We need to talk about Fender Play 

I can personally vouch for Bass Buzz. I had an SBL membership for a while and have purchased many TalkingBass products as well. None of them have been as good as BB. Most of the others, even in their "This is called a bass guitar. Can you say 'bass guitar'?" entry level courses just seem to have forgotten what it's like to not know how to play. Josh from Bass Buzz, however, knows exactly how to get people started and keep them interested.

I bought Josh's Bass Buzz course to get back into playing after a 30 year break. His personality made the difference for me.

another vote for josh fossgreen's 'beginner to badass' bassbuzz course - its excellent.

Another +1 for Bass Buzz. No musical background, started at 49. Still playing 3 years later and now jamming out with friends in the real world. Beyond what I would have ever thought possible. I always imagined it was talent or some kind of magic that was required. It's none of that; just good old fashioned practice and a solid grounding right from the start. Bass Buzz makes it fun so practice doesn't feel like school.

That one dude, Pete, in the fender video is a real family guy.

I’ve heard nightmare stories about Scott’s bass lessons

Those quotes from the CEO pretty much align with how I feel about the recent Fender releases. Pretty much a numbers game and they're missing the mark on a ton of their products. You'll still get some great products like the Squier Rascal, but I'm still salty having to pay $1500 for Mikey Way & Mike Kerr signature models. Great breakdown on Fender Play and cool to know more about your music background, I also started on piano!

This is your best video. I've been playing Bass for 40 years and you kind of hit the nail on the head. A+

Nice work to see all the positive comments about BB. I’m currently taking lessons at the school of rock, but I’m still considering BB to add more…music theory, basics, fill in gaps.

This was great, because I know someone who's in the Fender Play and they have *an amazing personality* and the videos with them are just... flat. I tried Fender play twice and it was just... lackluster for the exact reasons you stated. I recently started with Scott's bass lessons because I like his youtube videos but the platform is a little overwhelmingly in depth - that's not a bad thing. But even though I've been playing bass for three years straight (and guitar off and on since the mid 90s), it still felt like gazing out onto the sea from the beach and being told to swim over to a distant island. Lessons are like that though, in some ways, because it is about endurance.. but it's also about haivng fun. If you're not having fun, you're not gonna keep coming back, that's what in-person teachers really do that online lessons can't: they interact with you and you begin to have fun.

Your videos are awesome man!

Can't agree more. I didn't start playing music until I was an adult and it has led to making many great friends and having experiences I never would have had without music.

Excellent review, with the energy and honesty that makes me come back to the channel. I would definitely be interested in seeing you review some of the others, though I am not sure that the time commitment would be worth it to you. I did BassBuzz, loved it, and am book-learning now. But one that I would be really interested in seeing is something from Dan Hawkins’ material. I rarely see reviews of his stuff, but the YT videos are always really interesting. Sincere.

Loved your insights. No notes. Comment for the algorithm.

Interesting to watch. My RU-vid go to teachers are Luke from Become A Bassist, Mark from TalkingBass and Josh from Bass Buzz. And like you said, I click with all of their styles. I've tried SBL and I am just put off by Scott, though I do love Ian. Thanks for the video and sharing your insights. As a teacher myself, I appreciate your recognition of Mrs. Allen and I can see you face light up when talking about her. You are so lucky to have had a teacher like that in your life.

OMG! Thank you!!!! I signed up for Fender Play for guitar to learn along with my daughter during the pandemic and I think it turned her off from music! During that time, they would have these fender play live sessions where some of the instructors would go over topics from Fender Play. And it was amazing to see them not act like robots! I felt like since Fender was Fender, they felt like they couldn't stray from being precisely correct about things.

I drank from the RU-vid free firehose, particularly enjoyed Josh, Rich Brown, and Dan Hawkins while completing book 1 of Hal Leonard/Ed Friedland. In September, I decided to take zoom lessons bi weekly/exclusively. Much better for me to focus on lessons and lesson homework vs the constant distraction of yet another newly discovered video. Almost one year in (in March), woohoo! Btw, I saw your show in downtown Provo at Velour last Feb. Good times!

"you're in tune right?" My soul has withered and died. This was not what I signed up for Heather! "Yeah"

BassBuzz for the win

Great video! I'm entirely self-taught on bass, but I was a music major in college so I am not really looking for lessons. I never would've considered checking out Fender Play but it sounds like it's about what I would expect. (I think I'd be making the 3:12 face a lot.) That said, I've watched just about all of the big names on RU-vid, and I absolutely love Josh's work. Even though the Bass Buzz videos are below my skill level, they're so fun, I watch them anyway. I still manage to learn a thing or two as well.

Awesome video man thanks. I can totally see Fender Play being a corporate bore. We’re all sheep I guess in their eyes. Gotta cater to everyone and alienate their core audience.

Great video!

I started my musical journey at 5 years old in the early 70s with private organ lessons. The teacher would actually come to our house and give the lessons on our Baldwin living room organ. Over the years I've had private instructors for organ, classical piano and bass, but also learned a lot on my own and through fellow musicians. I've watch some free RU-vid video lessons to fill in some gaps over the past decade but have never tried a full online course. Not sure I how much value I would get out of it at this point but would be interested in your take on some of the others out there.

This is such a good video.

I started playing bass from the original rocksmith three years ago when I was 36. At first, I just really liked the game, having played Guitar Hero since it came out. Eventually it sparked a really interest in wanting to play bass. So a year and a half ago I started taking bass lessons and I just stop. Having a great one on one teacher really helped spark my love for the instrument. I did try Fender play, out of curiosity, and I was beyond those lessons. Josh from Bass Buzz and Scott’s bass lessons have some great videos that I use as supplements. Also, Dan Hawkins has some great lessons on how to elevate your playing as well. A question for you AMP, do you still count or do you play by feel? Great video!

I play acoustic guitars since '94 and about one month ago I bought a bass ( my teen's dream ), and I had to "kinda" restart everything I thought I knew after this few weeks. First because the instrument itself works pretty different, and secondly because the bass place in song way different than the guitar and that's one of my main dificulties. I think lessons have more to do with didatics, than the teacher itself. Pick up a teacher whom transmit the content the smoother way to your total understanding about the subject. For me it doesn't matter if he or she is the best player ever, but if the content is correct and the way is explained. Cheers from Brazil, bass buddies!

“Finding Qualified bass teachers…”. And I’m sitting at home unemployed lmfao Welp, guess I gotta make my bass course. 😊

honestly before it got taken down rocksmith 2014 was such a great way to get started

I'm a user of Fender Play - about 6 months total on guitar and just about 2 weeks into Fender Play. So far my major complaint is inability to print their TABS. Need to do screen prints - cut and paste to arrive at a readable size print and put in my note book.

I use fender play and I am ok with it. I agree with the fact the instructors are robots. I do however like the practice mode and the feedback mode. Once this subscription is up I am thinking about Bass Buzz.

I’ve been playing for many years AND have all the Elden Ring achievements. Not sure which I’m more proud of.

BASS BUZZ!!!!!!!!

Overall it's a very fair review/critique of Fender Play, but do I have one thing to say in their defense; They are very accessible! It's fully understandable that it just didn't cross your mind as a native speaker, but I've seen those stickers on Squiers and Fenders all over the world, and as a non-native speaker I know how poor people's understanding of English can be. I know people in their 30's who still speak like Muzzy In Gondoland from when they were in elementary school. The very clear and dry instructions in the Fender Play videos is aimed at an international audience, even someone who barely understands the language could manage to follow along. As an added bonus, there aren't any jokes or irony for someone to decipher if they struggle with reading other people such as someone on the autism spectrum might. As you said, it could be seen as a cynical cash-grab by Fender, but at least it's a globally accessible one! lol There's no reason for me to compare Fender's videos to Bass Buzz or Scott's Bass Lessons in my comment as they're not international multi-million(billion?) dollar companies marketing to the world, they're small operations just making the instructions in the language they know. Big difference :p

Good info - did Fender Play for a bit - was really underwhelmed, even as a new-ish player. BassBuzz is awesome - well, well, well worth the money. Josh has a natural teaching ability - his lessons are bite-sized chunks, so they're easy to complete, and he makes you feel like you're progressing from lesson to lesson. Talking Bass is good too, but more like university - "here's what you need to know, now go work on that and come back when you're ready" - like you said, drier and more straight-forward. Extremely informative as well. No experience with SBL - just didn't feel like a fit for me..

I'm a 28 year-old amateur guitarist turned amateur bassist who doesn't actually want to be an instrumentalist, I just want to make weird electronic music, but I had bought a used electric guitar two years ago to gain a more intuitive sense of harmony/melody, then I realized that all my minor scale improvisations on it are basically basslines an octave too high, so last summer I bought a used 5-string bass and fell in love with it. One of the most interesting parts about my journey so far has been the discovery that instruments and music are like two distinct hobbies, and I generally hate the whole instrument-hobby, despite loving the bass. I like music youtubers who speak from the perspective of creative artists who are all about turning visions into a reality, and even better if they are open for various sounds and approaches to music. As a lifelong visual artist I can really gel with that... But I'm extremely picky about instrument-specific stuff, like guitar/bass channels, because I feel like what they represent most of the time is so far removed from the idea of music as a creative outlet, especially with all the clickbait stuff and sponsored "reviews", it just feels to me like a slightly less dystopian, more self-imposed version of the utter soullessness you've described regarding Fender Play. And don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-music-theory, or anti-practice, I'm just a bit more utilitarian about instruments, so a lot of that stuff reminds me of people who can go on about computer specs all day without ever mentioning what they use their machines for. All of this nonsense has been just context to help emphasize my main point: Josh Fossgreen of Bass Buzz is by far the single greatest instrument-youtuber out there, in my opinion. Granted, I really like his personality too, so that helps, but besides that, his explanations are always top-tier, he properly evaluates several alternative techniques and stylistic choices instead of trying to push his own One True Way of doing it, he addresses the struggles of a beginner without ever talking down to his audience, he has unparalleled integrity when it comes to product reviews, and in general, he just seems genuinely invested in helping people learn and love the bass. I don't feel the need to pay for courses, I'm self-critical and obsessive enough to be able to learn alone with some googling, but I still feel kinda interested in Josh's course - that's how good he is!

I had an SBL membership for a while, which was good….ish. Later on I was told about Damien Erskine and Daric Bennet, both of whom are miles better.

TL;DR - I used it as a beginner. It is not that bad, actually I found it very useful. As long as the stiff delivery in lesson videos does not disturb you too much, you can learn from it a lot as a beginner. But there are probably better online courses available out there. I hardly ever comment on YT videos, but I feel compelled to do so now as I have real-life experience with Fender Play and while I agree with your main points of criticism towards this product (and even more with the general message of you video), I feel I need to throw in my two cents. The reason is that I believe my experience is relevant as I did what you eventually did not have patience to do, i.e. I went through their entire bass course, which had 5 levels at the time, and I did it as a true 100% noob. And it seems to me that the discussion in the comments section starts to evolve towards usual Fender bashing, which I believe was not exactly your intention and - I want to emphasize this - would be totally undeserved in this case, in my opinion. I decided to use Fender Play as it was advertised for on the box of my brand new Squier Affinity bass which I bought to figure if I can learn to play the bass at all. I was not aware of the existence of any alternatives at the time and they offered a free trial, so it was a no-brainer. One of the things that struck me at first was the awkwardness of the video staging and scripted lesson presentation you are referring to. However, while I found it a bit weird, even a bit ridiculous, it did not disturb me too much as I enjoyed all the other elements of the learning platform and the lesson materials and I was consumed by the exploration of my new instrument. I spend a few months using Fender Play as my main learning tool, I learned quite a bit from it and I must say I really enjoyed the learning process. I found it very useful and I absolutely do not regret. One probably important thing to mention is that I was in my late thirties when I used it. Plus, I do not consider myself the kind of person who needs to be constantly entertained or requires 100% authenticity in the message and its delivery. If I were, let’s say 16, my reaction could have been very different though, I guess. But I can easily distinguish between delivery and the content. And while the delivery was initially surprisingly awkward, once you get used to it, it does not get in the way in the learning process, which is fine, I guess. That being said, I am still puzzled why somebody in charge of this project at Fender decided to go for precisely this sterile and lifeless vibe which seems to go against all the current trends in online communication, especially if you are selling an entertainment product. So once I finished that course I had to decide what’s next. Fender Play wanted me to extend my paid subscription and offered an extension for a huge discount, but 1) they did not have further levels to offer at the time and 2) I was probably a bit tired of the platform at that point and would want to try something else anyway. Finally, I went for a couple of other services you mention and I do not regret. Would I recommend Play Fender to other beginners? Or would I use it if I were to start over as a complete beginner now? Probably not. There are a few other online teachers / courses that I find more inspiring. I wish I used Josh Fossgreen’s BassBuzz beginners’ course early on, it is probably to late now. I see Rich Brown has launched a series of beginner lessons, I have not tried them, but his more advanced lessons are very inspiring, so it may be worth checking. Finally, what is the score? 1. I keep on learning to play bass. I find it extremely entertaining and I think it was one of my best decisions in life to give it a try. The Fender Play platform did not discourage me from doing it, did not suck the life out of me, totally the opposite I found it very helpful and useful and despite all the criticism I think it was good for my learning at the time. 2. Fender is doing well regarding their objective. I did buy a couple of basses from them and a small amp. I am still far below the 10k mark, but knowing how this has been going so far chances are they will still make it to squeeze some more out of me ;) Ultimately, there is something else Fender is after. They are considered a reference in the guitars and basses market. The whole Leo Fender legend, the Teles and Strats, P and J basses… Most sold electric guitars in the Western world are Fender products and copies of their legendary models. While this is a comfortable position, it cannot be taken for granted and they need to constantly work to have our attention. So probably it was not the exact intention and the context is not as positive as they would have wished, yet again we have just spent part of our leisure time watching a video on and discussing a Fender product. Well done Fender ;)

Funny enough ive tried all of the platforms you mentioned except for talking bass (the paid version) and i love Josh from BB, i really appreciate the well of knowledge at SBL but OH MY GOD can it be so overwhelming at times, not HOW they teach, but often times the lack of direction, especially if youve been playing and arent gonna start at the "this is how to tune lesson". once you figure things out, and make sure to keep yourself accountable, its a great resource, but it isnt a very FUN way to learn, very academic lol, so if you like fun, id try elsewhere. TBH if ian Martin allison did his own thing entirely id probably go there, but i know hes with SBL so yeah... hopefully this helps someone

I consider myself a beginner, I do have previous experience with other instruments, Fender Play, is really bad by any standards. Thanks for the video!

Two words: Justin Sandercoe. At least for guitar. I wish I could find one for piano/keyboards

Andy Mooney is the real "Disney Princess" if you know what I mean by that. See Jeffrey's "Island" ...G...

I dont really get the criticism about them being robots. Yes its true but its all about small simple lessons in a way best to digest and they do exactly that without taking your focus away to anything else. But I agree if anyone feels bored with an online course it might be the wrong one for that person.

I get the feeling it's just a cash grab.

Your cynicism regarding the origins of Fender Play is odd to me. This type of thinking is going on at every company and it's honestly not that bad; any remotely competent company is going to want to retain customers by reducing churn. The Michelin guide was created with the same thinking. That being said, based on what you showed in this video, the Fender lessons are hilariously bad.

I did RU-vid freebies for a long time with all of the high profile instructors. I like most of them, but I bought the BassBuzz course because I found Josh to be informative and entertaining. I would have flamed out on that Fender course immediately 🥱