Worthwhile Books for Private Instruction?

mlbarlow · #1 05-24-2006, 02:36 PM

Hey TBers,

I'm hoping to get some advice on decent books to use with students in private lessons. Maybe some background would be helpful in indicating what I want ... I have degrees in music education and trombone performance, but bass is my main axe, currently. I never really took private bass lessons, but rather, knew how to practice from my classical training. So, I'm left in the predicament of developing a studio, and being a bit in the dark on what to recommend my students to purchase.

I'm big on reading, so I would prefer books that don't use tablature (or at least that use minimal tablature for purposes of explaining more difficult techniques). I'm also looking for as few words as possible ... I've worked with texts that kids have brought in that just have so much fluff that I tell them to disregard it; I feel like they learn better if they see it and hear it, rather than read about it.

So, advice on books that run the whole gamut - from beginner to advanced, and on various styles - would be appreciated.

Peace.

daffy · #2 05-24-2006, 06:24 PM

I use the Hal Leonard Bass Guitar books written by Ed Friedland - I get the combo with all three in one book set.

I have taught guitar for ages and bass more recently and these are, in my opinion, the best teaching books I have ever come across:
- the progression is very logical, and students start making decent music right away
- they start with notation but include TAB once the student is familiar with music reading and then use it on and off throughout the books to illustrate hand and fingering positions.
- they introduce theory in a natural way and focus on skill development and musicality first
- they get progressively harder and faster
- they introduce common motifs, such as box shapes and walk ups, as early as practicable so students can make their own music
- they springboard other techniques such as slap and creating your own lines.

I use supplements from other books but this is a great base (sic) workbook. I also use Ed's other books for deeper immersion in specific styles such as reggae and blues.

I have also found the Hal Leonard Funk Bass book, and 'Standing In the Shadows of Motown' to be useful for more advanced students, and Tony O's 'Slap It!' is hard core love :-)

ARCtrooper225 · #3 05-24-2006, 06:26 PM

when I used to take lessons, I used Mel Bay, no tabs, little words, lots of notes and pictures

Kurisu · #4 05-25-2006, 08:09 AM

I like "Serious Electric Bass" - it has zero tab, and is a great resource for scales and chords. The writer was Johnny Carson's bassist for many years, I believe. It might be a bit dry if used alone, but in conjunction with a steady diet of songs and a good walking bass lines book you can't go wrong.

**WillPlay4Food** · #5 05-25-2006, 09:48 AM

I like Serious Electric Bass, which I've used on my own after I stopped taking lessons.

While I was taking lessons my teacher & I worked out of Chuck Rainey's "The Complete Electric Bass Player: The Method Volume I" (there are 3 volumes total I believe).

This book has no TAB at all and is mostly musical etudes to learn sheet reading, hand shifting and rhythm (not straight quarter notes, deals with triplet 8ths, triplet quarter notes and triplet half notes as well). There's one kid's song early in the book but I didn't find any after that.

Also, the Rainey book doesn't move out of the key of C major until somewhere around page 75 - 85, so I was able to solidify my reading skills before I started dealing with accidentals, key signatures, etc. Not sure if this is a plus or minus, but there it is.

Along with this book my teacher & I worked on other concepts such as 12 bar blues / jazz blues, secondary dominant chords, etc., it wasn't all out of the book once my skills started improving.

I'm currently working through Ed Friendland's Building Walking Bass Lines book as well as Gary Willis' Fingerboard Harmony book and Mike Dimin's latest but still incomplete book. Along with this I'm slowly (and I mean slowly) transcribing my first song and learning other songs that are currently above my skill level so I can improve my playing.

mlbarlow · #6 05-26-2006, 06:33 AM

Thanks all. This is good information. I look forward to checking out these texts.

Additionally, Baby Benjamin is a cutie. I'm the proud father of a five-month-old baby boy, myself.

**WillPlay4Food** · #7 05-26-2006, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlbarlow

Thanks all. This is good information. I look forward to checking out these texts.

Additionally, Baby Benjamin is a cutie. I'm the proud father of a five-month-old baby boy, myself.

Congratulations! Hope you stocked up on sleep before he was born!

Thanks! The picture in my avatar is from last August though and desparately needs an update.

ba55i5t · #8 05-30-2006, 04:16 PM

Haven't you ever heard of The Evolving Bassist by Rufus Reid? It is definitely a necessary reading since I am a student of a private instructor and he kind of forced me to get this book, and I am very glad he did so.

The book is written ALL in musical notation and has very useful techniques and theory in it. It's based around jazz, but can suit many purposes.

This is also my first post, so I would like to say HI to all of you TB'ers. I've been looking at your site for a while and just decided to join.

Eddard · #9 05-30-2006, 04:38 PM

Recently I have discovered "The Improviser´s Bass Method" by Chuck Sher. IMO it´s a very good book, very useful and with a lot of exercises that can help you in many ways.

**WillPlay4Food** · #10 05-30-2006, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ba55i5t

Haven't you ever heard of The Evolving Bassist by Rufus Reid? It is definitely a necessary reading since I am a student of a private instructor and he kind of forced me to get this book, and I am very glad he did so.

The book is written ALL in musical notation and has very useful techniques and theory in it. It's based around jazz, but can suit many purposes.

This is also my first post, so I would like to say HI to all of you TB'ers. I've been looking at your site for a while and just decided to join.

A friend of mine (who happens to be a moderator here) swears by The Evolving Bassist. Almost every time we've hung out this book has come up in discussion. To me that says this book is worth checking out. Glad to hear you like this book as well.

Another book I recently picked up is Mark Levine's Jazz Theory Book. This book is packed chock full of information and I've honestly just barely scratched the surface (chapters 1 & 2) of this tome of information. Normally $42, amazon.com is blowing out copies for $26.46, which I found out thanks to a thread in this forum by Superduck. I just checked out amazon.com and the price is still $26.46. There is both treble and bass clef music notation so if nothing else your sheet music reading skills will definitely improve!