The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to the Intermediate Student, Book 1 (Book & MP3/PDF)

I am a private music teacher. This book is what I start all my students with.Forgive me, but I have never opened the CD's that come with any of the books I teach with because my students have a teacher. I don't believe one should learn to play a musical instrument solely from a book. I still take lessons from time to time on the instruments I teach - one should always be a student, and one should always learn from a teacher.

I played electric bass for about 18 years and wanted to try playing the upright bass. You'd think it would be basically the same, but besides the tuning of the strings, everything is completely different! The technique needed to play the upright bass is very different than the technique used to play the electric bass.To help me out, I bought a bunch of beginner books and DVDs (many from Amazon.com) to try to learn how to play. I can honestly say that this book is the one book that makes it fun to learn the upright bass while teaching you the skills you need to actually play. Because many of the songs are instantly recognizable but short, the book keeps you interested in playing without tiring you out.Mixed in with the recognizable songs are songs that the author wrote, as well as exercises and scales which help build your skills and strengthen your music reading and understanding. Each section builds upon the previous section and incorporates notes/finger positions that you just learned. This book gives you a strong foundation and can get you out of that beginner rut and into becoming an intermediate level player.

This book has graduated exercises in a methodical order. Very well presented and easy to follow.Even though I play cello which makes it easier, the absolute beginner should have no problem. I highly recommend this book for anyone just starting the upright bass and is excellent for self-study. Book 2 is a continuation and should really be presented in 1 volume.The only criticism I have is that there is no accompanying CD. Many of the exercises are of the authors own compositions and it would be nice to know what they should sound like! As a result, I skipped those and practised the more familiar ones.That is the only reason I gave it the 4 stars...otherwise it would have easily rated the max. 5 stars. Really good value though.

So many method books focus on skill sequences that are better for upper strings, and create lots of difficult concepts to teach the bassist. This one does a great job of covering the basics very methodically, and making sure that students understand a wide variety of rhythms and bowings before asking the bassist to shift a lot. I use this for younger private students, because of how well they review and drill basic concepts.

Large staff. Easy to read and encouraging to play. Great tool for beginner. Looking forward to the upcoming CD. Would be perfect with it!

The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to the Intermediate Student (Book 1)This book is very good for beginner. I learned to play a basic very easy, well and fast.

Great for beginners. Received item quickly.

This is a good book if you have a teacher or if you've had experience playing. It leaves a lot to be desired if you're an absolute beginner trying to learn without a teacher. There is no information on technique, adjustment or posture. It does have pictures showing you posture, but that's about it. If you want to learn the techniques, look elsewhere. If you want exercises to practice, this book is great.

Good morning, nothing to say about the book, that's exactly what I expected.I leave just a note of disgust to the distribution company who gave me the book in very bad shape. I really got sad