Title: Bass Grooves
Description: Bass Grooves illuminates many aspects of the Time/Groove continuum. There are activities to help you internalize rhythm; to understand drum parts by programming drum machines; learn how to use the natural tendencies of the instrument to affect the groove; learn 25 different styles of groove (written and on CD - with drum parts); and tips from some of the groovin'est players in the world, and an essay on the metaphysics of the groove.

Title: Bass Improvisation
Description: The soloing method that teaches you a variety of improvisational strategies. Rhythmic and melodic phrasing, vertical development, chord/scale concept, internal melodies, the language of bebop and more. There are of course tracks to play with, and all written examples are performed on the CD as well. The reading and technical level are challenging.

Title: Bass Licks
Description: Brand New! This book starts with quarter-note melodic motifs from categories like "Box Shape", "Major", "Minor", and "Chromatic", and then morphs them into grooves in Straight 8th, Shuffle 8th, Sixteenth, and Swing Sixteenth rhythms. A great way to learn how to interpret ideas in different styles.

Title: Blues Bass
Description: This book is a style supplement to the Hal Leonard Electric Bass Method. I've put my many years of experience playing the blues scene into a practical guide for the up and coming blues bassist. I discuss blues forms, lines and feels, intros, endings, stops and hits, and include full arrangements of many must-know blues classics like Hideaway, Sweet Home Chicago, Pride and Joy, Tore Down and many more. After you've learned everything in this book, you'll be ready to hit the local blues jam and do it right. A whole world of $50 gigs in smoke filled bars will be yours for the taking.

Title: Blues Jam Session
Description: This book is not designed for bass players... sorry. It's simply 40 play along blues tracks for guitarists, horn, harmonicas, etc. Every type of rhythmic and stylistic variation you can imagine, in many different keys.

Title: Building Rock Bass Lines
Description: This book is the rock and roll version of my first book "Building Walking Bass Lines". I use the same basic concept of target and approach notes to show you how to create your own bass lines in a rock context. Using the most common rhythms in rock music, you start learning what notes work with different chords, and how to find them all over the neck. The first rock bass method that truly prepares you to go out and join a band. After learning the contents of this book, you'll be able to show up at band practice or to the gig and play your own ideas, not just follow the guitarist's left hand.

Title: Building Walking Bass Lines
Description: Designed for the beginning jazz player, this is my first book. Originally written as my Masters Thesis at Cambridge College in 1991, I examined the gaps in the existing literature, and set out to write a book that would help people learn the process bassists use when creating their own bass lines—not just show them some lines and leave it at that. It was the first walking bass method book to come with play along tracks, something you take for granted now. Based on the feedback I receive from students all over the world (it's available in Japanese, French and Spanish too) this method seems to work for people. You start by identifying the target notes of a chord, (root, five and octave) and then work with different approach notes (chromatic, scale and dominant) to lead you into the targets. It explains many other ideas like scalewise motion, chromatic motion, arpeggiation, targeting other chord tones, and much more. There are many great feeling jazz tracks to play with, including 10 full length standard progressions.

Title: Expanding Walking Bass Lines
Description: The follow-up to BWBL. It starts out with rhythmic embellishment - skips, triplets, dead notes and moves into targeting scale and chromatic notes. You learn about modal playing with a concept I call "Modal Mapping", playing more outside lines with implied harmony, and other more advanced topics. It's a good choice for the player that already has a solid grasp on the fundamentals. There is also a section that gives you a chance to practice the essential skill of picking up tunes by ear. The three "mystery" tunes are on the CD without any changes written. You have to learn them strictly by ear! You're not left totally alone, there are many helpful suggestions to prepare you for this seemingly impossible task. In the real world, bassists MUST be able to play tunes they don't know - without music. Sounds scary, and maybe it is at first, but keep in mind that jazz musicians do this every day. Why not you?

Title: Hal Leonard Bass Method Complete
Description: This combines all 3 books and CDs of the Hal Leonard Bass Method into one massive tome. You wind up saving some bucks by purchasing them this way.

Title: Hal Leonard Bass Method DVD
Description: This DVD is a companion to the Hal Leonard Bass Method. It sticks pretty closely to Book 1, but also has material from Book 2 and the Easy Pop Bass Lines series. It's a helpful tool for the absolute beginner bassist. It also comes packaged with the HL Bass Method Book 1, a great pairing and discounted too.

Title: Hal Leonard Electric Bass Method: Book 1
Description: The completely rewritten method for electric bass! This is the ultimate beginner book. It makes the most basic aspects of bass playing incredibly easy. It starts you out learning the notes string by string, you learn simple rhythms and apply everything with fun tracks to play with. All along the way, you learn useful and important musical information. Coming soon is the companion DVD. The total package is a complete, comprehensive, well organized method that will take you from the very first steps to advanced level.

Title: Hal Leonard Electric Bass Method: Book 2
Description: Book 2 of the method teaches you classic box shape licks, blues lines and how to move them around the fingerboard, major and minor scales and arpeggios, syncopated 8th note rhythms, the shuffle rhythm, and is full of great tracks to play with.

Title: Hal Leonard Electric Bass Method: Book 3
Description: Book 3 gets into 16th note rhythms, 7th chords, pentatonic scales, learning how to play off chord symbols, how to use triads to create bass lines, locking in to the groove and slap bass. Of course, there are lots of great tracks to play with.

Title: Jazz Bass
Description: This is a more global approach to jazz playing. In addition to walking bass lines, you also learn about playing 3/4, latin, ballads, two feel, performance protocol, intros, endings, and much more. There are plenty of tracks, as well as 7 full jazz arrangements with intros, endings, solos (even for the bass player). I use this book in many of my jazz workshops.

Title: Jazz jam Session
Description: This book is not primarily designed for bass players, it is a jazz play along book/cd for soloists. If you want to solo to a burning jazz rhythm section, this is a great item. In addition to the changes for each tune, I've also included improvisational guidelines in the form of a written "solo" for each track. JJ Johnson (John Mayer) is the grooving drummer, and Red Young (Eric Burdon) plays piano, these guys will certainly kick your butt and make you play!

Title: Jazz Upright Bass DVD
Description: This is the perfect tool for the upright bassist that is new to jazz playing. Topics discussed are: right and left hand techniques, fingerboard tricks, rhythmic embellishment, jazz bow technique, performance protocol, intros, endings, trading 4's, feel changes, and much more. Live trio performances.

Title: Pentatonic Scales For Bass
Description: Brand new! This book fully explores the major and minor pentatonic scales with multiple fingerings, technical exercises, pentatonic modes. Learn how to effectively use these scales to create bass lines, and how to super-impose different scales over chords for soloing.

Title: R&B Bass Masters
Description: This book profiles 10 of the great early R&B bass masters; James Jamerson, Jerry Jemmott, Chuck Rainey, Duck Dunn, Tommy Cogbill, David Hood, Ronnie Baker, Willie Weeks, George Porter Jr. and Bootsy Collins. There are detailed bios, selected discographies, recommended cuts, gear details, stylistic breakdowns, and transcriptions of classic lines - recorded on CD, and written in notation and tab, with drum parts too! This book is a must have for bassists of all styles, it's a detailed history of the early pioneers of electric bass. Go back to the source!

Title: Reggae Bass
Description: This is a terrific book for those interested in Jamaican music. Reggae is a whole universe unto itself, an entire musical culture. This book breaks down the music in chronological order from the early Ska of the 1960s to Rock Steady, Reggae, Roots, Modern Ska and Dancehall. Many of the most popular classic "riddims" are here, written in tab and standard notation. The tracks are awesome! They feature members past and present of Neon Prophet, one of the top Reggae bands in the Southwest. (They let me play on the session, and no... I am NOT the guy on the cover!)

Title: Slap Bass DVD
Description: The first slap bass instructional to be produced in native DVD format. Taking full advantage of the navigational convenience of DVD, this 105 minute video is packed with essential exercises to develop your chops. Perfect for new slappers, this DVD starts right at the very beginning. The exercises are expanded into fun grooves that further work the concepts you've learned. It progesses into intermediate and advanced techniques, so this DVD will keep you learning for a long time. There are several aspects of this program that make it even more valuable than the rest. Learning how to program your drum machine (and play grooves that fit), how to create your OWN funk lines with simple forms, equipment guidance, stylistic nuances of master slappers Larry Graham, Louis Johnson and Marcus Miller and much more.

Title: The Working Bassist's Toolkit
Description: This book is a compilation of many of my "in the trenches" instructional articles from the golden days of Bass Player magazine (1993-2001). Designed to help the career-minded bassist develop the most critical real world skills needed to succeed. Ear training, time keeping, faking tunes, playing different styles, thumb/mute technique, jazz survival tips, playing wedding gigs, reading chord charts, doubling and more. The included CD has tracks to play along to as well as an ear training workout, a "style-o-rama" vamp and the infamous "random modulation torture test".