Is anyone else getting as much as me from J. Gwizdala's book?

[Spin Doctor]

I don't read music, curious does this book have tab as well?

Yeah. It's broken up into 3 groups. Notation, tabs and treble clef notation. So there's something for everybody. The different sections are what makes the book so thick, but each one is only about 40 pages long which is thick enough to provide the info you need, but not so thick that it's a pain in the ass book you'll never finish. For me, getting through a book gives a good sense of accomplishment.

 

[Spin Doctor]

I have a mountain of books on exercises, patterns, licks and theory that really haven't helped me. Perhaps it's "horses for courses" but I think the better books inspire me to put licks /exercises into my playing quicker. Maybe just the way something is explain helps me understand better than others. I'm only a dozen or so exercises in the book but he's got me thinking it through for myself based on the way he presents the exercises. But they're simple enough to become your way of dawdling when you're nowhere near the book... not a bad habit.

This is my experience also. I have a ton of books. More than anyone could reasonably finish in a lifetime or even two. I was always looking for the "Rosetta Stone" of music I guess. I've found that really thick books have so much info in them that they can't present it with enough musical context to be useful.

Then you have the guys who are great players, but are sort of vague teachers. That's my experience with Gary Willis books and info. I have his fretboard mastery book and it's pretty good, but there's something so vague about how he presents the info that it never really sinks in. Then I signed up for Gary's masterclass through Scott's Bass Lessons because I really like his playing and want to get into the things he's doing. Again, it was very vague and tough to wrap my head around.

Janek has a way of presenting the info in a musical context without being weird about it. Everything is musical. And it's short enough that you can get through it multiple times so you can really absorb it. The repetition is the key. You'll never get this stuff if you just go through it once.

 

[GastonD]

That's my experience with Gary Willis books and info. I have his fretboard mastery book and it's pretty good, but there's something so vague about how he presents the info that it never really sinks in.

Odd, I really liked that one for its direct approach, lol
Now, it doesn't deal too much with application over specific tunes as such, but the examples are suggestive enough to be able an extrapolate. That is, at least, my view of it. Oh, and of all the featured instructors/players in the Bass Lessons With the Pros, I liked his chapter the most, followed by Rocco Prestia

 

[Spin Doctor]

Odd, I really liked that one for its direct approach, lol
Now, it doesn't deal too much with application over specific tunes as such, but the examples are suggestive enough to be able an extrapolate. That is, at least, my view of it. Oh, and of all the featured instructors/players in the Bass Lessons With the Pros, I liked his chapter the most, followed by Rocco Prestia

Well that's cool. I'm glad it works for you. I feel that sometimes he comes at you with weird concepts that I don't think is necessary. For example, what is this thing in the pic supposed to mean? And he never really explains his unique delivery very well. He might make some off hand comment about geometric shapes in some split second of the video and if you don't catch it right then, you'll miss it. I'm not trying to sort out that BS. I'll go through the course since I already paid for it, but it's definitely a back burner kinda thing.

 

[GastonD]

Haven't seen the course, but the numbers in circles are fret numbers, green circles being roots.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Would someone be wiling to provide a more in-dept review on J. Gwizdala's Pentatonic book, please?

I am thinking of buying either that one , or a book on Walking Bass in Jazz & Blues, but I have more decent reference material for walking, than for pentatonic scale practice.

Much appreciated!

 

[Spin Doctor]

Would someone be wiling to provide a more in-dept review on J. Gwizdala's Pentatonic book, please?

I am thinking of buying either that one , or a book on Walking Bass in Jazz & Blues, but I have more decent reference material for walking, than for pentatonic scale practice.

Much appreciated!

You can check out his video below, where he talks about his approach to the book in a fair amount of detail. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I get a lot from Janek's instructional material. When I got the Pentatonic book, I already had a fairly strong understanding of them and their application, so I was able to get through it pretty quickly. It did give me a slightly different way of looking at them, and a different perspective is always a good thing. I personally would recommend it.

 

[whm3223]

Just got the ii-V-I book, really looking forward to sinking my teeth into it! If it's as helpful as I think it will be, I'll move on to the pentatonic book next.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

I especially love his approach to the book, and it’s not surprising that so much information can be gleaned from his teaching materials.

Can you elaborate on his approach, please?

 

[shwashwa]

If someone already has Jerry bergonzi's pentatonic book and Raymon ricker's pentatonic book would they get much from this one?

 

[Spin Doctor]

If someone already has Jerry bergonzi's pentatonic book and Raymon ricker's pentatonic book would they get much from this one?

Janek's book is probably easier to wrap your head around. But if you already have the Jerry and the Raymond books and you understand them, you may as well just stick with that

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

What is Janek's approach? From the video, it looked like he sticks with a specific pentatonic riff over chord changes? Does the riff follow the changes, or is it "static", i.e. you keep playing the same thing while the chords change?

 

[Spin Doctor]

What is Janek's approach? From the video, it looked like he sticks with a specific pentatonic riff over chord changes? Does the riff follow the changes, or is it "static", i.e. you keep playing the same thing while the chords change?

The approach varies depending on the topic and that seems like a pretty obvious statement I suppose. Sometimes he plays a static riff while the chords change which teaches you that you can use the same information over a bunch of different chords. His overall approach to teaching is that he'll show you something and then you're expected to figure out how to make it your own which is what music is about in the first place. He's not going to spoon feed you every note for every situation

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

The approach varies depending on the topic and that seems like a pretty obvious statement I suppose. Sometimes he plays a static riff while the chords change which teaches you that you can use the same information over a bunch of different chords. His overall approach to teaching is that he'll show you something and then you're expected to figure out how to make it your own which is what music is about in the first place. He's not going to spoon feed you every note for every situation

Thanks @Spin Doctor, I am trying to assess whether this book is something I may benefit from. I have Ed Friedland's book on pentatonics, but haven't really started working with it yet. Janek's book is pricey, so I am hesitant to "add it to the library" so to speak.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Thanks @Spin Doctor, I am trying to assess whether this book is something I may benefit from. I have Ed Friedland's book on pentatonics, but haven't really started working with it yet. Janek's book is pricey, so I am hesitant to "add it to the library" so to speak.

I would say this is one of Janek's easier books. But his stuff tends to be more for intermediate to advanced players. So I think it wouldn't hurt to get some familiarity with them from a different source before you try to get into this one.

 

[whm3223]

Thanks @Spin Doctor, I am trying to assess whether this book is something I may benefit from. I have Ed Friedland's book on pentatonics, but haven't really started working with it yet. Janek's book is pricey, so I am hesitant to "add it to the library" so to speak.

I've felt the same way. It looks great but third world currency makes it tough to pull the trigger.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Janek's book is pricey, so I am hesitant to "add it to the library" so to speak.

Not collecting too many books is a worthy goal. I'm the exact opposite and have nearly every bass book of note (no pun intended) that's ever been published. I'm not kidding and it's almost shameful, haha. Ironically, I'm just getting to the point where I can get anything useful out of any of them.

Overall, I think it's better to have a few books and really get into them rather than having a bunch of stuff you'll never touch. But now, I'm glad to have all those options for study. Covid has given me loads of time to work on my game.

 

[BrotherMister]

I'm just getting to the point where I can get anything useful out of any of them

This never fails to blow my mind. There are things I've worked through for years, not just music specific, and lessons I got that only after a very long time did I understand fully what it meant or seen so much more information I missed when revisiting them.

 

[Samatza]

This never fails to blow my mind. There are things I've worked through for years, not just music specific, and lessons I got that only after a very long time did I understand fully what it meant or seen so much more information I missed when revisiting them.

This is a good point. I’ve also found that once you grasp the fundamentals of an idea, use it in practical situations for a while and then revisit the lesson you get a deeper understanding at each reiteration.

I found that this helped a lot to give me more freedom of expression as time went on.

 

[AMp'D.2play]

Sometimes he plays a static riff while the chords change which teaches you that you can use the same information over a bunch of different chords. His overall approach to teaching is that he'll show you something and then you're expected to figure out how to make it your own which is what music is about in the first place. He's not going to spoon feed you every note for every situation

Janek's newest video talking about his Pentatonics book goes over these exact things. As someone who took advantage of JG's end-of-year sale and purchased the e-version about 6 weeks ago, I'm getting a lot out of the instruction already.

I've taken a lot of private lessons & purchased other online courses/material - all by very capable instructors in their own right - but there's something about Janek's teaching style and content that resonates with me. As mentioned previously, I'm only about 6 weeks in, but I highly recommend it.