Supplement for Ed Friedland's Bass Method

[Paul4703]

Ed Friedlands book is great, particulary if you want to learn to read music.

Can anyone suggest any supplementary material, ideally as a book, that would add to or complement this course?

Yes - hal leonard also do a series called 'fasttrack' bass method and if you go for the songbooks, they're quite good.

There's two types, the method and the songbooks - I would say just go for the songbooks.

The first one has a series of tunes of steadily increasing complexity, and a backing CD (admittedly the backing CD is a bit ruined by the cheesiest synth noises playing the vocal part - why did they do it?). I'd say it's a good supplement because it's popular tunes, so they're a bit longer than Ed's compositions, and probably a good confidence builder. Also lots of them use what he refers to as the 'classic rhythm'.

I also use the Bass Bible to teach from and also for my own study as it has example grooves from all over the world and is great for developing your ear and perception of rhythms. It's by Paul Westwood. It also comes with two CDs of examples.

Another thing is if you go on Songsterr - they have loads of bass tabs on there. You can listen to them as well, to see if they sound accurate. It's not a book but if there's a tune you're after it's worth checking there.

Another book I came across today - also by Hal Leonard, is 'The Bassist's Guide to Creativity'. I really like this one and but I'd say rather than supplementary it's probably complementary to Ed's book - since it covers things in a different way.

[gmahoog]

Originally Posted by afromoose

Another book I came across today - also by Hal Leonard, is 'The Bassist's Guide to Creativity'.

The title of that book leads me to think it's bit of an "Artsy" book.

Kidding aside, Ed has other great books available. Bass Licks, Blues Bass, Building Walking Bass Lines and R&B Masters to name a few. I also just like to play some of the stuff he plays in his reviews. Very inspirational guy who teaches in a way that is very understandable.

Originally Posted by gmahoog

The title of that book leads me to think it's bit of an "Artsy" book.

Kidding aside, Ed has other great books available. Bass Licks, Blues Bass, Building Walking Bass Lines and R&B Masters to name a few. I also just like to play some of the stuff he plays in his reviews. Very inspirational guy who teaches in a way that is very understandable.

Yeah it's for people who want to have an artist pass someday

[aikakone]

Originally Posted by afromoose

Another book I came across today - also by Hal Leonard, is 'The Bassist's Guide to Creativity'. I really like this one and but I'd say rather than supplementary it's probably complementary to Ed's book - since it covers things in a different way.

I bought this book for my own collection. It's by Chris Kringel, who though unfortunately named seems to be a good solid educator. I've liked the other books of his I've picked up through Hal Leonard. I have found his teaching style very clear.

I admit I haven't worked my way through the book, but Kringel has it to help identify playing weaknesses and know what to work on to get better. That can be important as some of us have trouble assessing ourselves. I know I do.