Soul Essentials - 500 Bass Patterns in All Keys

[alfred]

For everyone who seriously wants to improve their sight reading skills and who have so far found a lot of didactics but little reading material in textbooks I'd like to recommend "Soul Essentials".

500 patterns in all keys, inspired by Northern Soul, Motown, Gospel and Rhythm 'n' Blues, by EICH Amplification Endorser Alfred Kallfass.

Order via PayPal, free shipping: https://www.alfredkallfass.de/buch?lang=en

Edited August 15, 2020 by alfred

[alfred]

And for all Kindle users..

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soul-Essentials-Bass-Patterns-Keys-ebook/dp/B08FZQMYZ2/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=kallfass&qid=1597778754&sr=8-9

[Dad3353]

I received Alfred's book this morning, and it's looking good, or even Very Good. It came in a hand-addressed plain envelope, very swiftly (from Germany...). Beware: the 'free shipping' applies only to those in Germany; I had to top up the sum for postage (to France...). Maybe Alfred could update his posts to indicate this..?
The A4-sized book itself is very clearly laid out, well printed on quality paper, and so should withstand quite a lot of thumbing. And thumbing these pages is what it's all about. 500 bass lines, mostly just a few bars, but many longer parts, in all keys and all degrees of complexity. They are not graded progressively, which I found interesting as a concept for a beginner such as I, as it obliges one to hunt through for a 'simpler' piece, with a 'surprise' element when one pops out of the page. The first 'C' parts, for instance, with no sharps or flats, occur at 40 and 41. A heavy leaning towards 4/4 time signature, with a dusting of 12/8 or 6/8 and a couple only of 3/4, with a lonely 7/4 and 5/4. As a drummer, I would have expected a bit more 'swung' 3/4 (I suppose the 12/8 pieces could be played as such...), but that's maybe because I'm old..! There is one (497...) 6/8-3/8 (4 flats...) to spice things up, followed on the same page (499...) by a straight-forward riff in 'C'. Chords are noted for all bars of every piece, which help in 'hearing' what's going on; one could even generate a backing track to play along to (although, as the raison d'être is to improve reading, that's just a bonus...). All the pieces are musical, not simply 'made up' as dry exercises (no, I've not played 'em all, but it shows, just the same...).
Any criticism..? Not much; not much at all. As with many methods, I would always prefer a spiral, 'lay-flat'l binding, but I realise that this costs more, and, to be fair, this book is supple enough to lay pretty flat without that. Other than that, and the scarcity of more divers time signatures, I have no hesitation in awarding five stars, and offer thanks to Alfred for bringing the book to our attention. Well done, lad. 

[alfred]

Thank you, Douglas, for your five-star review 🤩, the website meanwhile has been updated, shipping costs now should be easy to see for everyone👍

https://en.alfredkallfass.de/buch.

Edited August 20, 2020 by alfred

[stewblack]

I await my delivery with excitement 

[alfred]

Your book is on the way

[stewblack]

Just arrived home to find this waiting for me. Hugely excited to incorporate it into my sight reading regime. 

Alongside the less musical (but no less beneficial) scale and mode work, this promises to be a really enjoyable way to learn.

And I'll end up with some great soulful licks to boot. Heartily recommended. 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by stewblack

[stewblack]

Played the first exercise and felt rather smug. This time last year I'd have been working out what the notes were and writing their names under them in pencil. Today I breezed through. 

On to number two. It's going to sound good once I get above 20bpm!! Damn that timing is tricky 🤦🏼‍♂️ 

[songofthewind]

Jings! 20bpm?? Is that not thrash metal or some stinky poo like that??

[songofthewind]

Drat! Cuss filter got me!

[stewblack]

37 minutes ago, songofthewind said:

Drat! Cuss filter got me!

So blooming annoying to have to use flipping words which don't give our dratted posts the emotional force they jolly well need. 

[alfred]

Hope you enjoy playing the Patterns as much as I enjoyed writing the book! 

Viele Grüße

Alfred

[alfred]

@alle: 

Any suggestions for a Volume 2? More soul patterns? Funky sight-reading? Reggae & Rocksteady? 

Many greetings

Alfred

https://en.alfredkallfass.de