Welcome to davemarks.com
Arthur, King of the Britons. Honourable.
This site, in conjunction with my other web portals (youtube, myspace, flikr etc) is a free resource for those of you who would like to learn about music, with a focus on the bass guitar. I run the site for free, but it works on an honour system.
To quote my good friend Justin Sandercoe (king of the online guitar teaching world):
Sandercoe. Guru.
‘You will find lots of useful lessons and information here – it works on an “honour system”. If you can afford to pay for the lessons then please donate for what you use – imagine it was a pay site. If you can’t afford to donate it is no problem at all – the site is free for you.
Updates and new material are pretty much donation dependant. Donations give me more time away from paid work to develop this site and make new lessons and features. BIG THANKS in advance.
At the minute, my favourite way for people to donate is via:
My Amazon Wishlist: It’s full of books, DVDs and Albums that I’d love to own. They range in price from £3 – £30, so you can donate a lot or a little. It’s entirely up to you.
Also, if you prefer, you can donate money via Paypal.
It makes me feel part of something very special when I can help to bring music to people all around the world and it feels great when people are touched enough to reciprocate.
I am aware that a lot of people across the world struggle to make ends meet and living in London, I am in the lap of luxury. It’s very easy for people in rich countries to lose sight of just how much they have. Over the last few years, I’ve had lots of emails from people all over the world thanking me for helping them in their quest to become better musicians. Many of them apologise that they cannot afford to donate.
If you genuinely cannot afford to donate then don’t worry. This site is here to help you. If you have a sweet job, pull in a steady paycheck and own a few nice basses… you should feel bad if you never donate.
Donations keep the site free for those that cannot afford to donate.
I wish I had more time to set aside for running the site, making youtube vids, transcribing tunes and generally making this into an awesome online resource. I’ve struggled in the last year or so to find time for the site because of a lack of donations…. Think of it as an investment into your playing future… by throwing something my way, I’ll be able to give you something back. I have so many ideas… a series on slap bass, a series on classic grooves, a series on soloing….. video gear review… video interviews… I just need about 5 more hours in every day – 24 just ain’t enough!! 
Thank youuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!
d
p.s. – My advice to those people without spare cash… work hard, practice, study your art, make an awesome album and then… when you make a few million… you can come help me out
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for the lessons…. I´m brazilian and I found you on youtube….
Very nice blog \o/
Dave I found your lesson Vids on youtube. I am totally watching and learning as much as I can. I just feel limited to what I know already, which I think is not that much. I think scales is my weakness and I hope to learn more. Thank you very much for your talent and skills.
Garry Palcisco, ps. If you visit our web site please sign it for me…
Hey, have you looked into google adsense to bring a bit of revenue for your hard work on your site. You can’t encourage people to click on the ads but if people see an ad they like and happen to click on it you get a bit of compensation for sparing the space on your site. It’s not much but it can help.
Here’s the link if your interested: https://www.google.com/adsense/login/
I know this seems sketchy so if you’re more comfortable just type adsense into google’s search engine, there’s a ton of info out there about the details.
Thanks for the site!
Hi Dave,
I came across your videos on YouTube whilst browsing for Bass resources.
Your stuff is a great resource and very much better than most of crap that is up there.
Although I’ve been “playing” bass for a few years, within a few minutes of looking and practicing your stuff, I realised I’d been getting quite a bit wrong (and encouragingly quite a bit right as well).
I like some of your rye comments too, especially about the muppets who turn up to gig without kit expecting to borrow stuff – reminds me of certain characters who think they know how to do a sound check without leaving the stage!
Anyway, thanks for the resource and keep up the good work.
King regards
OJ Wethorns
Nice one John – Glad you’re digging the site and the vids.
More on it’s way soon…
d
great lessons ,no holier than thou stuff i usually sense when learning,a massive help,all the best ,mark
Hi Mark,
I saw your bass technique section in BM52, it was awesome! I noticed the website and had a surf around it and found the technique section on fretting hand position. You are a life saver! I was getting some pain in my wrist when fretting the lower notes but after seeing the lesson, your advice has helped me, no more pain!
Thank you I can now enjoy bass playing with no interuptions, well except for the Mrs!
Matt
Dave, can’t even get name right!