Funk books with no Tab

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #1 10-13-2007, 11:03 AM

I recently bought the first BG I've had in years - a Rob Allen Mouse 30 - and I'm looking for reading material to practice with as I try to learn proper BG technique after all these years on DB. I've just ordered "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" and "The Funkmasters-the Great James Brown Rhythm Sections", because I've seen the former and heard great things about the latter. I'm interested in collecting books about funk grooves and techniques and Latin grooves and techniques (especially if they involve a lot of stuff that will help me keep my reading chops up), but I absolutely HATE Tab, and don't want books with Tab beneath the staff (If the JB book I ordered has it, I'll deal with it, but only because it's so highly recommended).

Sooo...does anybody have any recommendations for Tab-free funk or latin books? Also, recommendations for books with solo or duet pieces by Bach that are Tab-free would also be welcome.

theshadow2001 · #2 10-13-2007, 11:10 AM

Great so your anti tab, can't you just ignore it? It's going to be hard to find many books for bass guitar without them. If your that put off why don't you just get some tape and put it over the lines of tab?

morf · #3 10-13-2007, 11:15 AM

Yes I also have trouble understanding what the problem with TABs being there is? Just dont look at em?

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #4 10-13-2007, 01:07 PM

Yes, I could just ignore the tab. However, I'd rather buy books without it - hence the inquiry post about "Funk books with no TAB". Thanks!

Stereo Joe · #5 10-13-2007, 01:23 PM

I'm interested in this as well. I really dislike buying a book that has tab as well as notation because it would probably be a lot shorter (and cheaper) if there were no tab. Not to mention the extra paper wasted for tab that I don't use. I'd rather pay less for a smaller book with no tab, or the same price for the same size book with more notated tunes or charts in it.

bburk · #6 10-13-2007, 01:27 PM

I liked The Finger Funk Workbook Vol 1.

It's just a bunch of funk groove ideas and a CD demonstrating them. Nothing in there is particularly easy, and some of it is pretty darn hard.

Vol 2 includes tab (totally different set of grooves), but the tab is on separate pages from the score so it would be pretty easy to ignore if you want. I own both. The one thing that he does with the tab that doesn't come through in the sheet music is that with the tab, he can show how he wants you to finger the notes. There is a blurb at the front of vol 2 that explains that certain fingerings are chosen to make the grooves more of a workout/practice exersize, than convenience.

Snarf · #7 10-13-2007, 01:28 PM

Tab in books drives me absolutely nuts. It feels like being handed a four-staff score in a session . . . there's just no need for it and it screws up more people than it helps.

I'd suggest Anthony Vitti's "Sight Reading Funk Rhythms for Electric Bass." Some fairly hairy stuff in there.

morf · #8 10-13-2007, 02:22 PM

Well you see I buy a book cause I want to learn the music in it. My bad.

**Chris Fitzgerald** · #9 10-13-2007, 02:27 PM

bburk and Snarf - thanks a million! Those Anthony Vitti books look like just the ticket. I also like the look of that Berklee sightreading book from that same site as well. Often these days I find myself having to practice between 10 and midnight after the wife and kid have gone to bed, and having stuff to read with a metronome when I'm too tired to do a full creative practice session is a great option to have.

20db pad · #10 10-13-2007, 02:46 PM

There's actually a number of good funk bass books out there, but they have written notation as well as TAB. Even though I'm not a college professor like you it still bugs me, but I've resigned it to the res ipsa loquitur factor.

On the Bach tip, the Six Suites for Violincello can be pulled off on electric bass, although there's some stuff in alto clef here and there. The bulk of it is single-line material, and I ain't seen it in TAB yet. The link below is to free versions available online tweaked for trombones:

http://www.yeodoug.com/publications/pdf/pdf.html

PocketGroove82 · #11 10-13-2007, 04:23 PM

Ok...you MUST get the fingerfunk workbooks, volume 1 AND 2. They are some of the hardest 16th note grooves you'll ever see written out, and Anthony Vitti is a great person, bass player, and teacher at Berklee. I give both those books two big fingers up!

If you want to work on latin...then the Oscar Stagnaro book, The Latin Bass Book should be your new Bible. That book is truly the Charlie Parker Omnibook for latin bass. You can work with it your whole life. Get it.

DocBop · #12 10-13-2007, 04:53 PM

I understand where the OP is coming from when you just want standard notation having other things are the page is annoying. Even standard notation with a fingering added is cluttered in fact more cluttered than having TAB underneigth. The two books you mention are probably it for transciptions without TAB. Vitti and Jim Stinnett has a lot of reading material. For Latin check out Sher Publisihing lots of good Fake books and Latin bass style books. A good website for looking for books is www.bassbooks.com. He has good desciptions of books and sample pages.

One comment I am in the reverse situation as you I've played BG most my life and recently started playing DB. If you have mainly been playing DB some transcritions with TAB might be helpful. If you start trying DB fingering on Funk it is going to be way harder than it should be and some won't sound right due to difference in string timbre. Even BG players with find a couple different approaches to fingering lines. I took a Motown bass class using SITSOM book and switching fingering can make lines lay better and groove more. So for switching DB to BG you might want a see some recommended fingerings especially going from DB to a short scale Allen Mouse.

Chunk-O-Funk · #13 10-13-2007, 05:38 PM

Not a book, but I found this:
http://perso.orange.fr/scott_f/Funk/funk.htm

All the sheet music is in a PDF format which means printing them comes out very good.

Can't comment on the accuracy of the transcriptions, but there's no TAB.

bburk · #14 10-13-2007, 06:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocBop

A good website for looking for books is www.bassbooks.com.

I'll second that. I've ordered a bunch of books from that site.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PocketGroove82

I give both those books two big fingers up!

The big fingers? That's not nice...

Snarf · #15 10-14-2007, 01:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Fitzgerald

bburk and Snarf - thanks a million! Those Anthony Vitti books look like just the ticket. I also like the look of that Berklee sightreading book from that same site as well. Often these days I find myself having to practice between 10 and midnight after the wife and kid have gone to bed, and having stuff to read with a metronome when I'm too tired to do a full creative practice session is a great option to have.

The Berklee sightreading book is pretty weak, imo. Not challenging.

If you really want to go crazy with the reading, look into some Schoenberg piano pieces or symphonies. Those are pretty tough on the ol' brain.

Bruce Lindfield · #16 10-14-2007, 02:11 AM

The Latin Bass Book by Oscar Stagnaro has loads of written bass lines covering all Latin styles and some pretty funky lines as well - fusions of Latin/Jazz/Funk , as well as CDs that have him playing them on BG with a pretty good band!

http://www.shermusic.com/latinbassbook.htm

PocketGroove82 · #17 10-14-2007, 09:50 AM

How bout learning to sightread, swung bass solos?
Try Jim Stinnet's books of Paul Chambers' solos, pizz and arco. (though be sure to cross reference with the actually recording, because it's not 100% right 100% of the time).
Also, the Arco Bass Book by John Goldsby has some hip stuff in it.

...just brain storming here guys! (now back to Simandl!)