Classical and Contemporary Studies for Bass Guitar

[Rob MacKillop]

@petebassist - Pete, it's a book for fingerstyle bass guitar, as you know. When it comes to playing on an upright, you create your own rules. The Bottesini are all single-note studies, no chords, so could be played bowed or pizz. The Isbin - I can imagine them either way too, but am not 100% sure. Best wishes. 

[Brook_fan]

20% off from the Mel Bay site until 16th July, so even cheaper if you get the ebook 🙂

[Rob MacKillop]

What are you waiting for? 😎

[knirirr]

18 hours ago, Rob MacKillop said:

What are you waiting for? 😎

Print version, Amazon UK (or similar).

I saw the example piece in the Kindle sample and it looks really good, but would prefer a book.

[Rob MacKillop]

Usually takes a month or so before Mel Bay Europe get it into Amazon. 

[Rob MacKillop]

The book is currently available in the UK through Amazon's third-party sellers: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1513461427

The Amazon listing gives a "Look Inside" the Kindle version: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Classical-Contemporary-Studies-Bass-Guitar/dp/1513461427/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1534236777&sr=8-1&keywords=Rob+MacKillop+bass

Any questions, ask away. Cheers. 

[Al Krow]

Cheers Rob - just ordered my copy!  

[knirirr]

Mine just arrived - looking forward to finding time to have a go at it. 

[Dad3353]

This arrived today; it's splendid, and well worth the wait..! A slim volume, easy to manipulate, containing a very interesting mix of both classical pieces and more modern works. Very well laid out, so it's easy to read, with both standard notation and Tab; I like to work out the score, then check 'my' version against the Tab. I've not (yet...) downloaded the audio tracks; I'll do that later. I'm very far from being a proficient player, but these studies are well worth working on; they really are charming, and are at tempos that are slow enough to encourage concentration on getting it right. I'm going to start on 'It's Lovely To Hear Your Voice', and also 'Imagine', with an intriguing shift from 2/4 to 3/4 and back. Many thanks, Rob, for having put this collection together, and so well. My thumb is well and truly up,  and my hat duly doffed. 

[Rob MacKillop]

Good to see the book being used. I've been using it with a couple of students, who are really getting a lot from it. 

Any problems or questions, just ask. 

[Hellzero]

Super late bump for a great book. Ordered it today as a digital copy and started, well at the start...

Thanks Rob.

[Rob MacKillop]

Cheers, Hellzero. I think I'm becoming senile, though, as I'd forgotten about this thread! Oh dear...

[Brook_fan]

Just taken advantage of Mel bay’s 35% off, especially given   that I have more time on my hands now.  I was particularly interested in  the Gilbert Isbin pieces, and I was not disappointed.  These pieces are terrific, and to my mind echo the great studies by Leo Brouwer for classical guitar.  Like Brouwer’s works, I feel that far from living their lives as just studies many of these pieces will be very welcome in concert halls and recitals.  The harmonies are delicious- I sure wish I could compose pieces this wonderful!  Thank you Rob, they have helped me reignite my love for my bass 😊

Robbie

[TorturedSaints]

Hi Rob,

having been reminded by notifications that this thread exists, I've just ordered a copy.  Having expressed my opinion about mixed tab/notation books years ago above, because I've been playing so much notation (and EUB), I find that I can now ignore the tab!  Looking forward to playing it.  

[Rob MacKillop]

Hi guys. Thanks for all the positive comments on this book, which does seem to be doing well at Mel Bay. Any questions, just ask. 

[Rob MacKillop]

On 30/03/2020 at 07:17, Brook_fan said:

I was particularly interested in  the Gilbert Isbin pieces, and I was not disappointed.  These pieces are terrific, and to my mind echo the great studies by Leo Brouwer for classical guitar.  Like Brouwer’s works, I feel that far from living their lives as just studies many of these pieces will be very welcome in concert halls and recitals.  The harmonies are delicious- I sure wish I could compose pieces this wonderful!  Thank you Rob, they have helped me reignite my love for my bass 😊

Robbie

 

Robbie, you've made my day! Year, actually! 

[stewblack]

Thanks for the thread revival, just bought mine. 

[Rob MacKillop]

Good to know, Stew. I hope you like it!

[stewblack]

9 hours ago, Rob MacKillop said:

Good to know, Stew. I hope you like it!

I have been learning to read music during the lockdown, you can't imagine what a joy it was to sit and play through the first piece in this book. 

To hear myself play something I'd never heard before, just by reading the dots! And what a beautiful piece of music too. Really looking forward to working through the rest of it. Thank you. 

[Rob MacKillop]

Thankfully I'm fluent in both languages - standard and tab - but every day am thankful I put the time in to learn to read standard notation. Keep it up!

[Dad3353]

For those unfamiliar with Bottesini, here's a virtuoso rendering of one of the star pieces...

 

Rest assured; Rob's book has much less complex works than the above. (But what a player ^^, eh..? Rinat Ibragimov, sadly recently died; RIP...)

[Rob MacKillop]

And that is on a three-string bass, as played by Bottesini. 

[Dad3353]

Just now, Rob MacKillop said:

And that is on a three-string bass, as played by Bottesini. 

 Even Jaco needed four..! 

[stewblack]

On 06/09/2020 at 11:40, Rob MacKillop said:

Thankfully I'm fluent in both languages - standard and tab - but every day am thankful I put the time in to learn to read standard notation. Keep it up!

I have the digital version so it was a simple matter to remove the tab. Seeing two different languages simultaneously on the page was a bit too much for my poor tired old brain. 

I've been playing the 2nd and 3rd pieces today. Very enjoyable. 

[Rob MacKillop]

I didn't know you could remove the tab in the digital version - good to know. I'd rather the tab wasn't there, but it's the only way to recover costs these days.