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Massive big-up to Ed Friedland's bass method

  • Thread starter Thread starter afromoose
  • Start date Start date
#21
Handyman said:
Its a great book, and you can't loose at that price. It starts at the absolute basics, but there's enough material in the three volumes that just about anyone should find some useful stuff in there.
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My problem with a lot of the books I've seen, is that they stop about 10 pages before I need them to start. When you're trying to make a bass book under $20, you probably have to start with "this is a bass. This is a string. This is a pickup. this is how you pluck the string." I can obviously master most of that stuff. Unfortunately, how to play a Beatles song is usually the last page in these types of books. I'm hoping to go way beyond that with this one, even if there is some stuff that I already know.
 
#23
Ignoring....... all this........ pointless negative........ garbage.........

I teach all of my beginner lessons out of this book. Ed did a fantastic job with this one! I especially enjoy how he pays attention to techniques that many others tend to overlook such as "raking" and box patterns. Very accessible and it's easy to progress quickly which keeps my students engaged. OP I'm glad you discovered it and hope that you can pass this useful info to your students.
 
#25
mking said:
My bass teacher doesn't read music, but he is a good teacher. He teaches technique, rhythm and timing and how to fit bass lines into what other instruments are doing. He also has two platinum records and can play anything after just listening to it.
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Technique means to have the physical ability to represents notes, or else teachnique is just your fingers in motion. Rhythm is the subdivisional timing of notes Without notes, there is very little to be rhythmical with. Finally, timing only works when one has music that requires it. How does timing help you if you don't know how to play. These are just thoughts to ponder. Finally, your teacher's platinum records shows that he is certainly qualified to record, but it doesn't mean that he is qualified to teach.
 
#26
1. Not to undervalue reading music, but I've learnt so much from other artists who I've just met through gigs that had nothing to do with reading music - If he's teaching people things ... then he's a teacher, surely. :eyebrow:

jallenbass said:
I took a lesson with Ed when I was in Austin last month. He's truly an outstanding educator and a great guy.
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2. Back to the point of the thread: Ed's amazing, he's such a good communicator and, for me, he stands out among other awesome bassists because he gives a lot back to the bass community! When I'm thinking of a new piece of kit one of the first things I do is try to find a review by Ed, and I'm very jealous of you there jallenbass - if I won the lottery, some bass lessons from Ed would be one of the things my concierge would be setting up for me! ;)
 
#33
When I first started this book I thought that the material at the beginning was pretty easy and I rushed through it. Later on I discovered that my playing was not all it could be, to put it politely.

So, back to the beginning of the book again and taking great care not to move on until every exercise could be played fluently, I've been working through it at a snails pace. Within a few weeks of doing this I've discovered a huge improvement in my technique.

From my personal experience I would advise anyone using this book to go slowly through the material. Trust me, you will definitely benefit from this approach.
 
#34
I've just completed the second volume (from the 3-in-one edition, that is), and am practicing the "More Easy Pop Bass Lines" that could be seen as the companion book. Started with bass in january, after thirty years of piano and percussion experience, and two years of fiddling along with classical guitar. Amazon sent me a recommandation for one of Ed's books (don't know why actually: maybe because I bought some guitar books??), and I thought: "Oh, I wonder how bassists actually play those lines I've been playing on the piano since I was twelve." I started with Ed's "Bass Grooves", found that my favorite bass line has a name ("flat tyre groove" he calls it), went on to the "Blues Bass" book, and just before I started to look up against the really long parts in that book, only THEN I discovered the method...
I should have started there, of course: now my wrists and thumbs are hurting from trying to play difficult things too early, and with a bad posture. Back on topic: I adore this method (I teach percussion myself, and know how hard it is to find really good teaching methods), but I could't say what it is worth to somebody who REALLY starts from zero, without any musical background or reading skills.
 
#36
Ed's Building Walking Bass Lines - what impressed me right off was his use of chord tone scale degrees, i.e. R-5-8-5-R under the standard notation. This is the first bass book I've seen do this. So guys like me that relate to chord tone patterns and the use of R-3-5-3, etc. can jump right into this book.

Having my copy cut and spiral bound so I can put it on the music stand. I'm speed reading the first time through using chord tone notation as my guide and plan on then going back and using it to improve my sight reading skills.

I'm using Audacity on the CD to lower the piano volume - hard to hear the bass line over the piano. That small problem behind me - this is the best $16 I've spent in a long time.
 
#37
Lambic said:
I've just completed the second volume (from the 3-in-one edition, that is), and am practicing the "More Easy Pop Bass Lines" that could be seen as the companion book. Started with bass in january, after thirty years of piano and percussion experience, and two years of fiddling along with classical guitar. Amazon sent me a recommandation for one of Ed's books (don't know why actually: maybe because I bought some guitar books??), and I thought: "Oh, I wonder how bassists actually play those lines I've been playing on the piano since I was twelve." I started with Ed's "Bass Grooves", found that my favorite bass line has a name ("flat tyre groove" he calls it), went on to the "Blues Bass" book, and just before I started to look up against the really long parts in that book, only THEN I discovered the method...
I should have started there, of course: now my wrists and thumbs are hurting from trying to play difficult things too early, and with a bad posture. Back on topic: I adore this method (I teach percussion myself, and know how hard it is to find really good teaching methods), but I could't say what it is worth to somebody who REALLY starts from zero, without any musical background or reading skills.
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well now that all my gear is here the books are on order..
 
#38
I have yet to run into a book of Ed's that isn't great. One of his books that is astoundingly cool and difficult is R & B Bass Masters. If I lived in Austin, I would have Ed work me through it. I can get some of the lines, but many are so slippery, but SO groovin', I will be 'shedding them for years. The thing about Ed's books is that the man KNOWS about music, not just technique, which is why his books are so good as he knows what to put in and why.
On another note, I had a gear quesiton based on one of Ed's reviews and he emailed me back and forth a few times and was a great help. I think we are darn lucky to have a guy like him in the basement with us.

My 2 cents,

LEL
 
#40
fastharryDOTcom said:
well now that all my gear is here the books are on order..
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Everyone has my curiosity up so I canceled my order at Amazon and drove to guitar center this morning and bought the
red book with all 3 volumes and cds...I have been sitting here reading it while I am here at work and everyone is right...a Nice friendly manner sort of like a friend was teaching you...'



Nice done...

Now lets see if I can get those 56 year old hands working and learn the low end....;)
 

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