bassiscly, whats out there

[petercullenbassist]

hey all, i was just wondering if anyone could help me in finding more info on advanced bass theory and advanced playing techniques? books, vids, websites, anything like that. and not some idiot like most people you get on you tube, with a bad camera angle, no teaching skills and just plays a fast funky line and they says "just like that, your go"


cheers guys

[Doddy]

The best book,I think,available for theory is 'The Jazz Theory Book' by Mark Levine. It's not bass specific,but it is packed
full of information and shows how it can all be applied musically (mostly in treble clef).
For more bass specific books, I really like 'Chord Studies for Electric Bass' by Rich Appleman and 'Serious Electric Bass'
by Joel DiBartolo.
Obviously it's difficult to recommend stuff without knowing what you know theory-wise,but these books are great if you want
more advanced stuff. I'm also assuming that you can read and know the fingerboard,as you'll need to in order to really take
advantage of these books.

[Happy Jack]

This is all you really need for on-line lessons:

[url="http://playbassnow.com/"]http://playbassnow.com/[/url]

Books & DVDs are another matter entirely, of course.

Edited February 23, 2011 by Happy Jack

[Bilbo]

I always advocate for the Mark Levine book Doddy mentioned but have also recently discovered some useful stuff in David Baker's books (although they are jazz specific, the theory is transferrable);

Jazz Improvisation: A Comprehensive Method for All Musicians

How To Play Bebop (3 volumes)

Arranging and Composing for the Small Ensemble: Jazz, R & B, Jazz Rock: For the Small Ensemble, Jazz, R & B, Jazz-Rock

I would also add:

Arranging for Large Jazz Ensemble by Ken Pullig

Modern Jazz Voicings by Ted Pease

Jazzology: The Encyclopedia of Jazz Theory for All Musicians by Robert Rawlins

Composing for the Jazz Orchestra by William Russo (slim or full version depending on your level of interest)

I would also argue (although I am prepared to be challenged on this) that 'bass spcific' theory books are not the way to go as the theory is universal and its application will be much more use to you if it is not entirely bass focussed.

[Doddy]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='1138196' date='Feb 23 2011, 09:30 AM']I would also argue (although I am prepared to be challenged on this) that 'bass spcific' theory books are not the way to go as the theory is universal and its application will be much more use to you if it is not entirely bass focussed.[/quote]

I agree.
A lot (but not all)of the bass specific theory book can rely to much on tab and fingerboard diagrams,so you are,once again,more likely to just learn a fingering pattern than the actual theory.