What instructional book to buy next?

[nickn]

This might be kind of a long-winded post, so sit tight

I've been playing bass for about a year, but it's only recently that I started getting serious about it. I bought a copy of Hal Leonard's bass method long ago and never used it, but recently I picked it up and blew right through it. Recently I've been working out of the Hal Leonard Blues Bass book. I've got Bass Method Books 2 and 3 on order; I'm still waiting for those to arrive.

I know from experience that the Bass Method books are just instructional books on more or less generic technique and theory, designed to set the foundation for your playing. Once I've got that down, I want to branch out and purchase a book that's wholly dedicated to one genre or style of playing. What do you guys recommend? I'm totally open to any suggestions. I want to get some whole genres under my belt so I can jam with alllllllll kinds of different musicians. Oh, you play funk? Yeah I can play funk. You wanna play some straight jazz? Ooh, I know how to do that too. Et cetera, et cetera. I want to be a versatile musician. So where do I start?

Also, the college I'm going to next year has a jazz band that I'd like to be a part of, so maybe it would suit me to start learning jazz right away?

I'm thinking about getting a Real Book and just playing out of that to hone my sight-reading and jazz-playing skills. I've also seen a couple genre-specific instructional books like Hal Leonard Funk Bass, Tony Oppenheim's Slap It, etc. What do you guys suggest for a good instructional book? I'm open to any ideas. Thanks!

[steve66]

Originally Posted by nickn

... Also, the college I'm going to next year has a jazz band that I'd like to be a part of, so maybe it would suit me to start learning jazz right away?

I'm thinking about getting a Real Book and just playing out of that to hone my sight-reading and jazz-playing skills.

The real book is a good idea if your going to try out for the jazz band. Also, If you can get the list of songs/scores that the college band is playing..That would be good practice.

As far as reading goes. Learn some Charlie Parker be-bop stuff and learn the melodies.

[edgewise]

The Jazz Improv class on musicdojo gets respect around here. It's a web class and not a book, but I can say from previous experience that their classes are top notch and you can always go back and reference the site afterwards. I am signed up for their jazz improv class, it starts monday.

Cheers!

-EW

[Bass301]

The basis of much bass playing in many styles of music of the past 45 years has been the basslines of Motown (James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt) and Stax/Volt (Duck Dunn). Perhaps the best single book/cd covering these styles is Glenn Letsch's "Hal Leonard Bass Method : R & B Bass ". Thereafter, "Standing In The Shadows of Motown" for Jamerson and "What Duck Done" for Duck Dunn.

For overall bass playing, Ed Friedland's book/cd instructional series.

[nickn]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Some good stuff to consider. The Motown/R&B books seem interesting... I've always loved Jamerson's playing.

[JayM]

If you want to prep for jazz band, you could try:

Rufus Reid "The Evolving Bassist," aimed at upright players, but lots of great stuff about understanding jazz lines.

Hungerford "Walking Jazz Lines for Bass," pretty good introduction that builds from basic building blocks to more complex jazz lines.

[deckard]

Ditto "The Evolving Bassist" - excellent book!

I also suggest Todd Johnson's "Technique Builders" DVD for working strictly on technique, which is by far the best of it's kind.

JMHO