You know, instructional books, scales, modes anything bass related. What are the best books out there?

You might want to do a search. This topic has been covered a zillion times.

Fingerboard Harmony for bass by Garry Willis


Great Book! I studied with willis 10 years ago and I payed him alot more than 17 bucks for the same exact very practical ,clear lessons..


AJ

I still dig Ray Brown's Bass Method.
http://graphics.encoremusic.com/1480003.jpg

It's tough and raw, not fancy, it doesn't come with a CD, you don't get tablatures, but each of those exercises opens for months of work and experimentations.

edit : it was written for upright, but it's great for horiz:)ntal players too.

I'm currently working my way through The Chordal Approach, Volume 1 A Study in the Development of Chordal Playing for Four String Electric Bass, by Michael T. Dimin.

Michael T. Dimin
P. O. Box 49
Averill Park, Ny 12018
http://www.michaeldimin.com

There is a lot of chordal mumbo-jumbo to wade through. I guess the terminology is explained elsewheres, but he tabs his examples which makes it easier to follow and learn. It's mostly upper scale jazz/blues music, but it can teach you quite a bit and can be applied to other styles.

It's great info for those who want to break out of the typical lead-guitar/singer-imposed role of "supportive" bass player.

The Jazz Theory Book and Jaco Pastorius Modern bass guitar. Not to mention the books I have for my orchestra class (dont know what theyre called)

The Evolving Bassist by Rufus Reid. Great investment. Lots 'o stuff to work on, including transcribed solos (no tabz here!), bass duets, all the scales you'll ever need, or want, exercises w/ the piano... everything.

The Mel Bay Complete Blues Bass Book with CD.

This book helped me tremendously. This is mainly a blues book, but it has explanations and exercises of twelve bar blues form and blues and pentatonic scales, plus explanation and exercises in many styles of blues, blues rock and rock and roll as it moves moving toward increasingly complex music, including some introduction to jazz.

Having a solid lock on the material in this book will help a musician in many styles of music, not just blues.

It is written in standard notation and tab, except for the most complex exercises, which by the time you get there, you should be reading anyway. Plus many exercises are on the CD, too, so you can hear how they should sound and play along too.

It is a style book, but not a technique book. If you need help with slap, tap, harmonics, pull offs, string bendiing, string muting, etc., this book will not help you much.