Bass Books
How To Play Bass Guitar In 50 Songs Module 2: An 80-20 Device Method Book For Beginners
By Paul Wolfe… How To Play Bass Guitar In 50 Songs Module 2: An 80-20 Device Method Book For Beginners.
How To Play Bass Guitar in 50 Songs is a comprehensive learning method for bass guitar beginners split into 5 modules that encompass key technique development from rhythmic awareness to plucking hand to fretting hand to fretboard mastery and incorporates the 10 most common and foundational devices used in bass lines. These foundational techniques and ideas are also taught with practical applications using “practice songs” that are based on the kind of real-world chord progressions you’ll find when you start playing with other musicians.
Here’s some of what’s covered in Module 2:
- Building plucking hand facility with uptempo quarter note exercises
- More fretting hand exercises.
- First two common 8th note rhythms – practicing these to build facility as well as internalize these foundational rhythms.
- Whole note, half note, quarter note and quarter note with quarter note rest rhythms.
- Lessons 5 to 9 of Level 1of fretboard mastery.
- Three more of the first ten “80-20 devices” from the 80-20 Bass Library.
- Common chord progressions.
- Internal Clock Exercises – introducing the harmonic metronome and the “drop” series.
- 10 practice songs based on the kind of chord progressions you’ll find in the real world. These practice songs are ‘graded’ in exactly the way classical piano pieces would be, and are practical applications of previous theory and facility exercises. (8 songs were covered in Module 1 and the remaining 22 songs will be spread over Modules 2 to 5).
Based on where you are on the bass, right now, as you’re reading this, this Module contains the equivalent material to between 10 and 20 face-to-face lessons with a good bass teacher. (Sidebar: good bass teachers are as rare as hen’s teeth.)
Point is…a good bass teacher will charge $75 and up for a 30-minute/45-minute lesson. So even if there were only the equivalent of 5 face to face lessons in this book (so equivalent to $375 in teacher’s fees), you should be able to make a value judgment on this volume as it’s less than half the price of a face to face lesson.
Additionally, there’s an “online” version of the book with the majority of the musical examples filmed and presented at two tempo levels and with picture-in-picture editing so you get close-ups of the fretting hands and plucking hands and don’t need to get distracted by “pretend” bass faces. (Go onto most YouTube bass videos and you’ll quickly see what a ‘pretend’ bass face is). That online version is free: just email/forward me a copy of your Amazon receipt (to paul@how-to-play-bass.com) as soon as you’ve purchased the book and I’ll add you as soon as I see the email and will let you know how to log on to this.
There are also over 200 MP3 practice tracks to download to help you with the different practice exercises in this volume. You’ll find those on the individual lesson pages in the online version of this volume.
How To Play Bass Guitar In 50 Songs Module 2: An 80-20 Device Method Book For Beginners – available at Amazon.com
If you are an electric bass player, this is an exciting time to be alive as this relatively new instrument evolves around us. Some creative individuals have taken an active role in this evolution and made giant leaps in their own direction. Lee Barker is one of these inventive people having created the Barker Bass.
Fortunately, Lee is also an excellent writer (among so many talents) and has recently released his book “Plausible Gumption, The Road Between a Christmas Toolbox and The Barker Bass”. This book is a very fun read for everyone and shares a ton of details about Lee’s life in general, his experiences as a musician, a radio host, and a luthier. Now I am fortunate to have the great opportunity to gain even more insights into this renaissance man with this video interview.
Plausible Gumption, The Road Between a Christmas Toolbox and The Barker Bass is available online at Amazon.com
The Bass Space: Profiles of Classic Electric Basses.
The definitive book for lovers of the low-end. Willie G. Moseley, Senior Writer for Vintage Guitar Magazine, profiles more than 100 historic and unique electric bass models from such makers as Alembic, Danelectro, Fender, Gibson, Gretsch, Guild, Hamer, Kramer, Rickenbacker, and many others.
Rare and legendary instruments, from the earliest attempts at amplified basses in the mid-1930s to the cutting-edge instruments of today, are presented in more than 250 color and period photos.
The main feature of this book is the exclusive coverage of historic and one-of-a-kind basses owned and played by such famed musicians as: Bill Black (Elvis Presley), Tim Bogert (Vanilla Fudge), Mark Egan (Pat Metheny Group), John Entwistle (The Who), Paul Goddard (Atlanta Rhythm Section), Bruce Hall (REO Speedwagon), Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Benjamin Orr (The Cars), Tom Petersson (Cheap Trick), Carl Radle (Derek and the Dominos), Gene Simmons (Kiss), Steve Wariner, and others.
The Bass Space: Profiles of Classic Electric Basses is available online at Amazon.com
Bass Books
Review: The Bastard Instrument, A Cultural History of the Electric Bass by Brian F Wright
I was intrigued when The Bastard Instrument showed up on my desk… let’s dig in!
When we dive into the history of our beloved instrument, the bass, we find roots that go back as far as the 15th century. This instrument was a member of the violin family and was for the longest time, an acoustic instrument. As the years passed and music changed, there was a need for the instrument to evolve and the electric bass was born.
Comparatively, the electric bass is a relatively new instrument with its earliest appearances dating back to the 1930s and it is exciting to be an electric bass player while this history unfolds around us. Fortunately for us and future generations to come, Professor Brian F. Wright has taken on the herculean task of documenting the trajectory of the electric bass with this excellent book.
The Bastard Instrument presents an extraordinary amount of fine details about the instrument itself, the development of the amplification to handle its output, the pioneers that dared play it, the rapidly evolving music that flourished because of its presence and so much more.
When I first started reading this book, I noticed that it felt a tad academic, like a textbook (it might be one someday) or a doctoral thesis, but to present all this information accurately, this approach is more than appropriate. Another detail that might be a bit of a spoiler is that the book only gets us up to the late ’60s. I was left wanting more as we know that so much has happened in the bass world since that time frame; I hope there is another volume in the works to get us up to the present!
All in all, “The Bastard Instrument, A Cultural History of the Electric Bass” is a must-read for all of us who play electric bass and understand its essential place in music.
I found that there was a lot that I already knew but also quite a bit that I was unaware of. I believe that to know and understand where you are, you must know the history of exactly how you got here.
Highly recommended.
The Bastard Instrument is available at Amazon.com (beginning July 2024)
The Bassist’s Complete Guide to Injury Management, Prevention and Better Health
I have often thought that it would be great if the doctors who delivered us as newborn babies provided us with a user manual to help us navigate through life in the best way possible. Now Dr. Randall Kertz, D.C. has produced a manual specifically designed to address the many possible afflictions plaguing us bass players.
Many of you will remember volumes 1 & 2 of this book and our first review in 2007. The new complete guide combines the two volumes and features over 20 pages of new material including interviews, techniques, and conditions.
If you play bass, you can read this book cover to cover and walk away with a ton of relevant and helpful knowledge. Another option is to search out issues relevant to you specifically (I found quite a few of my own with helpful options). This is possible because the book is very nicely organized into six chapters that address Pain, Conditions, Techniques, Road Issues, Inspirational Q&A with some of the biggest names in the bass community (too many to list here) and finally How to get relief.
All said, this book is essential if you play either electric or upright bass to the point where they should issue you one when you get that first bass in your hands.
Lastly, if you have this book and you have specific questions, Dr. Kertz is readily available through his website, www.drkertz.com. As if that was not enough, he has a wealth of knowledge you can find right here on our website at bassmusicianmagazine.com/author/randallkertz
Get this book… Live long and play bass well into the years! Available on Amazon.com
The Bassist’s Complete Guide to Injury Management, Prevention & Better Health is now available!
A compilation of Volumes 1 & 2 of the acclaimed Bassist’s Guide with 20+ pages of new interviews, techniques, and conditions, The Complete Guide puts everything in one convenient place.
Available at Amazon.com and from our friends at Bassline Publishing
Follow Dr. Kertz’s Bass Player Health at Bass Musician Magazine
Gear News: Future Impact V4 Guitar & Bass Synth Now Available in the U.S.
Interview With Barker Bass’s Inventor and Writer Lee Barker
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #4 – Boutique and Vintage Basses, Dress Code for Summer Gigs
Gear News: Ibanez & Graph Tech Launch Multi-Scale Bass with Cutting-Edge Tuning
Album: John Entwistle, Rarities Oxhumed – Volume Two
July 15 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Gear News: Future Impact V4 Guitar & Bass Synth Now Available in the U.S.
Gear Review: Joyo Monomyth – A Versatile Modern Bass Preamp
Luthier Spotlight: Garry Beers, GGB Basses
