Mel Bay J. S. Bach for Bass Paperback – November 11, 1996

I'm an advanced player who following the words of Jaco Pastorius decided to increase my knowledge, and playing skills by learning to read anything and everything I could get my hands on. At first I found the lessons to be quiet a challenge and kinda frustrating because some of the fingering involved cross string techniques that had my fingers in knots and sounded awful (please forgive me Mr. Bach). But the more I practiced, the easier they became. I found the CD that came with it an immense help, as it not only allowed me to play along as practiced, it also allowed me to put all the songs on my Ipod so that I can listen to them at my leisure. As I right this review, I reminded of the lyrics from a song from one of my idols - Larry Graham- who said "Ah, maybe you thought we was gonna play aLittle Chopin, Beethoven or Bach" -"Pow"

A truly beautiful collection of pieces that are both challenging and very rewarding.A delight for intermediate and advanced bass players that will expand the scope and depth of their personal playing styles.This book and CD set explores the scope of the instrument with finesse and clarity, enriching the whole experience of being a bass player.

This book is great and has some challenging pieces. The CD included is great. I love CD books. It's helpful to actually HEAR it before you play it. I did, however, give this 4 stars because it lacks any fingering notation. The TAB is large and easy to read, but there are no fingering suggestions at all. I recommend buying this book, but also recommend taking the time to write out your preferred fingerings with a pencil, once you've worked them out. If you're a beginner, this may not be for you.

The two opening preludes (Well Tempered Clavier and Cello Suite) are well worth the price of the book. Bach will take your bass playing to a whole new dimension. 4 strings may find some Bach frustrating to no end. 5 strings (or more) will spend time focusing on making their basses sing cleanly and beautifully. Highly recommended. Take the journey.

Pretty Sweet book. If you are looking to breathe some fresh air into your repertoire, or perhaps step outside styles. This may be the book for you. I found it gave a different perspective on an instrument I've played for twenty+ years. Classical style music may not be your cup of tea, but given a chance, Bach's compositions transcend styles and time. Simply good music, that is both fun and challenging.Comes with both Standard notation and tab. As with all tab, you'll have had to have heard the piece beforehand to make sense of it. Highly recommended

IMO Bach does not sound good on an electric bass. Even the pieces written for cello. Yes, I've seen/heard the stuff on YouTube, some of it by eminent players. It can be fun, it is certainly a challenge, but on EB it is not musically satisfying to anyone other than the player. But performing a solo recital isn't the only reason to tackle a project like Bach's music.I have two of the popular Bach-for-bass books and frankly for the kind of benefit they provide, one is as good as the other. The CD provided with this one is nearly useless except to prove that Bach suffers badly from even a competent performance. Des Prez's mechanical run-through provides a fine example of why Back on electric bass is not musical. You can get a better sense of the music (the nuance, the emotion and beauty) by listening to it played on violin or cello.--In fact, since there are several versions of just about all of these pieces on YouTube and millions of recordings, I'd recommend checking out a couple to get a sense of the pacing and dynamic possibilities. If you can read treble clef you can download free sheet music and not need this book at all.But there are real benefits to practicing Bach on electric bass. The reason to get a book like this is to improve your sight reading and timing; to practice alternate fingering (get out of the pentatonic box); learn the high end of the neck; dig into a little theory as the marvelous and sometimes perverse logic of the compositions becomes clear. If you get to pieces written for the organ you will find some heavy duty bass lines in the left hand.You can also take any piece you have become familiar with and syncopate it, put a rhythmic twist in it. That is fun to do and I find it helps memorizing, but don't kid yourself. It's a cheap shot and not a substitute for playing it straight from beginning to end.OK I won't rant against the tab. Publishers can't sell books without it. But it sure does take up space. Most of these pieces only need two pages but go to 3 or 4, which makes playing through them more of a pain unless you have a second fiddle turning the pages.It is desirable, but not necessary to have a 24-fret neck. I'd also recommend playing any of these on a 5 string (which is another thing that makes the tab useless). Of course you can play them on a 4, that has its own challenges and it might be fun to tune your 4 to CGDA like a cello. But a 5 has all the flexibility you need for those low octave jumps and more options for playing higher on the neck.

I am really glad that the author took the time to put this book together. When I first bought the book I wanted to learn ripping chops, but what I found was that I just like listening to this music on the bass as opposed to the harpsichord. You hear really cool music, then you realize that your are playing it. Cool stuff.

These are beautiful pieces. Probably too advanced for the first time player. But moderate to advanced will enjoy playing these Bach inventions! It shows the genius of Bach that these pieces demonstrate simple chords and sound great on almost any instrument. Even ones that weren't even invented for hundreds of years.

Il libro è ben fato con incluso il CD per poter sentire come dovrebbero essere suonati i brani.Lo consiglio al bassista intermedio che ha già una solida base e vuole andare oltre i generi di solito suonati con questo fantastico strumento.

Partition facile à suivre y compris par les non lecteurs (tablatures)Bach n'est pas trahi, et c'est un plaisir de jouer ces préludes, suites et partitae, ne serait-ce que pour le pied de nez aux conventions!

I've been working on this book for the past year. Not being a fluent reader in bass clef (sax is my primary instrument), I'm grateful for the tabs that accompany the notation. I give this book my full recommendation, as it provides technical challenge on immortal material. This book will make you a better bass player, and will open your eyes and ears to Bach if you've never played his work before.

A superb book, helping to improve my sight reading and introducing me to the wonderful world of Bach's music. But, the playing on the CD is totally without feeling, Bach never wrote that way. I agree with a previous reviewer, buy the book, the cd helps with reading skills, but PLEASE, listen to the pieces played by some one who cares and when you play, play with passion.

Prodotto perfetto, venditore eccellente