What instructional software or books would everyone reccomend? I planned on buying the "Bass Guitar for Dummies" book, but the price tag made me shudder (like $32 for a small paperback! This was at Barnes and Noble). Since then I haven't seen any other Bass books, just "how to play lead guitar" and stuff like that.
You can check www.melbay.com. They have a very good selection of books to choose from. I use the books by David Overthrow. They are a great help, however I am still learning myself. I enjoy using them and will soon complete the series. Just look for other places related to music and musical efforts.
I'd get "Serious Electric Bass" (The bass player's complete guide to scales and chords)by Joel Di Bartolo. This book has absolutely no TAB, starts you off by learning all the keys in the first position before branching out and learning 2 octave scales, all the scale modes, etc. Here's the chapter list: 1) The "Gee I Did It Myself" Guide to setting up & adjusting your bass 2) The 1st position 3) Major Scales & Chords in the 1st position 4) On to some serious shifting 5) Major scales & chords outside of the 1st position 6) Major scale modes & chords 7) Major scale modes & chords part 2: putting them all together 8) 2 octave major modes & arpeggios 9) The five position system 10) the harmonic minor scale 11) the melodic minor scale 12) symmetric scales 13) The last chapter Each chapter is somewhere between 10 & 30 pages or so and the whole book is 271 pages long. Here's the link to the product page at www.amazon.com : --> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1576238830/
Check out Ed Friedland, Hal Leonard Electric Bass Complete. It is $15.61 on Amazon for the bound three volume set along with 3 CDs. You won't go wrong learning from Ed Friedland. I also like Glenn Letsch, Bass for Beginners, and David Overthrow's beginning book from Alfred.
I second this book. Not for a beginner but a book you could spend a lifetime in. Many interesting ideas presented. The five positon system especially....
The five position system is also presented in "The Improvisor's Bass Method," which is a fantastic book..I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in jazz and theory with basic bass familiarity and experience.
