Ed Friedland/Carol Kaye/Walking Bass Lines

[Johnny StingRay]

I've been playing bass since 1976 and have used all kinds of materials to improve my playing, especially Carol Kaye's tutors. But, her materials always seemed disjointed and hard to follow. To me, they seemed to be written and put together by a person with attention deficit disorder. I can play all kinds of music, but I had never been able to put together really good walking bass lines. Carol's lessons were alright and taught me much, but my lines always sounded mechanical and contrived. In a word, boring. So I decided to abandon Carol and her books and purchased Ed Friedland's "Building Walking Bass Lines". If I had this book thirty years ago, I'd be working steady gigs all over this country making money doing what I love doing the most, laying out sweet, tight, solid, creative walking basslines. Ed set this book up with common sense organization and common sense step by step lessons. Being a special education teacher myself, I really appreciated the beauty of his organization and approach to teaching how to build theoretically correct, yet freely creative jazz basslines. I do not teach bass guitar, but if I did, "Building Walking Bass Lines", by Ed Friedland would be required material. If you are having a hard time getting your jazz walking line chops together, go buy this book. It comes with a play along CD that if you have ever heard Carol Kaye's play along CDs, Ed's blows hers away. (On Carol's Standards I CD you can actually hear birds tweeting and twittering in the background........and she whistles through the tunes.....what is that all about?????). The CD with Ed's book is very high quality both technically and musically. No, this is not SPAM, I just believe that this is one of the best tutorials ever put together for those who really want to play jazz walking bass lines correctly. It will make your playing solid and put a smile on yours and your bandmates faces when you play.
Peace, Johnny

[20db pad]

Agree. Ed's a clear, concise teacher and a great player. In a fair world, some college would have made him a full-time professor years ago.

[Vandelay]

Yeah, I definitely like Ed's approach in his books. I actually got a 2-hour bass lesson from Ed at his house (near Austin TX) earlier this year, and it was definitely worthwhile. If I lived anywhere nearby, I'd be a regular student.

[Bassist4Life]

+1

That is a really great book. If I remember correctly, that book was his graduate school project.

In addition to Friedland's book, transcribing lines has been an amazing way to learn from the pros.

joe

[domlaguna]

I couldn't agree more. I finally found my way to Ed's books some years back, and am very glad of it. He's got that way of writing where he anticipates your question. You'll be thinking, "but what if xxx?", and you'll turn the page and he'll write, "and if you are wondering about xxx, then here's the deal...". It's very well done. I recently got his Bass Grooves which is also excellent. Check out the Groove Metaphysics at the end of that book. Ed's written a whole library of stuff.

I live in Austin, and I've been going to Ed for weekly lessons since January. In person, he's the nicest guy, and a super teacher. He really attends to where you are, as a musician, and then takes it from there.

Someone here said he should be a prof. somewhere. I'm not sure that's what Ed would want for himself. I can't speak for him, obviously. But he seems very fulfilled doing what he does, writing, teaching, and gigging.

Dom

[Basshappi]

Yep, Ed is one of the best there is.

I studied with him for a little over a year and even though I have played bass for 30 years working with him helped me tremendously.

I still make working with his books a regular part of my practice.

If you're looking for bass method books Ed's should definitely be on your music stand. And if you live in the Austin area, look Ed up and ask about taking lessons, I don't care how long you've been playing, you'll be glad you did!


Cheers!

[El Bajo]

Its a great book. I've been playing rock bass for 10 years and fancied something a little different. I particularly wanted to improve my chordal knowledge. So far this book is great, although at times I want to tear my hear out because my brain is wired badly and I cant play Chromatic!!!! Hated that section.
I've got his Blues Book to and its a great intro into the genre and I always go back to it when I wanna jam some blues because the CD is great.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by 20db pad

Agree. Ed's a clear, concise teacher and a great player. In a fair world, some college would have made him a full-time professor years ago.

Agree 100%.

[BryanM]

Another book that works amazingly well as a companion piece to Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines is Jay Hungerford's Walking Jazz Lines for Bass (ISBN: 978-0786659968) under the Mel Bay Publisher. It's not quite as explanatory as Friedland's pieces, which is why I say it works well as a companion piece. It follows a similar progression as his book with some slight variations that can really challenge you as a sidebar to Friedland's book.

[Surly]

Originally Posted by Vandelay

Yeah, I definitely like Ed's approach in his books. I actually got a 2-hour bass lesson from Ed at his house (near Austin TX) earlier this year, and it was definitely worthwhile. If I lived anywhere nearby, I'd be a regular student.

that's totally awesome!

[tomshepp]

I suggest Ed,s books to all of my students. That said, check out Mike Richmond's book. It is a rhythmic approach that has been very helpful/influential for me.

[BigMac5]

My twelve year old son is working on this book right now with his bass instructor.