Recommendations needed for beginner bass books!

[Truckstop]

Hello all,

I'm gonna be sitting with my nephew teaching some bass and would like to hear of some recommendations for books for us to work through.

No idea what works as I'm completely self-taught so any help and suggestions wildly and enthusiastically recieved!

Cheers

Alex

Nb: nephew is a complete beginner with no musical education at all. He's 11.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Truckstop

[Delberthot]

Racking my brains here but can't think of anything.

Like you, I'm self taught. 25 years and 3 days ago I picked up my first bass.

how about picking some songs? That's how I learned by just playing everything I could get my hands on

[Dad3353]

Good evening, Alex...

I believe this is well reputed...

[url="http://www.electricbassguitarbook.com/"]http://www.electricbassguitarbook.com/[/url]

...I was going to get it for our youngest, but the postage to France is horrendous (although I may succumb later on when a bit more 'flush...).
Hope this helps...

[Looper]

My other half got me "the bass handbook" by Adrian Ashton when I started. It goes through the history and technical side of the gear with some nice pictures, then into theory and exercises. Got very deep into theory quite quickly but its the kind of thing you can dip back into. Comes with a CD to play along with for the exercises too. Worth a look.

[louisthebass]

This is a great book:

[url="http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/330813437689?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0"]http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/330813437689?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0[/url]

[stingrayPete1977]

Bound to fall on deaf ears I know but if I was 11 again I would seriously want to learn to read from the off, even if it was just 15 minutes of practice alongside the fun stuff it would sink in, It is so hard to learn later in life

[TheGreek]

Hey Alex

I think I#'ve still got a couple of books lying around somewhere which might be of use (teaches mainly blues scales IIRC) - I'll have a dig around - if I can find them they're yours..

[dudewheresmybass]

I find 'bass guitar' by Gregory and vinson to be really good
There is a natural progression to what you learn and although it starts with blues and moves on to soul, all the basics are covered well

[Happy Jack]

I'm astonished that no one has mentioned [i][b]Crash Course - Bass[/b][/i] by Basschat's very own Stuart Clayton: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crash-Course-Bass-Warner-Brothers/dp/1844920151

This is the book that I learned with (during my happy and carefree pre-Basschat days ) and I am VERY happy to recommend it.

[Jellyfish]

Crash Course for Bass Guitar is written by Stuart Clayton. Best book I've ever seen to be honest.

[seashell]

[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1356694069' post='1912427']
I'm astonished that no one has mentioned [i][b]Crash Course - Bass[/b][/i] by Basschat's very own Stuart Clayton: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crash-Course-Bass-Warner-Brothers/dp/1844920151

This is the book that I learned with (during my happy and carefree pre-Basschat days ) and I am VERY happy to recommend it.
[/quote]

+1 to that.
My bass teacher also recommended it and would refer to it in lessons.

[Happy Jack]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1356691046' post='1912381']
Bound to fall on deaf ears I know but if I was 11 again I would seriously want to learn to read from the off, even if it was just 15 minutes of practice alongside the fun stuff it would sink in, It is so hard to learn later in life
[/quote]

Do it by stealth.

I really, [i][b]really [/b][/i]rate this book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Building-Walking-Bass-Lines-Friedland/dp/0793542049

It will be of no interest at all to an 11-year-old novice, but to a 12-year-old with a year's experience it will offer some uber-cool stuff to learn, all of it delivered in easy-to-handle packets.

And there's no tab.

If you want to use this book, then you have to play what you see, initially just R + 5 but gradually opening out. Before you know it, you're reading music.

[Truckstop]

Mick, that'd be awesome, thank you! PM me and can swing round and grab them at some point. We should have some tea and a catch up anyway.

Everyone else, thanks for your suggestions, I've ordered a couple! I want to make sure my nephew learns a bit of reading too; I'm trying to get back into the swing of learning to read formally too, so this will be a learning curve for me also.

Like you, Pete, I wish I had bothered to learn to read properly when I was younger too! I know basic stuff like what quavers and semi quavers are etc and I know what the notes are; but beyond that, it's a mystery!

Cheers!

Alex

[hollywoodrox]

Building rock bass lines by ed friedland starts at the beginning and has other useful stuff for intermediate-ish players too and it is in F clef and teaches basic rhythm too and comes with a play along cd you can't go wrong.
Also for a quick start you could download the free Tux program for most systems it's like guitar pro , download a song he likes and you can slow it and play along using bass tab . Trainer hd app for iOS is good for learning bass fretboard and music man app is great for learning bass and treble clef

[stingrayPete1977]

Its a fine balance between keeping someone interested, ie learning songs they like from tab and learning the 'proper' (for want of a better word!) way, can both ways be done?

Edited December 28, 2012 by stingrayPete1977

[Truckstop]

Right, ordered Stuart Claytons book and a couple of Friedlands books.

Should be interesting to see how it all goes and to see how much theory I've just plain forgotten!

Truckstop

[hollywoodrox]

[quote name='stingrayPete1977' timestamp='1356708202' post='1912736']
Its a fine balance between keeping someone interested, ie learning songs they like from tab and learning the 'proper' (for want of a better word!) way, can both ways be done?
[/quote]i don't see why not. You need to learn some songs and supplant it with basic knowledge so you eventually work out your own lines

[stingrayPete1977]

Once you learn tab though its an easy go to which might be good for many but I am not the only one that had wished I had learnt score from the off.

[iconic]

Stuart's book is excellent it was my 1st book, also 'bass guitar for dummies' is well written and 'assumes' very little its now my goto book.

....l love eds reviews, his books don't work for me.

[Mr Fretbuzz]

Best book I've got is Bass Guitar for Dummies and I've got loads. Must have read it about 10 times. Another great book I'm using now is Bass Fitness by Josquin des Pres ..its full of finger stretch exercises.

My 11 year old drummer got a Bass for Christmas so I've got some teaching to do myself

[JamesBass]

Check out the Rock School grade books, they combine fun songs with the all the basic yet very necessary boring work such as; Scales, Arpeggios, Sight Reading and Notation. I started on a few of the Hal Leonard books when I first started learning, I didn't make any noteworthy progress till I worked on my grades, combination of boring stuff for 15/20 minutes and then 45/40 on the "Fun stuff" If you can do an hour that is. If not then split it 50/50 for a half hour lesson. Hope that helps!