The Evolving Bassist -- Millennium Edition: A Comprehensive Method in Developing a Total Musical Concept for the Aspiring Jazz Bass Player

Rufus Reid's revised edition of the classic "Evolving Bassist" is a literal tour de force and a must have for all bass players regardless of what level of proficiency they play at. The companion DVD (available separately and highly recommended) is a gem in which Rufus jams with two of the finest contemporary musicians illustrating various aspects of the text. The DVD is worth the price just as a performance video.While loosely defined as a method, the "Evolving Bassist" is really more of a well thought out approach to playing the instrument. The skills taught follow several threads of theory and practice, but it's not a beginner tutorial even though very early players will benefit from the material...and continue to benefit throughout their playing career. If one is desirous of a more basic text in the jazz genre then you must get "The Michael Moore Bass Method", probably the best tutorial currently available; the classical "Simandl" material notwithstanding. The two books and the "Evolving..." DVD really are complimentary and easily stand at the forefront of a limited field. Highly recommended.

I recommend you get a handful of lessons and some background before you get into this book. There are some questions you might have that could be tough to answer without the benefit of a teacher.Having said that, this is a great book. It really starts with complete beginner basics, and builds from there. You're playing will grow with each section. You'll get out of it what you put into it with this book - which can be a ton.Whether you apsire to play jazz or not, this book can open you up as a bassist and give you many tools to use.

A lot of people would argue that some of the Jamie Aebersold books are the essential jazz books, I would argue that for a bass player they aren't. A bass player's ability to improvise is necessary and the ability to solo is still important, but 99% of the time as a bass player you're going to be improvising bass lines, so why isn't analyzing bass lines focused on as much as soloing (at least in my experience in academia). This book will walk you through the history of bass lines, exercises, and other important material that every bass player needs to have down. No matter your level of bass playing, you will get important information out of this ranging from the basics of bass line construction to leaving space and showing some serious taste.

This is where to go when you want to get serious as a bassist. Rufus Reid has an amazing way of explaining what is going on. He sets the framework in the video for success with the book...describing and addressing one of the most important aspects of bass playing which is: Mind Set. Once you catch what Rufus is telling you...you will be forever changed as a bassist and musician.

This is a great book for an upright jazz bassist with or without a teacher. It is also a fine book for an electric bass guitarist.

Great book, I'd think the editor would have fixed the mistakes in the fingering charts. Not many, but there are some. The binding on this particular book, it is wound plastic, is already breaking... Doesn't stop the book from being awesome!

Excellent teaching tool to go along with Rufus Reid's book. I found just watching it as a video without even having my hands on my bass was wonderful. Each time one watches you pick up more and more information. The trio performances are fanastic.

I love this DVD! Rufus not only breaks it down, but shows it in the trio setting how it works. If you're a beginner, this really isn't for you, but still you can learn the theory side from. For the beginner, I recommend Todd Phillips DVD 1 & 2, and workout. Get those along with this DVD, you'll be working for days.

The delivery took a while but that is outside the vendor’s control. Even then it was well worth the wait.

El contenido del libro es muy bueno, pero por el precio esperaba un mejor empastado. Se ve de baja calidad y poco resistente.

He likes it, says it's intresting to work with it

I first bought this book in 1980 as an aspiring bassist. Somewhere along the way it was snaffled by possibly a more desperate aspiring bassist! Great to get another copy.It covers fundamentals of bass that are foundational for becoming a proficient and competent player. There's good reason why this is still in print. Essential.

Der Klassiker für Kontrabassisten, aber mit wenigen Ausnahmen auch für Elektrobassisten geeignet. Zwar beziehen sich die enthaltenen Fotos nur auf den Kontrabass (Rufus Reid spielt ausschließlich Kontra), aber die Abkehr von "one finger, one fret" ist auch für Bässe mit kürzerer Mensur (EUBs, Fender-style) von großer Bedeutung, wie auch das Einüben der Raking-Technik und des Leersaiten-Dämpfens. Der Schwierigkeitsgrad steigert sich innerhalb eines Übungsblocks jeweils von Anfänger zu Könner. Dabei werden die Übungen niemals monoton oder langweilig. Es gibt keine Tabulatur, das würde dem Sinn des Lehrers auch zuwider laufen. Blattlesen ist Voraussetzung, aber auch hier steigert sich das Niveau von Leersaiten (EADG) über Skalen zu Walking bass lines. Solides Standardwerk mit einigen wenigen Setzfehlern, die leider auch in der aktuellen Ausgabe nicht lektoriert wurden.