Bass Guitar Exercises For Dummies Paperback – November 9, 2010

I've been playing bass for a long time, and one of the things I always struggle with is what to do when I'm practicing. I have a few exercises that I can recall from various teachers, but playing the same things over and over again can only help me progress to a certain point.I like Patrick Pfeiffer's other books and his approach to teaching bass, so I picked up this book specifically because I wanted some exercises to practice on my own. I was pleasantly surprised to see the hand and shoulder stretches, and I love the modal content. Patrick combines the technical and musical aspects of playing bass into single exercises, which makes practicing much more enjoyable and helps you progress much more rapidly as a bassist. For each exercise, there is an easy-to-follow musical notation and tab, and for most (I think all) of the exercises past the third chapter or so, there is a track of Patrick playing the exercise in question on the accompanying CD. It's easy to figure out how to play each exercise and then use a metronome to play it at the appropriate speed.At the end of the book, Patrick lays out the ten essential elements of a good practice, which is exactly what I need. He sets out to provide the groundwork for a challenging practice session, but leaves it up to you to choose the specific exercises. I think this is a wonderful book for any bass player that is looking for practice tips that will help hone all aspects of his/her bass playing.

This is an excellent exercise book that will help you become a better all-around bassist. Patrick Pfeiffer knows how to break down elements of playing - scales, chords, groove - and he tells you how to structure your practice routine to address each element, and then combine them in a meaningful way. Go straight to Chapter 14 - it has a blueprint for your daily exercise routine right there! Before I started taking lessons with Patrick I was literally spinning wheels - not really knowing what and how to practice to get better. The lessons - and this book, which very closely follows what Patrick teaches - made this easy. Starting with proper warm-up for both hands separately, through "light-touch" techniques and economical playing (no unnecessary hand movements!), through knowledge of scales, modes and arpeggios, through proper groove and rhythm, through different styles - to actual music-making. All in one practice session! This is very rewarding, I must tell you. Now with this book I no longer have a feel that I just spent an hour-and-a-half playing F major scale up and down at different speed - exercise became so much more productive.Great job, Mr. Pfeiffer! Waiting for the next excellent book!

I really like the way Mr. Pfeiffer writes. He is very organized and thorough, however, the tab and notation font is so small that I have to use two pair of reading glasses over my contact lenses to be able to see what is printed. There is plenty of space on most pages to allow for a larger (much larger) font.

I have had the good fortune to take bass lessons with Patrick Pfeiffer and I can say that this book really captures his bass playing expertise, his ability to teach and his humor!I've had the book just a few weeks and it has totally informed my daily practice - not only what I practice, but how I practice.The exercises are very stimulating. They are methodically designed and clearly presented, allowing me to solve some bass playing problems I had and improve my playing over all.Bass Guitar Exercises for Dummies not only has exercises, it has a great section on understanding the different elements of a groove. It also has a really fun and valuable part called "Turning Exercises into Music" that shows how to apply the exercises to many different styles of music. And the audio CD is a great listen too!I highly recommend this book to bass players of all levels.

I am a professional musician and instructor of music. This book is filled with knowledge and if you put in the time, your playing will improve tremendously. The majority of my bass students own this book as do I. My practice routine changed drastically and became focused once I started incorporating these exercises. Any player from beginner to advanced will certainly gain valuable insight and direction from Patrick Pfeiffer's wonderful teachings.

I concur with those that have remarked about the kindle (and paperback) format. The content provided by Pfeiffer is really excellent and thorough... but too bad about the Track figures. The book text size is adjustable in the Kindle app but the figures are static and nearly illegible. One can double click the figures and then use the PC to zoom-in to a still blurry figure. Disappointing and not very well done for the money.

In the paper edition of this book, the musical exercises are smaller than in other Dummies music titles that I've used. This is not a fatal flaw, considering that these are practice exercises that you'll be playing many times through. If you don't mind taking time to lean close to the book to read and memorize an exercise before you start playing it the first time, it can work fine. But if you want a bass exercise book that you can just throw on a music stand and browse through, you should pick a different book.The exercises themselves are sensible and progress from moderately easy to moderately hard. Most of the exercises are variations on scales, modes, and arpeggios, and if you work through them you will certainly have the whole fretboard solidly under your fingers.I think these exercises would be most helpful for someone who has played for a year or more and is basically comfortable with the instrument, who is ready to do some serious, disciplined practice to solidify their skill and technique.

Good book

Ottimo libro

Bon, on aime le style ou non, mais en l'occurrence ça m'a bien aidé pour commencer la basseJ'avais acheté le 'for dummies" de base, ces exercices supplémentaires étaient bien adaptésMaintenant je suis sûr qu'il y a pléthore de partitions autres, mais là j'avais ma bonne base

Muito bom! Este livro, que é o complemento do livro "Contrabaixo para Leigos", apresenta os exercícios em ordem crescente. Muito bem organizado e compreensível. Eu recomendo!

Great little book, very handy even if you've been playing for quite some time, the hand exercises have worked great for me. also really easy to understand for anyone who may be a total beginner!