Musicianship for the Contemporary Bassist: Bass Guitar Book & CD

Methodical and grounded. Walton respects the bassist's intelligence and doesn't waste time on tangents; each chapter builds toward genuine competence. The progression from fretboard fundamentals through tritone substitutions and modulations feels natural, never rushed.

Developing bassists ready to move beyond rote learning and gain real command of the instrument across multiple styles. This works equally well for self-directed learners and students in private instruction or band programs who need structured, comprehensive musicianship building.

• Work the ear-training quizzes without looking at your instrument first. Train your ear to recognize intervals and chord qualities independently, then verify your answers on the bass.
• When learning new chord progressions, record yourself playing the roots and listen back to internalize the harmonic movement before adding complexity to your lines.
• Use the worksheet exercises to establish muscle memory for scale shapes across the entire fretboard, not just in first position. This directly expands what you can execute during sight-reading passages.

Assign this as the primary supplemental text for your jazz ensemble or advanced band bassists who need to strengthen their reading and harmonic understanding. The 40 worksheets compress naturally into a semester-long curriculum, giving you concrete assessment tools alongside the ear-training component.

• Reading standard notation in bass clef with fluency
• Interval identification by ear and fretboard location
• Constructing and recognizing major, minor, dominant, and extended chords
• Harmonic analysis including tritone substitutions and secondary dominants
• Modulation recognition and transposition across keys
• Scale mapping across the full fretboard in multiple positions
• Chord progression analysis and practical application in multiple styles