Scott’s Bass Lessons: hanging out with positive older bass-brothers.
In a previous article I laid out a few thoughts about some of the key principles I bring to bear in my day job working at Crosslands as their learning designer. I spoke a little about the process involved and the kind of stages I might typically go through when I work on a course. Now in my fifth year I am still using these.
Then more recently I put together some personal reflections on how learning design is fundamentally linked to the curation/creation of a hospitable environment where expert skilled instruction makes effective use of accessible resources.
In this post I wanted to underline this point using an example recently spotted out in the wild.
Scott's Bass Lessons
I have been playing Bass since I was sixteen years old but had a ten year break until very recently. I think it's fair to say that I had got a little bored and stopped caring. In stepping back I was determined to sharpen my fluency with applying musical theory (I also decided to give up on the dream of slapping but that's another story).
Oh you know, just hanging out playing fretless with a pal in the larder.
After a bit of research it’s obvious that there are whole host of impressive teachers on YouTube¹ with connected subscription-based online schools. All of them offered regular weekly 'freebies' online (also known among marketeers as a ‘lead-magnets’) which I enjoyed immensely. What a time we live in!
In the end I coughed up about £100 to go with Scotts Bass Lessons for a year and to see if it would make much of a difference. I am only about a month into it, so a discussion on the value will have to wait a few months, but I can comment on the learning environment I 'stepped' into.
Hospitality
The tone of the 'freebie' offerings online were just right for me. Usually co-hosted by (the Leeds-based founder of SBL) Scott Devine with skilled sidekick Ian Allison, there is a friendly and fun atmosphere as they travel through numerous legendary examples of bass playing.
At each episode they bring in some history, analyse and demonstrate some technique, giving valuable contextual insight into great players and numerous genre-related details.
In short it's a lovely way of hanging out with a gang of older bass-brothers who want you to succeed. This framing and invitational tone were what got me to the front door. The SBL substantial resource offerings and cheap subscription price got my wallet out.
A line I have been pressing in my recent posts about learning design has been that excellent educational provision focuses on curating hospitable learning environments where skilled instruction and accessible resources can be effectively used.
Resources within a trusted environment
SBL has invested in a whole team of instructors to support activities around a set of core-curriculum areas. From the outset a 'players path' is identified and you are encouraged to engage with it in various ways.
The clarity here is really impressive. My sense here is that Scott Devine started off as a great local bass teacher with a solid idea of how to help his learners progress. He then scaled it up in obviously effective ways. Looking at that set of three standards/nine paths I have an immediate idea of where I currently am, where I’d like to go and some of the steps involved in getting there. This counters the usual thing where you get lost in your own ego because you can play a fancy funk riff in your bedroom at night.
The other feature that I think works well here is something similar to how Crosslands works - the integration of streamed digital learning with live-community.
This was the latest zoom-practice session. If you clicked through there were many players participating. It was lovely.
There are several active and genuinely helpful discussion boards.
What I love here is that SBL have engaged with solid learning design principles - cultivating a live community like this is not a cheap to set up and maintain, but it makes a huge difference to those seeking further feedback and support.
Each of these is consistent with the spirit and tone of those 'freebies' I originally saw on YouTube.
Deal-breaker or deal-maker: too aggressive marketing?
Someone somewhere inside SBL has certainly done their marketing homework, although I would argue that it is a little too aggressive at times. I was already leaning towards joining but in the end the emails I was getting were erring a bit too far into being emotionally manipulative. If the hospitality of the 'freebies' won me over, the guilt-pressure nearly shut the door in its own face. I suspect that this is where the weakness lies - a beast that is in danger of being crushed under its own inherent hubris, perhaps?
I got into a discussion with my nearest and dearest about this and she said that this was a common thing among the marketers that are most successful. People are too busy and need reminding - but it’s important to maintain the sense of service rather than wanting to make a sale.
I shall come back in maybe a year to say how this is going, but so far it’s great.
¹ Among the most impressive - and well worth linking here: Mark J Smith’s Talking Bass channel and Dan Hawkins’ Online Bass Courses. Both are terrific teachers that I have a lot of respect for.
