Next Friedland book recommendations

[SlowMike]

Hi everybody,
World's worst bassist checking in...

Took bass lessons for a little over a year with a great instructor back in 2008 but had to stop due to work and other stuff getting in the way. Gradually stopped playing due to lack of progression.

I recently started playing again and can't believe how much I'd forgotten. Lessons are out of the question for a few months, so I'm patiently going through Hal Leonard's Bass Method books 1-3. For a hands-on learner they're perfect. Although the playing exercises kick my butt until I get my brain and fingers working in synch with the music, a lot of the material covers stuff that I'd previously learned but just don't remember.

After I finish this series, I'd like to move on to another Friedland book, but I'm not sure which one. As a pretty much old straight rock listener (favorite bassists include Entwistle, Maby, Geddy and Rainey), I'd like to play along with those types of rock/pop stuff, really understand what they're playing and why, and eventually/hopefully create my own bass lines in the same types of music. I've looked through the Hal Leonard/Ed Friedland catalog, and I'm not sure which way to go...
- Blues Bass (it all starts with the blues, right?)
- Creating Walking Bass Lines (jazzish but I imagine it would apply to most types of music)
- Pentatonic Scales For Bass (A lot of rock in general)

Any recommendations from those or other Friedland books?
Thanks.

[kellyrojo]

I am doing the creating walking right now. It is an awesome book with some great ideas. I will say this though--it is for jazz so if you are not a jazz guy I think the other two would be better. I would also consider it a med. as far as understanding the concepts and theories so maybe one of the other books first and then this later. GL!

[fearceol]

Ed is a fellow TB'er. Not sure how often he logs on, but you could send him a PM describing what type of music you want to play, and ask him for a recommendation.

Nothing like going straight to the source.

[gmahoog]

I'd recommend either the Blues Bass or Building Walking Bass Lines. It kind of depends on the style you want to study right now..

I liked the Blues Bass book because it has a lot of different basic Blues styles that include Box patterns, Slow Blues, Walking Blues etc. There are also sections for Beginnings, Endings, Turn Arounds and Breaks. There are also many standard Blues songs that are transcribed. I always kind of thought playing Blues was something I could do because it's based on 3 chords, but I found that there is a lot more to it than just 3 chords. I also realized that I couldn't say that I could play Blues until I actually did. You can get some great basic building blocks for playing bass from this book.

I like Building Walking Bass lines because Ed makes it easy to understand how to create your own lines. He starts with simple progressions just playing the roots. Then he adds the 5th. Then chromatic leading tones etc. It's a great book for learning the notes on the neck, learning chord shapes and how to apply to your playing. There are also 10 jazz standards in the back of the book.

You can't go wrong with either book, just depends where you are in your playing. IMO, I'd suggest the Blues book first.

The Pentatonic book is good, but it's more about scales patterns. Great stuff to know, but I think you'd get more out of either of the other 2 books.

[bassinplace]

I did the Bass Method followed by Blues Bass followed by Building Walking Basslines when I was starting out with excellent results. By the time I got to the end of B.W.B. my playing had progressed to a new level. Quite fun and rewarding.

[edfriedland]

Well, thanks everyone for your continued interest in my books. It's nice to know there are so many "repeat offenders" out there!

The walking bass lines book is jazz oriented, but it explains a process to create your own lines that can be transferred to other styles. I also wrote Building Rock Bass Lines, which takes the same concepts and applies them to rock oriented progressions and rhythms.

Blues Bass is a helpful book for learning the style, and the Pentatonics book does spend a fair amount of time running through the scales and patterns, but then gets into applying them musically... kind of like modal harmony for the pentatonic scale. I hope that helps, and thanks for checking out my books!

[SlowMike]

Good info, thanks to all. I'll get Blues Bass next. Seems like the best choice for my crawl/walk/run progression.

Ed, if your other books are as good as the Bass Method series, I'll probably end up with several of them. Just wish I'd found them back when I had to stop taking lessons.

[edfriedland]

Well, I'd like to think they are all good in their own way. The Method is different than my other work in that I followed an established format (traditional method book) and was guided very directly by an editor through the process. Usually, I write something and send it in, but because it's the Hal Leonard Bass Method, written by me... I did have some oversight during the process. I think the editor helped me write a really tight, focused work, and taught me a great deal.

Blues Bass is a fun and informative book, but you'll have to put up with my guitar playing!

[Tenortones]

What if you want to start learning some tunes
I am working out of the 3 book bass method currently
and have started into the third book this week.
Should I finish the series and review before ordering another play along?
I want to check out the Bach for Bass by Mel Bay which has a CD and some others- Rock play alongs like Black Sabbath but not too sure if they will be technically over my head. Theory is not a problem I already understand music theory. Also, I'm not interested in learning to walk bass lines, play funk or improvise outside of just playing rock tunes.
thanks in advance,
Jason

[ShowLow]

Thanks to the OP, to those who gave suggestions and to Ed Friedland for this thread. Similar story, though just started out 6 months ago.

I'm finishing Book 1 of the Hal Leonard Bass Method (yes, I'm a slow learner with a day job!). Both my instructor and I really dig it. Lots of clever learning exercises in there. Playing along with the included CD works great. Looking forward to the other Friedland books already mentioned, most of which I've already bought and can't wait to get into.

Thinking ahead...Motown! I have the R&B Bass Bible and the Standing in the Shadows of Motown soundtrack CD. Mostly pretty dense. What else is out there for the advanced beginner??

My idea is to start learning really old-school R&B, from before the era when bass lines got extremely technical, and then move forward in time as my skills improve. Oversimplification of course, as Jamerson was "technical" from Day 1, but perhaps feasible? What do the gurus suggest?

[Orangeclawhamme]

Originally Posted by edfriedland

Well, thanks everyone for your continued interest in my books. It's nice to know there are so many "repeat offenders" out there!

and thanks for checking out my books!

Thank you for writing them.

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by edfriedland

Well, thanks everyone for your continued interest in my books. It's nice to know there are so many "repeat offenders" out there!

Among the best books out there IMHO.

[INTP]

Nice to see you chiming in on this board, Ed. I am among those that have benefited from and continue to recommend your books.

This is probably beyond the scope of what the publisher talks to you about, but spiral bound books sit so much better on the stand...

[bwardmusic]

I'm a huge Ed Friedland fan. I learned to play bass from Building Walking Basslines. Even though you are not a jazz player, if you can get through that book you'll be able to get through all kinds of styles by understanding chord structure.

You might want to move on to some of play-along books by Hal Leonard that are a kind of companion to the Hal Leonard method. Easy Pop Basslines they are called -- there are three of them and there are a lot of songs you might want to do in them -- they are diverse enough.

[edfriedland]

As mentioned, there are lots of cool play alongs from Hal Leonard. If you've been successful with books 1-3 of the Method, I think you'll be able to deal with most of what you'll encounter in those.

As far as Motown/Old School R&B - of course, Standing In The Shadows of Motown is the king! Totally necessary to own that one, yeah... it's dense, it's a lot of work, and very technical at times... but get it, and do the best you can. It's the real deal. Another one is my book The R&B Masters, The Way They Play. It covers 10 of the great early R&B players - Jamerson, Rainey, Jemmott, Weeks, David Hood, Duck, Ronnie Baker, George Porter, and Bootsy. Each chapter is a combination of biography, equipment list, style study, and has short 4 bar examples of their lines. People seem to like this one.

Thanks again everyone for all the great comments on my work. It has been a real honor to serve the community, and I am grateful for the support you have shown me over the years. It's been a while since I've written a book... I'm considering the e-publishing route next time (if there is a next one), but I'm really enjoying just simply PLAYING bass more these days. I spent a solid 10 years developing instructional content, and it was a a great period of productivity for me... but these days, I just want to be a bass player, not "the guy who writes for Bass Player" (although I still intend to write for them if they will continue to have me). Anyway, thanks again.

[Freddels]

I would suggest the Blues Bass as the next book to get. Everything is based on the blues. Get that foundation down and then move to the jazz stuff.

[Green1]

You really can't go wrong with Eds books......I found his blues book to be fun and informative. My theory is if it says Ed Friedland on the cover, it's good, period.......also don't forget to check out his slap DVD......great stuff.......and thanks to Ed for all his contributions!

[Spectrum]

Ed, a suggestion: I don't know if you're familiar with the iRealb app for smartphones, but it's an app that allows you to play along to jazz standards with whatever instrument you choose, and it's been the very best tool I've found for practicing jazz bass at home. You can write your own tunes for it and upload them to the net, so maybe you could put the practice tunes from BWBL up one of these days? Or maybe for future books. The app lets you control the tempo and how many times the tune goes back to the head, it'd be a great companion for an instructional book on jazz or reading skills. Just a thought.

[DingoBlues]

+1 for the Blues Bass book. Ed also plays some righteous blues guitar on the CD! I have the R&B Masters book and recommend it as well.

[Vandy]

Originally Posted by edfriedland

. . . these days, I just want to be a bass player, not "the guy who writes for Bass Player" (although I still intend to write for them if they will continue to have me).

Ed, there's no question - there's some things money can't buy . . .
Love ya', man . . .