should of course buy their own bass guitar to be able to learn the instrument. Choosing the right bass guitar should also be taken into consideration before purchasing one. So what is the difference between this particular brand and the other brands in the market?

As with all other branded guitar, the Ibanez bass guitar started since 1908 in Hoshino Shoten Bookstore Co., and it became Hoshino Gakki Company that started producing its own stringed instruments in 1935. Over the years, it became increasingly popular in the western part in the 1960s. And although the maker of the Ibanez guitars was actually a Spanish named Salvador Ibanez, Hoshino Gakki bought the brand name to an almost extinct guitar at that time.

The history of the Ibanez guitar is so long and colorful. The Ibanez bass guitar included many different types of guitars that different types of guitar lovers could use even today. The brand also survived a lawsuit in the early 1960s because of similarities with an American brand. That was probably one of the best things that happened to the Ibanez guitar since they were able to produce top quality guitars at an affordable price.

The great side of having an Ibanez brand of bass guitar is that it does not have any sharp edges and you can play the guitar as comfortably as you can while sitting or standing. The strings are loose so you do not have to force yourself that much to get a sound from it and your fingers will not tire from that much playing. Truly the Ibanez bass guitar is the best when it comes to helping beginners and also great for those intermediate bass players. You can expect that it has all the features and qualities you would want from a bass guitar. So if you are going for something with a good name under $300, go with Ibanez as other brands can get very expensive.

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By having previously familiarized yourself with the fretboard, you should be able to ‘absorb’ scales into your guitar vocabulary, with little effort.

Just so you know, the scales that you learn in a regular six string guitar are exactly the same as those you would learn when doing bass guitar scales. The knowledge you gain when using the six string axe will come in handy even when playing a bass guitar.

1. There are two basic ‘must know’ guitar scales, and these are the minor guitar scales and the Major guitar scales. This is the foundation of everything else.

Even for pentatonic guitar scales, which by definition are five note scales (hence the ‘penta’ like in a pentagram or pentagon), you would be making use of a minor or Major element.

In fact, the minor scale is actually a Major scale, but starting off two steps backward. This is also known as the ‘aeolian’ mode. So ultimately, if you know just this one Major scale, you would also have the foundation by which to learn all else.

2. People are going to tell you that you have to learn “jazz guitar scales” or “metal guitar scales” but these are actually misleading, as both will still be derived from your knowledge of the basic scales.

A scale for heavy metal, for example, most likely uses a minor mode or a minor pentatonic.

And scales for jazz are so varied that an umbrella term ‘jazz’ is so inadequate in specifying what it is you want to do.

You could be doing a diminished pattern, or merely playing a minor arpeggiated iii chord, which are entirely different things.

Nonetheless, jazz will help you with improvisation guitar because you have to continually adjust your notes according to the underlying chords.

3. You may have read earlier that getting familiar with guitar theory is more important than guitar technique. Well, now you have to know how to build up chops like never before.

As a bass player, who uses wide fretboards, it is advised that you already practice on your bass, as opposed to a regular six string. You need to familiarize yourself with the feel of your instrument.

Even though a bass guitar usually does not have to play single notes in succession as though doing solos, you are inevitably going to have enough skills to showcase your talent.

4. To improve technique, the one tool you need is a metronome. No other device could accurately gauge and progressively raise your technical abilities as a device that ticks at a given tempo. Over time, you must be able to play along even at faster tempos.

Say you start at a tempo of only 80 beats per minute. You can begin with any one of many bass guitar scales from the first position, after which you slide to the second position, until you reach the very end of the fretboard, and you go down again in a similar fashion.

From 80 in one week, wherein you have allotted a certain time each day or every other day for practice, go up to 84 in the next week. Before you know it, in just a little more than half a year, you will be going at it at 200 beats per minute! Good luck.

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After developing a certain proficiency, you are going to perhaps give a bass guitar lesson of your own. A great tool for bass guitar instruction is the use of tablature. There is much you can impart to students by the use of bass guitars tabs.

Many online bass guitar lessons are done with the use of tabs. In fact, there is so much information on bass playing out there that is put into tab form, that a good percentage of tab is done by novices who are getting songs like Blink 182’s ‘Adam’s Song’ bass tabs all wrong.

A rule of thumb is this. If you Google a random tab for a song, for your use or the use of your pupil’s, chances are it would be all wrong. This is why it helps to have a good ear to verify these tabs, or to learn a song yourself and put this into tabs.

1. For bass guitar, it may be insufficient to have just the frets and lines indicating what to play. After all, good technique must be inculcated early on. You could not expect one to play funk bass or something like a Flea bass solo if they didn’t know what to do with their right and left hands.

Slap bass may seem like an intuitive thing, until you hear bad attempts at it. Tabs must at the very least be supplemented by bass guitar videos, say on Youtube, to show how something is to be done right.

2. You should know how to go about writing tabs. Even if you are fairly capable of learning by ear, an inefficient manner of putting things down on paper could lead to a great loss of time.

3. It is advised for you to learn things by the passage. Let us say you are tabbing a song for your student to learn guitar arpeggios. You do not need to play and then pause and then write down the note, and then play-pause-write again.

It is much better to hear how a passage goes and the arrangement of say eight notes in succession, before putting this down either with a pen, or typed out in your computer.

After all, if you have learned sufficient musical theory and are familiar with arpeggio shapes, then you would be familiar with the notes being played and have the proper order of it in your head. This saves so much time, even hours of it.

4. After tabbing out something, it helps to do a ‘spell check.’ Review the entire piece or song, listening to it while reading your tabs. For fast passages, either slow down the tempo or use the pause function.

In reviewing what you did, you may notice some mistakes you have made. Another good thing about reviewing your work is that you are able to comprehend the work as a whole, and even find better and less awkward fingerings and positions for a certain part.

Even when you teach using bass guitar tabs, make sure your student’s horizons are expanded, teaching him listening methods and the proper theory for him to be able to learn tabbing as well.

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Finding a cheap bass guitar can be a challenge for those who aren’t familiar with this task. It is important to find a cheap guitar but it is even more important that it delivers exactly what you are looking for-quality, crisp high quality sound and superior hardware that won’t jeopardize your effort to create good music from this piece of instrument.

It is best to look for certain qualities when you are out shopping so you can be sure that you are getting what you are looking for.

Read these seven rules to help you find the cheap bass guitar without sacrificing what you are looking for.

Rule #1: Price Tag

Expensive guitars don’t guarantee superior quality nor do lower priced items mean inferior products. Sometimes, even the lower priced items can really deliver superb performance so you may want to make sure before you pay for it.

Rule #2: Established Brands

It is always safer to go with the established brands than to go with one that is relatively new. Established brands tend to offer better quality products and you will be much more secured in your purchases especially if they offer warranty for the hardware.

Rule #3: Bargain

There are always good bargains to be found on auction sites and you can easily get access to great deals by browsing some of the most popular online auctions sites such as the eBay marketplace and Bidz.com

Rule #4: Used

Consider buying a used guitar if you want to look for substantial savings when buying a bass guitar. Buying a used item is a good way to ensure you get the best value for money.

Rule #5: Test

Always remember to test the guitar before you buy to make sure everything works out fine. Buying cheap guitar doesn’t mean you should settle for less than acceptable quality.

Rule #6: Guarantee

Check to see if the manufacturer offer some form of guarantee on your purchase. This form of guarantee can safeguard you against manufacturing defects or hardware malfunction during the duration of the warranty period.

Rule #7: Reviews

Check user reviews to see what others are saying about the product. You will get a very good idea of how things would turn out if you care to read reviews from past users.

Follow these seven rules to help you find a cheap bass guitar that will give you the best value for your money.

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