Sittin' In with the Big Band, Volume II: Bass Book & CD

Stepping into a professional big band as its bass player. The groove is tight, the charts swing, and you're learning by listening and reacting to players around you rather than playing in isolation. There's real joy in locking in with a recorded ensemble that plays at your level.

This book works for intermediate jazz ensemble students or private bass students exploring big band literature. It's ideal for players who can read fluently at the grade 3 level and want to develop their jazz feel with immediate feedback from a recorded ensemble. Players with some rhythmic independence will get the most from playing along.

• Listen to the recorded bass line first and sing it silently through a few passes before reading along. This plants the groove in your ear and makes your initial read-through more musical.
• Lock in with the kick drum and piano comping on the recording. Your job is to find the pocket, not to rush or drag against what you're hearing.
• Pay attention to the written articulation marks. Jazz bass benefits from the same attention to detail as classical work; each staccato and slur shapes the style.
• Count through any rests carefully. Big band charts often have figures where the bass sits out for a few bars while horns solo. Stay mentally connected to the form.

Use individual charts from this collection as performance pieces at jazz concerts or assessments, or work through the book across a semester with students in jazz ensemble or private study. The progressively refined charts also work well as supplemental material in a jazz improvisation or big band history unit, giving context to the ensemble sounds students are studying.

• Walking bass lines with accuracy and swing feel
• Jazz articulation and phrasing
• Listening and blending with a recorded ensemble
• Counting and maintaining time in big band contexts
• Reading jazz charts and navigating song form
• Rhythmic precision and pocket awareness