Product Description

Shake the earth with deep, sonorous vibrations. Be the force that relentlessly drives the music. Rumble like the ominous thunder of an approaching storm. For you, it's not enough just to be heard; you need to be felt, too. You need to play bass guitar.

Imagine your favorite music without bass. It doesn't work, does it? The bass is the heartbeat of the music, the foundation of the groove, and the glue that holds together all the different instruments. You can feel the vibrations of the low notes – sometimes subtle and caressing, sometimes literally earthshaking – as they propel the song. The bass is the heart. So leave center stage to the other musicians – you have more important work to do. The limelight may be cool, but bassists rule!

You can find everything you need to dominate the bass in Bass Guitar For Dummies – whether you're a beginner picking up a bass for the first time or an experienced player looking for way to improve. And you won't drown in complicated music theory, either; this easy-to-understand reference gives you just enough music theory to get you on your way.

Bass Guitar For Dummies includes the following topics and more:

• Exploring the anatomy of a bass guitar
• Getting started: Holding your bass, positioning your hands, and striking notes
• Reading bass notation and understanding chords, scales, and octaves
• Creating a groove and playing solos and fills
• Examining different bass-playing styles, from rock and funk to blues and reggae
• Caring for your bass: Cleaning, changing strings, and so on
• Buying your own bass and accessories
• Top Ten lists on bassists you should know about

Bass Guitar For Dummies also comes with a CD that includes audio clips of all the examples in the book.

So put away the air bass guitar and get yourself the real thing. With the help of Bass Guitar For Dummies, you'll be groovin' in your own band in no time!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7872 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780764524875
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From the Back Cover
"Patrick’s teaching method showed me how to connect the bits of technique I’d collected into a playing style."
—Adam Clayton, Bass Player, U2

Play rock, blues, jazz, country, new wave, and Latin

Get ready to rock and roll on the bass — even if you can’t read music!

Want to play bass? This instrumental guide shows you how, with expert advice in everything from choosing your bass to playing basic scales to improvising lead solos. You’ll discover how to tune your bass and keep it in great shape, as well as left- and right-hand techniques, timing tips, and in-depth examples in various musical styles.

All this on the audio CD

• Author demonstrates the rhythms so you can hear how it’s done
• Exercises help you master grooves and reproduce the sound
• Hear sample rhythms played with a real drummer
• Put your fretting skills to the test

About the Author
Patrick Pfeiffer has been a professional bassist for more than 25 years. He played with Paul Griffin from Steely Dan and also taught Adam Clayton of U2.

Customer Reviews

FROM A MUSIC TEACHER
I've read both the "Guitar" and "Bass Guitar" Dummy books, (although they were written by different authors). Both have useful knowledge for each instrument. Does the book teach what it promises? Yes, and then some. For that I give it a great review. Is it the best way for a "dummy" or beginner to learn? No. If you are just starting out stay clear of this book. It is too menacing and you'll probably get very discouraged quickly. This is coming from a full time bass and guitar teacher of 14 years. However, if you are the type of player who can play the fretboard, but don't understand it, this book will give you clarity. Many of my students, (bassist's especially), can play a lot of songs, but they don't understand what key they are in, or how to read or write music or TAB. Some don't even know the names of the notes they are playing! Yet, they can play the instrument. If this describes you, and you would like to gain some insight to the wonderful world of bass guitar music, then you need this book!

From Mark John Sternal
Author of "BASS GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications"
"Complete Bass Guitar By Ear"
"The Twelve Notes Of Music"
and "GUITAR: Probable Chords"

Great resource
Great resource for learning the bass guitar.

I learned how to read music and learn notes, scales, technique, etc. very rapidly.

The CD is very helpful - but don't expect to use it to listen to the low-pitched bass guitar notes on the tiny little speakers on a laptop computer! I ended up having to hook up big speakers to my laptop to get decent enough sound.

I researched bass guitar instruction books at several large book stores, and this was by far the best book available. The only complaints I have are: 1) the "Dummies" title... I ended up making a book cover that included the fretboard/music notation pages from inside the book (a cheat sheet, if you will). 2) The introduction to music notation didn't include explanations of some obvious things, like what the bass clef symbol notation means(turns out to indicate which line corresponds to the note F), or what the time symbol "c" means (turns out to be common or 4/4 time, which is the time base used for most rock tunes)... I ended up going to Wikipedia to figure out the full details of music notation.

Don't expect to read this book straight thru to learn the instrument... you have to take little samples from the different chapters, and put things together yourself sometimes... but, to be honest with you, I'm not really sure the approach used in this book can be improved on that much... it really is a pretty good book if you are willing to do some of your own research when you get curious about something that isn't fully covered in the book.

The Holy Bass Bible
If any of you Bass Players are like me, You have been purchasing book after book just to end up in the same (or worse) situation. Stumped, trying to connect point A to Point B. Some books don't make points clear enough for you to understand things like, Proper warm up techniques, building major, minor scales, modes, chords, playing solos, playing in odd meter, understanding sight reading, the importance of timing and how to achieve it etc etc. If you tried to tackle any one of these subjects chances are you have a book collection large enough to rival the NY Public Library...(I know I do) Bass Guitar For Dummies is like the book all books were derived from. All of the topics I mentioned (and some I didn't) are discussed in a clear orderly fashion. The book goes from the basics to the more advanced, A definate reference guide even for the Professional. Just Starting on Bass? Well, this book is the book for you as well.....(I wish this book was out when I started!!) "Bass Guitar For Dummies" will lead you to the proper road to success. I suggest every one who is serious (or just curious) about bass playing, pick up this most incredible offering by Performer, Teacher, Composer "Patrick Pfeiffer" Hey, what do you have to lose? If you want to play with the big boys, you need to arm yourself with the proper tools........I recommend this book to all.