Anybody have Bass Improvisation by Ed Friedland? I'm looking for a good review of this book before I buy it.

I have his two books for walking bass. I haven't dug into them yet as I am pretty heavy into school this summer but from some reading they seem really good to me.

I've played for years and never had a legit lesson and I'm happy with the layout, the look of material progressing from easy to difficult. The lessons are set up logically to get you into the concept and then get you using them.

I'd give a thumbs up.

Big thumbs up for Ed's stuff!
He has a new Slap DVD that is cool too.
I also like Gary Willis' Fingerboard Harmony book a lot, as well as the "Essential Styles" books by Warrington and Haughton.
"Standing in the Shadows of Motown" is worth every penny.

There's a few for you!
Best,
LM

Does anyone have his Bass Improvisation book?

If this book is aimed at soloing I would recomend a combination of willis's fingerboard harmony book and mark johnsons soloing consepts book.


AJ

Here is the description from Ed's web site http://www.edfriedland.com/

While I can't get inside your head and pilot you through a solo, I have laid out several effective strategies for developing your improvisational concept. You learn to play the raw materials used in jazz, then look at ways to use it to construct melodic ideas. Playing the blues, phrasing, chord scale theory, vertical concepts, harmony grids, minor harmony, internal melodies and bebop are some of the ideas you learn about. The tracks are there to help you learn by hearing the example played, and accompanying you while you make you way through the changes.

I have Ed's bass improv/solo book and several others. Like all of his books, it is very well written. This books focuses on jazz type solos. There is a lot of information in the book. The first part of the book goes over theory; scales, modes, triads, etc. Then he gets into the soloing. He first starts with a "bad" solo and explains what is wrong and then proceeds to fixing the problems. The solos get more complex as the book continues. The harmony grid is a neat idea and will make you approach solos in a different way.

I said it before and I'll say it again: There is a lot of information in this book. Be patient and read it several times.

One of the big concepts behind Ed's style of soloing is Forward Motion that was created by Hal Galper. You can read an introduction to Forward Motion at http://www.halgalper.com/13_arti/fwdmot1.html There used to be more articles on his web site but he has put them together into a book. You can find out more about Hal's book at http://www.forwardmotionpdf.com/

I hope this helps.