Scoobs Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Hi Folks, I'm looking for recommendations for a couple of books to help my playing. I want books as I struggle with videos and look at a screen all day as it is. I'm not really sure how to label what I'm looking for so here's a bit of a ramble. I'd like help with constructing bass lines and understanding how chord progressions fit together, circle of fifths and which notes lead naturally from one chord to another. ?? chord tones maybe ?? and practice recommendations. I'm really enjoying playing double bass and bass guitar and I'm nearly feeling brave enough to try to play with a jazz group whose bassist has left - as long as they promise to play nice. Anyone got any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKenrick Posted October 11, 2022 Share Posted October 11, 2022 Hard to cover everything that you're after with only a few book suggestions, but here are some of the ones that I've found most helpful and that I use with some of my students: (it's worth pointing out that you don't need bass-specific books to learn about harmony and theory, and it's perhaps best to go for ones that aren't written by or for bassists...) Functional Harmonic Concepts by Joe Hubbard Jazzology by Robert Rawlins and Nor Eddine Bahha (this is part workbook, with questions at the end of each chapter) The Advancing Guitarist by Mick Goodrick Although you said you don't like videos... I did this video a while ago which goes into detail on the above books plus a couple more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLowDown Posted October 12, 2022 Share Posted October 12, 2022 Music theory for bass players by Ariane Capp may be what you're looking for. I think the Dummies and Idiots guides are very comprehensive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobs Posted October 12, 2022 Author Share Posted October 12, 2022 Thanks for the replies both. TKenrick your video does make a lot of sense and I really like your style especially compared to some of the other online 'bass educators'. Makes sense that theory and harmony aren't bass specific, and it is reassuring to hear that what I am thinking about sounds like quite a big subject/subjects/set of skills/chunk of Knowledge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TKenrick Posted October 13, 2022 Share Posted October 13, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 13:43, Scoobs said: Makes sense that theory and harmony aren't bass specific, and it is reassuring to hear that what I am thinking about sounds like quite a big subject/subjects/set of skills/chunk of Knowledge. If it was easy, then everyone would be doing it 😉 There aren't really that many things that you have to know, the problem is that you have to know a handful of concepts really deeply and be able to access those sounds in lots of different ways on the bass. At the most fundamental level, we need to know the notes that go into chords and where those notes are on the bass. That sounds relatively straightfoward, but there are many hours of work in there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted October 14, 2022 Share Posted October 14, 2022 Links for three excellent sites (all free): Music Theory - Lessons Open Music Theory And an excellent (download PDF) primer on Jazz Theory: Jazz Theory.doc (uml.edu) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoobs Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 Thanks again Gents, plenty to be going on with for now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim2291 Posted October 18, 2022 Share Posted October 18, 2022 One thing I have found is that a lot of bass specific books are lacking massively in general theory past the bass clef. As others have suggested, general Jazz theory is always a winner, that will cover pretty much everything you will ever need. Any books on walking basslines are great but make sure you are learning the concepts not the parts they have written out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petrderbikov Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 I'm a beginner player, should I learn theory and technique together or do I need technique first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
velvetkevorkian Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 Learn them together. Theory informs technique and vice versa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakforest5961 Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 9 hours ago, petrderbikov said: I'm a beginner player, should I learn theory and technique together or do I need technique first? If you don't specifically need a book and want something excellent at no cost, then this site should do you very nicely: https://www.studybass.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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