2 comments about BASS GUITAR BK/CD/DVD: FOR BEGINNER TO ADVANCED STUDENTS (Progressive).

1. This is one of the better bass instruction books I have found and I have looked at or bought a good many of them. I use other books, but I always come back to Progressive Bass Guitar. It really helps the student learn the fretboard. It also teaches a variety of blues/rock riffs that can make someone sound good in a short time. It also touches on transposing skills, finger patterns and music theory. I pretty good buy for the price. I showed it to my bass teacher, who thought it would be good to develop your chops. Most of his students study jazz and have a tendency to play most types of music in a jazz style. Since the book is slanted more towards early rock/pop, he plans on recommending it to some of them to expand their styles of playing. The only negative comment is that the riffs on the CD are lumped together with four-five riffs per track. That makes it hard to reach a specific riff, but that is really a minor complaint. Other than that, I can't recommend Progressive Bass Guitar enough!



2. CD has the songs without the voices so you can clearly hear and play along. Get buy!!!

4 comments about Suzuki Violin School: Violin Part Volume 3.

1. Decent collection of music but litte variation in theme. Little to no assistance/tips for the student. Okay but not so great.



2. Having now progressed to volume 5, I can tell you how wonderful the Suzuki method really is.
   
   Volume 3 is where the difficulty begins to mount. The difficulty is to prepare you for Volume 4, in which new elements are introduced. Practice makes perfect, however, and playing songs instead of pratices helps build tonalization and intonation. The only it does not build, however, is good sight reading. This is not really developed until the 4th volume.
   
   Suzuki method is not designed, however, for self-taught students. In response to another reviewer, the method is designed to help an instructor instruct the student by presenting a collection os pieces that help build the aforementioned items.



3. I grew up learning the Suzuki method and believe in it 100%. But, until you are an accomplished violinist (not accomplished at Volume 3), the most benefits will be realized by direction, not by self-teaching. Suzuki method is also a philosophy - look for the book by Suzuki himself explaining this. My violin teacher made all her students' parents read this when we started lessons.
   
   This collection of songs not only is a good collection to learn various techniques on the violin, but I still have fun years later playing them over and over.



4. Suzuki method fails to disappoint me again. The songs advance a little with each book, but just enough to keep it challenging.

2 comments about How Muscles Learn: Teaching Violin With The Body In Mind.

1. The author approaches the subject with unique knowledge of how muscles learn. She applies this to the WHY and HOW of playing a violin in ways that make great sense. I've read the book twice and heard her speak twice. I'd like to know more! It is a great resource to me in teaching beginning string players in public school.



2. Teh book is a little lightweight. I finished it in less than 2 hrs. Basically, it is scientifiaclly explained, all the stuff your child's violin teacher told you about. Now that you know the reasons, you would probably be a little more vigilent when guiding your child. I recommend this book to all parents of young children learning the violin.

5 comments about The Jazz Bass Book: Book/CD Pack (Bass Player Musician's Library).

1. I found this book to be a great resource from a historical and musical standpoint. It's a good reference material for bassists of the past and has some great practice routines, music written out in the style of many different players and lists some essential albums. This book is not intended for beginning bassists(because it doesn't just stick to 1st position) but could be beneficial to both beginning and advanced players alike . This is NOT a method book but could be considered a great resource for any bassist.



2. OK, if your're like me (HighSierraBassPlayer), you're desparately seeking books, DVD's and cd's with tons of blues and jazz progressions. The material out there is really pretty thin (or maybe I'm just never satisfied like my chronic case of G.A.S. (gear acquisition syndrome). John Goldby's Jazz Bass Handbook is the best source for jazz theory and an excellent resource for the history of jazz as well. After all, most of the songs we practice and perform on today have their beginnings in jazz and blues from the founding fathers. I have gained so much respect and awe for these pioneers of jazz and the blues, and this book is by far the best jazz compendium on the musical market today. I hope someone produces a blues compendium as concise and full of examples as this book does. The CD is also excellent, although I wish it carried all the examples in the book. But that make me work even harder to, as one of the forefathers of jazz offers in the book, "to imitate, assimilate, and innovate." That pretty much describes how bass players like me strive to be better, and this text works perfect. A higest must have from HighSierraBassPlayer!



3. I'll make this short and sweet... if you want a well-lead, chronological walk through the history of jazz bassists, complete with tons of musical examples, phenomenal sound clips, and enough recording references to keep you busy listening and copying grooves until rapture, this is the book for you. Buy it!



4. This is a GREAT book. John Goldsby should be thanked and complimented for his research and his understanding of the role of the bass polayer in jazz. I now have all my students buy this book and anyone interested in the history of jazz should have this nook in their library. At the end of the book, Mr. Goldsby has a sectioon titled "Concepts". Every musician, young and old, should read this part of the book. This section reminded me of why I became a bass player/musician in the first place.



5. Having been a electric bass player for 25+ years I recently purchased an NS double bass. I bought this book to learn some jazz licks but also get a look into why various jazz double bass players use certain progressions and transitions. This book provided all of that and more. Not in tab, so it keeps my up on my sight reading. If your looking to just learn some songs, this may not be for you. But if your wanting to get into the theory of jazz bass playing this is well worth the money. The CD doesn't cover all of the licks, but provides enough to get an idea of the rhythm and progressions.

5 comments about Rhythm Guitar: The Complete Guide.

1. This is a great book. I've been looking for a book on strumming patterns for a very long time. This book taught me how to interpret 32nd, 16th, 8th and quarter notes into strumming patters. Step by step it increased my bar chord skills. I am only up the chapter 5, but, after 2 years of playing, I have a re-newed excitment about practicing.



2. For intermediate players: a good method to know guitar keyboard, voicings, all types of chords and their construction. There are a lot of common progressions and basic theory rules that let you "colour" your songs



3. Se vc tem noções de leitura esse livro vale a pena. Assim como o outro leitor que comentou, lá pelo capítulo 8 minhas fraquezas começaram a aparecer e tenho me divertindo insistindo nelas e verificando de maneira sistemática aonde estão minhas forças e deficiências.
   Nesse mundo de métodos para guitarra vc encontra muita coisa para te transformar num "soleiro" chato de galochas. Ótimo ter um método organizado de guitarra base, que é o que nós guitarristas fazemos e 95% do tempo em que tocamos, portanto, é a coisa mais importante a aprender.
   Não é perfeito porque faltou um CD, que tornaria o livro mais acessível a quem não sabe ler música. Se é o seu caso, só compre se vc tem um professor particular que pode ler por vc. Caso contrário vai simplesmente desperdiçar o seu dinheiro.



4. Of course, this book is not perfect, there's some flaws, for example:
   - there's a gap between the first seven chapters and the rest of the book, the first seven chapters are pretty accesible for a beguiner but, starting in chapter eigth the level required is raised a lot so a beguiner may have a lot of trouble finding his way trougth the examples.
   
   - Some aspects doesn't have enought explanation, some chapters may have 3 pages or so and you feel like there's something missing to fully "get" the idea.
   
   Eventhought, this is the best book I've seen so far about rhythm guitar, it is by far the most complete in terms of aspects of rhythm playing and has a fairly good amount of chords to show the student. This is not a book for guys just looking around, it is designed for serious study for a reletive long period (It might take nine months to a year of a consistent practice to absorve the content of the book). Botton line, if you want to learn rhythm guitar a little bit further than the average ballad to impress a girl, this is your book.
   
   One piece of advice: No book can stand on his own, to fully integrate the content of the book I suggest the Tom Kolb "Chord Progressions" as a companion, and maybe some others as your hability improves.



5. This book is an excellent learning aid. I read one of the reviews that said you should have the aid of an instructor, this is true. But, you should have an instructor and one that knows how to read music. I added this book to my daily routine and after only a couple of day s I am seeing an inmprovement.

No comments about Essentials Elements 2000 For Strings Book 2: Cello.

5 comments about The First Stage Guitar Book: Le How To Play Guitar Easily & Quickly!.

1. This was the first book I used to get started from scratch. The reason I like it is that it has NO songs, so it took the pressure off having to learn a song, yet the 4 chord sequences sound quite good (according to my wife). It includes barre chords, but also alterative figuring to barre chords, so you can learn them slowly/progresively without pressure. The other book a bought (for songs) is "The Complete Guitarist" by Russ Shipton



2. I bought this book about three months ago and although it is a good place to get started, it does have a few mistakes. I'm now taking lessons and have learned that a few of the chord patterns in the book are inaccurate and/or wrong. For example, the book shows the correct finger pattern for an "A" major chord but does not omit the 6th string (open "E" note) from the chord diagram, thus leading you to believe the note should be played as part of the chord. My intructor corrected me the first time I played the chord. The mistake appears to be a simple publishing error but of course you can't know this if you are a beginner like myself. All things considered, the book was helpful in getting started and I was able to learn a few helpful chords before my lessons began. If you purchase this book, and are not familiar with how each chord is formulated, I would recommend veryfing the finger patterns against another source before you become too comfortable playing the chords.



3. This is primarily a book on chord progressions. Starting with the most popular chords used in music, and then moving to other chords in open in barre position. Interspersed here and there are some tips on playing guitar. Not much more than that, and not very well organized.
   
   I would consider this most beneficial as a companion to lessons or to a complete method found elsewhere. There just isn't much to it. It's 80 pages, but each page generally contains two 4-chord progressions. I also found that several of the chords listed are inaccurate -- or at least inconsistent with several other sources I checked them against.
   
   I've used about 6 different books and software on learning the guitar, and I found this to be the least helpful. But there are some great reference diagrams that I still refer to, and as it is entirely focused on popular progressions, it finds a home being used in conjunction with another book.



4. This book is better suited for people who already know guitar basics. You shouldn't play chords if you're not comfortable playing notes



5. Better than I anticipated. I had expected the original version. What I received is a newer version which has been revised and updated: contains more pages with more examples, chord structures, and narrative.
   
   Very, very nice.

2 comments about Creative Guitar 1: Cutting Edge Tech.

1. Guthrie Govan proves not only to be an amazing guitarist, but also an excellent teacher. This book will have you feeling inspired to say the least. After reading many of the sections in this book I felt as excited to touch the guitar as I did the first time years ago. Guthrie's love for music and especially the guitar is inspirational. This is by far the best guitar book I have ever read. Not only does it provide excellent technical strategies, but it also gives great insight on how and why certain sounds are produced. The book maintains a light-hearted approach and will not leave you disappointed pick it up if you want to play better.



2. I purchased this for my 22 year old son. He is an avid guitarist and is enjoying the book while home on winter break for college. He has been playing for 7 years and asked for this for Christmas.

3 comments about Violin Mastery: Interviews with Heifetz, Auer, Kreisler and Others (Dover Books on Music).

1. I'm only in the middle of reading this incredible book, and I have to say that it is amazing! It's very easy for anyone to read/understand and has so many helpful tips from the best violin players. I absolutely recommend this book to add to your library! - even if you don't play violin!



2. I had read this book in grad school on loan from my university's library and thought it was full of interesting, inspiring and helpful information. I always wanted to buy it, but couldn't find it for under $100(!) I'm really glad Dover has reprinted it.
   
   It's interviews with the best violinists in 1916-18ish. Some things I found amusing were the focus on gut strings and especially, David Mannes saying that anyone who needs a chin rest or shoulder rest should play the cello! -whch rests on the ground... If only he could see the students at his school now. I'm sure there's not one that doesn't have a chinrest and very few that don't use both.
   
   Martens also wrote a sequel called String Mastery that had interviews with cellists, violists etc. I hope Dover picks up that one too. I highly recommend this book to any violinist, especially to those of us that have chosen playing the violin as a way of life.



3. As a student of two years, I purchased this book in hopes that it might contain helpful insights into becoming a better player. Instead I found a completely impractical collection of airy, pedagogical theory. In addition, I found myself less motivated to play; feeling inferior for not having the luxury of practicing 4+ hours each day. I'm not suggesting that the instructors themselves are poor, but that the questions asked of them were of little value to me.

4 comments about On Playing the Flute.

1. Articulation, aesthetics, phrasing, ornamentation, character, tempo, practicing, accompaniment, style, notation, how to give a concert, how to breathe when you're nervous, how to play in an orchestra, ... it's all here. This book from 1752 covers the art of being a musician, not just a flute player.

   Quantz' text is for anyone who cares about any music from about 1720 into the time of Mozart and Haydn. And it's essential performance practice material for anyone who would play this music: required reading for any serious student. It gives an indispensable window into German, French, and Italian taste.

   Modern flautists, string players, keyboard players, and singers can learn a tremendous amount here. The pages about "good" and "bad" notes and varied articulation/tongueing are worth the whole price of the book. They describe the sound that composers were thinking of, the expressive range, the tremendous variety of effects *within* melodic lines. Take Quantz seriously: he was there, and he was a good player and writer.

   What more needs to be said, except to thank the publisher for this edition? The previous issue by Schirmer has been out of print for far too long. This book should NEVER be out of print.




2. I have not read this book from cover to cover. Although, with it's wonderful index, it has provided me with an excellant resource manual for Baroque music.



3. Great book of interpretation of baroque music. Quantz show us about the thinking of playing the recorder and how to execute the notes in Allegro and Adagios. Very nice.



4. This book is a must for any musicial interested in playing Baroque music. The sections on ornamentation is THE definitive work on the subject.