Thoughts re: John Pattitucci: Complete Electric Bass DVD

[metronome_jones]

Hi all.
Just fishing for opinions on this DVD from anyone who may have it.
I recently joined a Latin rock band & while I grew up w/ modern American rock I gotta admit I know next to nothing about Latin bass. Anyway I came across the DVD during a mad rush thru a Guitar Center sale & scooped it up for about $30 on account of the DVD's back cover advertising that I'd learn some Latin bass rhythms & grooves as part of the course. Neato! Just what the doctor ordered!

I finally got a chance to check it out last night.
On the one hand his introductory finger exercises were very interesting & I took to them right away. I could already "feel the burn" lol tho I realized during the session that the DVD is meant for Intermediate & advanced players. While I don't think I'm a noobie slouch I still haven't mastered the neck to the point that I can automatically pinpoint where, say, E-flat on string X is without even thinking about it. I had to rewind the DVD a few times on account of his bass having no marker dots & looking to sonically confirm if where I figured C sharp on the 5th string was was correct

By the time he moves on to scales, tho, I knew I had my work cut out for me as the DVD comes w/ no literature & Pattitucci rattles off a 3-octave across-the-neck E scale so quickly (with little verbal instruction) I'm still trying to figure out where he starts fretting. So right there I know my simple "box" scales aren't sufficient for this DVD.

Alas by the time the DVD shifts to the Latin rhythms, its basically him jamming w/ the guest drummer, with no close-ups of his fretting hand & not really much instruction other than "this is style X". In some ways, it wass kinda like learning the rhythms the old fashioned way: sitting down w/ a record/CD & playing & replaying passages & trying to blindly nail what's being played. Its a time-honored method, sure, but not what I expected for $30. Heck I could've just gone to the library & checked out CDs & learnt the rhythms that way! No doubt intermediate and advanced players will glean plenty from the DVD, and Pattitucci's skills are a wonder to watch. Still, in retrospect, had the DVD made it clear the player level it was aimed at, I'd have saved those $30 & gone & checked out some Latin CDs from the library.

[Cameronj]

Thanks for the observations.

[fountain boy]

Be thankful, as i spent $40.00 on my Pattitucci dvd.

I got nothing out've it, but in the last month i dug it back out(bored) and what jumped out at me was his segment on ear training.

Where he's sitting in front of the keyboard with the bass in his lap and is singing the scale, singing the arpeggio, backwords & forwards.

That's the hard work right there.

I got nothing out've watching him play from his dvd, nothing out've watching him attempting to teach us how to lock in with the drummer, as his presentation is confusing. His solo pieces were so boring, i couldn't fast forward through it quick enough.

Way too many gaps in it, to be an instructional dvd.To pick up the dvd & expect to learn something from it supposes that you already have a solid grasp of how music works.

I know that these instructional videos have to work within a time constraint but it'd served a better purpose to thoroughly be taught 1 useful thing (the benefits of ear training & how to work on hearing intervals, then small phrases, then on to soloing) then to see him breeze through different styles of music.

[Gawd]

Just came across this in the search. The DVD is actually supposed to come with a book. I actually bought the book a couple years back, without the dvd (the store had no copy of it). So I had gone through the book long before I eventually downloaded the dvd.

I can understand that it would be hard to follow without the book. With the book it clears everything up however.

Personally I found the hand exercises, and the scales to be the best part. The solo pieces were also good, they are in the book, and I still remember Cello Suite No 1 from it. I didn't like the different style lessons however, I found his feel to be too stiff personally, which is weird because pattitucci usually has a great feel.

I prefer JP on the upright though. I'd love if he put out a dvd/book for that.

[Cinimod]

If you want to learn about Latin bass then get this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Latin-Bass-B.../dp/1883217113

I recently got this book and it has helped me a lot!

[Lichtaffen]

Make certain you learn how to move your neck in that circular way that JP does. That's the key to learning how to groove. Oh, and button up your collar all the way.