Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
About This Book
Foolish Assumptions
Icons Used in This Book
Beyond the Book
Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with the Bass Guitar
Chapter 1 The Very Basics of Bass
Discovering the Differences between the Bass and Its High-Strung Cousins
Understanding the Bass Player’s Function in a Band
Forging the link between harmony and rhythm
Moving the song along
Keeping time
Establishing rhythms
Looking cool
Dissecting the Anatomy of a Bass Guitar
The neck
The body
The innards
On a Need-to-Know “Basses”: Gearing Up to Play Bass
Coordinating your right and left hands
Mastering major and minor chord structures
Tuning your bass
Combining scales and chords
Playing Grooves, Solos, and Fills
Creating grooves and riffs
Treating yourself and your audience to solos and fills
Experimenting with Different Musical Genres
Stocking Up on Some Bass Gear
Buying a bass
Getting an amplifier
Accessorizing your bass
Giving Your Bass Some Good Ol’ TLC
Chapter 2 Gaining the Tools and Skills to Play
Getting a Handle on Your Bass
Holding Your Bass
Strapping on your bass: Strings to the outside
Voilà! Standing with your bass
Sitting with your bass
Placing Your Hands in the Proper Position
Positioning your left hand
Positioning your right hand
Reading a Fingerboard Diagram
The language of music: Scales and chords
Viewing a diagram of the major and minor scales
Playing open-string scales
Finding the notes on the neck
Identifying intervals: They’re always in the same place
Tuning Your Bass Guitar
Reference pitch sources to use when playing alone
Reference pitch sources to use when playing with others
Tuning the bass guitar to itself
Playing a Song on Your Bass Guitar
Making some noise with the open strings
Closing the strings
Chapter 3 Warming Up: Getting Your Hands in Shape to Play
Understanding the Sound Your Bass Makes
Performing Right-Hand Warm-Ups
Right-hand same-string strokes
Controlling the strength in your striking hand: Right-hand accents
Skating across the strings: Right-hand string crossing
Coordinating Your Left Hand with Your Right Hand
Doing finger permutations
Muting the strings to avoid the infamous hum
Putting it all together
Part 2 The Bass-ics of Playing
Chapter 4 Reading, ’Riting, and Rhythm
Reading Notation: No Pain, Much Gain
Chord notation: The chord chart
Music notation: Indicating rhythm and notes
Tablature notation: Showing strings, frets, and sequence
The vocal chart: Using lyrics and chords for a singer or songwriter
Finding Any Note in Any Octave
Using the Metronome: You Know, That Tick-Tock Thing
Setting the metronome
Playing along
Dividing Music into Phrases, Measures, and Beats
The quarter note
The eighth note
The sixteenth note
The half note
The whole note
The triplet
The dot
The tie
The rest
Discovering How to Read Music
Rhythmic chunks
Interval chunks
What comes up must come down
Playing Your First Song While Reading Music
Chapter 5 Understanding Major and Minor Structures
Building Major and Minor Scales
Major scales
Minor scales
Building Chords: One Note at a Time, Please
Triads: The three most important notes of a chord
7th chords: Filling out the triad
Getting your kicks with boogie licks
Inversions: Down Is Up, and Up Is Down
Major chord inversions
Minor chord inversions
Spicing Up Your Sound: The Seven Main Modes (Scales)
Using Chromatic Tones: All the Other Notes
Chromatic tones within the box
Chromatic tones outside the box
Bringing a Groove to Life with Dead Notes (Weird but True)
Playing dead — notes, that is
Raking dead notes
Sampling Accompaniments
Using your accompaniments in a tune
Keeping your groove gloriously ambiguous
Part 3 Making the Moves, Creating the Grooves
Chapter 6 Creating the Groove
Anatomy of a Groove: Putting Together the Necessary Elements
Getting your groove skeleton out of the closet
Playing a song using only the groove skeleton
Choosing the right notes for a groove
Creating Your Own Groove
Covering the “basses”: Creating dominant, minor, and major grooves
Waggin’ the groove tail
Movin’ and groovin’ from chord to chord
Finding the perfect fit: The designer groove
Grooving with a Drummer
The bass drum
The snare drum
The hi-hat
Jammin’ with Other Musicians
Preparing your ear
Listening for “the note”
Pivoting the note
Getting Creative with Existing Grooves
Altering a (famous) groove
Simplifying a groove
Chapter 7 Going Solo: Playing Solos and Fills
Soloing: Your Moment to Shine
Playing with the blues scale: A favorite solo spice
Jamming with the minor pentatonic scale: No wrong notes
Using the major pentatonic scale: Smooth as can be
Moving from chord to chord
Creating Fills without Any Help from Your Dentist
A match made in heaven: Connecting your fill to the groove
Timing a fill
Part 4 Using the Correct Accompaniment for Each Genre
Chapter 8 Rock On! Getting Down with the Rock Styles
Rock ’n’ Roll: It’s The Attitude!
Hard Rock: Going at It Fast and Furious
Pop Rock: Supporting the Vocals
Blues Rock: Doin’ What “Duck” Does and Playing a Countermelody
Country Rock: Where Vocals Are King, and You Take a Back Seat
One Rock Fits All: Applying a Standard Rock Groove to Any Rock Song
Chapter 9 Swing It! Playing Styles That Rely on the Triplet Feel
Swing: Grooving Up-Tempo with Attitude
Jazz: Going for a Walk
Working the walk
Applying a jazz blues walking pattern
Blues Shuffle: Walking Like Donald Duck (Dunn, That Is)
Funk Shuffle: Combining Funk, Blues, and Jazz
Chapter 10 Making It Funky: Playing Hardcore Bass Grooves
R & B: Movin’ to Rhythm and Blues
The Motown Sound: Grooving with the Music of the Funk Brothers
Fusion: Blending Two Styles into One
Funk: Light Fingers, Heavy Attitude
Hip-Hop: Featuring Heavy Funk with Heavy Attitude
Knowing What to Do When You Just Want to Funkifize a Tune
Chapter 11 Sampling International Flavors: Bass Styles from Around the World
Bossa Nova: Baskin’ in a Brazilian Beat
Samba: Speeding Up with Bossa’s Fast Cousin
Afro-Cuban: Ordering Up Some Salsa (Hold the Chips, Please)
Reggae: Relaxing with Offbeat “Riddims”
Calypso Party Sounds: Dancing through the Groove
Combining Reggae and Rock: The Distinct Sound of Ska
African Grooves: Experimenting with Exotic Downbeat Grooves
Grooving on a steady beat, South African–style
Checking out the bass groove styles from Cameroon
Music without Borders: Grooving to the World Beat
Chapter 12 Playing in Odd Meters: Not Strange, Just Not the Norm
An Odd-Meter Oldie but Goodie: The Waltz
Beyond the Waltz: Navigating Beats in Odd Meter
5/4 meter: Not an impossible mission
Take a groove you know and make it grow
7/4 meter: Adding two more beats
Complex Simplicity: Syncopation and Subdivision
Syncopating in odd meter
Adding an eighth
Dealing with the rush
Chapter 13 Groovin’ in a Genre: It’s All About Style!
Playing Grooves in Each Genre: One Simple Song, Many Genres Strong
Pop: Backing up the singer-songwriter
Rocking by the quarter or eighth note
R & B/Soul, with or without the dot
Feeling da funk
Layin’ down some Latin grooves
When you’re feelin’ blue, shuffle
To Blend or Not to Blend: Knowing How to Fit In
Just blending in: How to do it
The bold and the beautiful: Creating a bold groove
Blending and bolding by genre
Signing off with a flourish
Chapter 14 Eight Degrees of Separation: The Beatles’ Solution
Playing Your Rhythm Straight or Syncopated
Pumping eighth notes
Syncopating the bass beat
Making Harmonic Choices
Feeling fine (with roots and 5ths)
Walking along Penny Lane
Coming together to move with the groove
Day-tripping in perfect agreement: Unison
Playing something to counter the melody with
Inverting while your bass gently weeps
Part 5 Buying and Caring for Your Bass
Chapter 15 Love of a Lifetime or One-Night Stand? Buying the Right Bass
Assessing Your Needs Before You Buy
Thinking long-term: Moving in together
Thinking short-term: Help me make it through the night
How many strings are too many?
To fret or not to fret
Needs Are One Thing . . . Budget Is Quite Another
A Trip to the Bass-Mint: Where to Shop for Your Bass Guitar
Hitting the music stores
Consulting newspaper ads
Visiting online shops and individual online ads
When Money Is No Object: Getting a Custom-Made Bass
Chapter 16 Getting the Right Gear for Your Bass Guitar
Making Yourself Heard: A Primer on Amplifiers and Speakers
Going with a combo or separate amp and speaker
Opting for solid state or tubes
Picking a speaker size
Setting the tone
Needs, Wants, and Nonessentials: Rounding Out Your Equipment
Must-haves: Cases, gig bags, and more
Definite maybes: Useful effects, gadgets, and practice items
Extras: Effects pedals
Chapter 17 Changing the Strings on Your Bass Guitar
Knowing When It’s Time to Say Goodbye
Off with the Old: Removing Bass Strings
On with the New: Restringing Your Bass
Ensuring a Long Life for Your Strings
Chapter 18 Keeping Your Bass in Shape: Maintenance and Light Repair
Cleaning Your Bass, Part by Part
The body and neck
The hardware
The pickups
The fingerboard
The strings
Making Minor Repairs to Your Bass
The taming of the screw(s)
Taking care of the finish
Leaving the electronics to the experts
Adjusting the Bass Guitar
Providing relief to the truss rod
Raising and lowering the bridge
Assembling a Cleaning and Repair Tool Bag
Storing Your Bass
Part 6 The Part of Tens
Chapter 19 Ten Innovative Bassists You Should Know
Stanley Clarke
John Entwistle
James Jamerson
Carol Kaye
Will Lee
Paul McCartney
Marcus Miller
Jaco Pastorius
Victor Wooten
X (Fill in Your Own)
Chapter 20 Ten Great Rhythm Sections (Bassists and Drummers)
Bootsy Collins and Jab’o Starks
Donald “Duck” Dunn and Al Jackson Jr.
James Jamerson and Benny Benjamin
John Paul Jones and John Bonham
Joe Osborn and Hal Blaine
Jaco Pastorius and Peter Erskine
George Porter Jr. and Zig Modeliste
Francis Rocco Prestia and David Garibaldi
Chuck Rainey and Bernard Purdie
Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar
Appendix Audio Tracks and Video Clips
Index
EULA