The Bass Player Book

by Karl Coryat

(Book). This is the right-hand man for players who live and breathe bass, or for beginners who want an all-in-one guide to the instrument that "shakes the low end" of rock, pop, jazz and more. This handbook details the ins and outs of buying basses and equipment; provides set-up and electronics tips; and explores unique characteristics of landmark bass models. Chapters on technique cover bass basics, theory, fretless playing, acoustic bass, the essentials of various music styles, recording, gigging, and more. Seminal interviews with great bassists include Jeff Berlin, Stanley Clarke, John Pattitucci, Bill Wyman, and many others. 44 pages, 8 3/8 x 10 7/8

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1999

About the author

I was raised in Upstate New York and Connecticut. I moved west to study biology at U.C. Berkeley, and while in college, I became seriously interested in playing and recording music. My first (and pretty much last) real job was as an editor at Bass Player magazine, where I interviewed many famous musicians while honing my recording skills. In the 2000s, I wrote two music books that did very well: Guerrilla Home Recording and The Frustrated Songwriter’s Handbook, the latter with Nicholas Dobson.

Around that same time, I started getting back into science, specifically cosmology and quantum mechanics. After reading several hundred physics papers and a bunch of books, in 2012 I won a prize in a major physics-essay competition. I spent the next four years organizing and writing The Simplest-Case Scenario, a philosophy-of-science book based on that essay.

On the musical side, I have transitioned more into live performance. I currently play bass and sing lead vocals in a popular San Francisco Bay Area band called Joyride. I also have another career as a comedian under a pseudonym, but that’s enough for now.

Reviews

[Giuseppe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every bassist should own this book. It absolutely a begginer book but is a fantastic reference and teaching guide to all aspects of the bass. It is primarily* for the electric bassist. It attacks every angle of bass playing from infancy to intermediate playing as well as supplying the reader with unparralled listening guides/cds. The graphics and images used to explain theoretical ideas are helpful to anymusician and simple enough for a person who is not an instrumentalist to understand.