Bass Frontiers Staff Contributor Ty Campbell

Review by Ty Campbell
Bass Frontiers Contributor

Bass Aerobics by Jon Leibman, as it states on the cover, is a 52 week, one-exercise-per-week workout program for developing, improving, and maintaining bass guitar technique. Yes, there are 52 exercises, and each exercise covers 2 full pages.

Bass Aerobics has 5 chapters, which cover a wide swath of information. Chapters 1 and 2 cover chromatics, scales, and arpeggios. Chapter 3 gets into string crossing exercises, and chapter 4 covers slapping and popping. Chapter 5 is the advanced bass chapter, and covers everything that you learned in chapters 1 – 4. All 5 chapters build each and every exercise around a groove for a particular style. Bass Aerobics gives you a lot to advance any level of playing to the next level. Even after you complete Bass Aerobics, you can still use the exercises going through them as often as you wish.

Bass Aerobics covers a lot of styles including rock, reggae, jazz, blues, funk, disco, and more. Techniques used are plentiful including string crossing, playing off beat, rhythmic variations, articulations, hammer-ons, etc. To add to all this, the grooves cover all key signatures.

There is a CD included which provides demos and play along grooves, guitar and drums on the left channel, bass on the right. The CD track listing is listed in the front of the book with the coordinating exercise, which is really helpful.

If Bass Aerobics were a video game, the replay value would be extremely high and can be done over and over again. This book will definitely increase your groove library, and improve speed and dexterity. Bass Aerobics should be a necessity for every bass player out there and is endorsed by many great notable bass players. This book is amazing to say the least, as are all of Jon Leibman’s books. Bass Aerobics is available at http://www.forbassplayersonly.com/ and Amazon for $17.99

Roy Vogt’s Teach Me Bass Guitar, also known as TMBG, is a quite unique product, if not an all out venture into the fabulous world of learning bass. The packaging for this product is exceptional, with ease of access to each DVD. There are a total of 10 DVD’s (covering 20 lessons), and a pdf book is included on one of the DVD’s so that you can either view it on your computer, or print each lesson out individually. When ordering, there is also an option to order the book in print, for those that would like to do so. There is an included code so that you can register on Thunder Row, but more about that a little later.

Getting into the lessons, TMBG is suited for any range of expertise from absolute beginner to even some of the more advanced bassists out there. Starting with lesson 1, TMBG covers the names of the strings, hardware, tuning, picking styles, right-hand and left hand technique, fingerings, thumb position and pivot, using a metronome, warm-up exercise, learning the notes of the musical alphabet, sharps/flats, positions on the neck, and names of notes and where they are on the neck, and all the way through lesson 20, which covers 4,5,6, and 7 strings basses, eq, effects, and caring for your bass.

Each lesson also has an on-screen fingerboard displaying what Roy is playing during the lesson and the position of the neck he is playing on. After almost each lesson, there is a jam session with the band on what was covered in the lesson. Most of these are done with Roy playing the tune slowly at first, then it’s your turn playing with the band sans Roy. The tune is then done in the same method again, but at a faster speed. Everything concerning bass in between lesson 1 and 20 is covered in TMBG, this includes, learning notes in different positions, note types (quarter, eighth, etc) scales, triads, blues, swing, shuffles, jazz concepts, soloing, funk, slap, chords, tapping, warm-up exercise, cool-down exercises and much more. Lesson 16 through lesson 19 is where the working pro toolkit comes into play. The working pro toolkit covers sight-reading, standard progressions, Nashville number system, and world music, among quite a few other things that are definitely necessary for the working pro bassist.

Another nice feature of TMBG is the loop library. Each lesson is done in sections, and if you are having problems with a certain section of the lesson and want to go over just that particular part, well, it will be in the loop library. Each section of the loop library has it’s own unique title which refers back to the section of the lesson. As it may take a while for someone just starting out to get through an entire lesson, the loop library comes in real handy. More advanced players may want to use the loop library to just jam along with band.

Ok, now, let’s talk about Thunder Row. Thunder Row is the online companion to TMBG. Thunder Row is your one-stop-shop for all things about learning bass with TMBG. Stuck? Post a question or better yet, a video. Answers will come to you quite efficiently. You can even submit questions to Roy himself. That’s not all, there are giveaways, articles, a place where you can post your gigs, classifies, hints, tips, tricks, and even a section for each lesson.

TMBG is an exceptional product. This is totally a self paced product and for a total beginner, it could take upwards of 2 years to learn everything in TMBG. Keep in mind that in order to achieve the things you want, you will have to practice. TMBG gives you all the tools you need to become as good as a bass player as you would want to be!

Teach Me Bass Guitar can be purchased at http://www.teachmebassguitar.com or Amazon.

Ty Campbell started playing bass at age 13 in the high school jazz band and local bands in and around Columbus, Ohio. He attended Capital University majoring in Jazz Performance for 2 years. He attended the Recording Workshop in 1994 and was in the top ten for his class. Ty and his lovely wife Susan have lived in Nashville since 1997. Ty has done extensive touring with various groups throughout the US. When he is not rocking out with ‘Shareen and the Kings’ or running sound at the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree, you can catch him sitting in at the Nashville Palace with the Larry Hamilton Group or subbing with other groups in and around Nashville.

(Editor’s Note: Be sure and check out our article by Managing Editor, Matt O’Donnell, entitled The Real Book: A History & Commentary)

There are generally two kinds of bass books available, one praising a certain player’s style and technique. The other gives the bassist information needed to gain a deeper understanding of the craft of bass playing and better musicianship. Of course, there are books that cover both subjects with varying degrees of success.

Then there is “The Real Book;” well known for many years and useful for the bassist on paying gigs. While some dedicated to the art of jazz look with disdain on this book, it is a wonderful companion for the working musician. This book allows musicians unfamiliar with many of the standards to play them on a gig.

In the 1970′s, I discovered while freelancing, that the better paying gigs and healthier working conditions were not always in the smoky bars, even though I had a blast, but they were doing conventions, dinner clubs, and private parties. This book really helped me fill my date book, and I noticed that many other players had this book on their music stands also. I had been listening to jazz and had already been working as a pro in R&B, rock, country, and fusion bands, but this was my first taste of playing the standards; tunes first heard in the hit movies and musicals of earlier decades.

“The Real Book” was an indispensible work tool. It allowed me to sub and play with various groups that played standards and light jazz. In those days I was learning what notes were in a chord and was thrilled to be using a new skill on the job. I was impressed that you could take the tunes and play them straight up and safe, or with variation, intensity and improvisation. The book provided a very cool and flexible vehicle for all skill levels, and I met some wonderful musicians who were phenomenal and very generous in moving me along in my development as well.

With a Bass Clef version, you get the melody to play the ”head.” Although you may not be called to play melody on the gig, you would have that option if you needed to. You get a deeper understanding of the tunes and it can be fun to play melodies on bass. The player can use this book as an educational tool in tandem with a good book on chords. I do express caution that understanding the function of the chord is much more ” real world” than just learning the notes in the chord. This book will not teach chordal playing, but it provides a wealth of wonderful material to play. Having a guitarist and/or pianist in a casual jam will be invaluable to get you into some timeless music and stretch your ears and fingers.

For bonus points, you can find recorded versions of the standards to listen to which will introduce you to some wonderful upright players of the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s. You will hear playing that is the foundation of much of today’s music, as well as, developing that ” deep well’ of understanding of what came before us. Studying great music enhances the skills and the artistry of the musician regardless of the style being played.

The book is produced in a large spiral format that allows the pages to lie flat on the music stand and all tunes are in alphabetical order for quick and easy location on the gig. It is very legible and even the two-page tunes open to face one another. In this edition, Hal Leonard has produced a work that is re-arranged and re-transcribed and most importantly, fully licensed in this age of intellectual property abuse.

“The Real Book” will be around for some time to come because it is an important resource for the free lance bassist. As a full time Nashville session bassist and private tutor for pro and semi-pro students in Music City, using this book years ago provided foundational skills as a musician that I pass on to my students today.

Jazz Improv Studies Volume 1 is the first in a 4 part series. This is, by far, not your typical play along series. This series is very well thought out and will keep you busy for quite some time, while helping to expand your musical approach to it’s fullest. The series works great with both upright and electric bass.

I should also note that the series is available for other instruments as well. Volume 1 starts out with a brief introduction, suggestions for playing the etudes, articulation, and some very articulate exercises for thumb position on upright bass.

There are 10 etudes in Volume 1. These include “I Got Rhythm”, “Perdido”, “Take the “A” Train”, and “Honeysuckle Rose” among others. Each etude starts out with a brief introduction explaining the tune and common similarities with other tunes. Each tune follows the format of going through scales, arpeggios, and improvisation. None of the three are done in a typical fashion and even passing tones are thrown in with the scale and arpeggio styles.

I have included some samples from Volume 1 below for “I Got Rhythm”. Example 1 is the brief introduction. Example 2 is a scale sample, Example 3 is the arpeggio sample, and Example 4 is the improvisation sample.

The book and CD together are $17.50 and can be ordered from Chas Collins Publications or by calling (845) 680 – 6880.

This is a great EP, from the start and clear through the last tune. The first time I put in the CD, I was struck with the thought that these guys and gal have been drinking the Beatle juice (no..not the movie!) and I definitely mean that in a good way. Good simple driving R&R with catchy guitar riffs, lyrics that run through your head and make you want to sing along while driving down the road, bobbing your head. I think just about anyone can relate to what the lyrics are portraying.

The lap steel solo in “Are You Hungry” is simple but catching, keeping it’s true form to the song. This holds true for the rest of the EP, from the driving bass and drums, to the slightly distorted vocals on a couple of the tunes, which fits appropriately. It’s nice to hear some good basic R&R and TELSTAR does it well.

Personally, The EP left me wanting more…..more songs that is, and I cannot wait to hear more good music from them and check them out live. You can check some of their vids out on youtube and the Hot Knives EP is available on Amazon and iTunes.

Ty Campbell started playing bass at age 13 in the high school jazz band and local bands in and around Columbus, Ohio. He attended Capital University majoring in Jazz Performance for 2 years. He attended the Recording Workshop in 1994 and was in the top ten for his class. Ty and his lovely wife Susan have lived in Nashville since 1997. Ty has done extensive touring with various groups throughout the US. When he is not rocking out with ‘Shareen and the Kings’ or running sound at the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree, you can catch him sitting in at the Nashville Palace with the Larry Hamilton Group or subbing with other groups in and around Nashville.

Through his growing connections to the bass scene in Brazil, master bass instructor Jim Stinnett has found one of those talents in Thiago Espirito Santo. Thiago was born and nurtured into being a musician. His father is Arismar do Espirito Santo and his mother is Silvia Goes. Thiago has already landed credits with some of the best names Brazilian music has to offer, including Hermeto Pascoal, Toninho Horta, Helio Delmiro, Filp Machado, and Chico Pinheiro. Although he has a previous solo release to his name, his new record, The Jazz Tradition, is truly his coming out party.

Thiago is seriously one of the best jazz musicians that you will ever hear, but thank God he plays the bass! Most people will immediately make comparisons with Jaco, due to his fretless Jazz Bass playing, but there is so much more to Thiago than that. His intonation on the fretless bass is incredible, his melodic content is sophisticated and mature in its phrasing, and he has the chops to make it all happen. The Jazz Tradition is a collection of standard jazz tunes as well as originals, all of which feature explosive playing by Thiago, as well as the talents of fellow bassists Todd Johnson, Grant Stinnett, Jim Stinnett (playing double bass here), saxophone colossus Dino Govoni, and the rhythm/feel master Dom Moio on drums.

“No Big Deal”

One thing that I find really amazing about The Jazz Standard is that Thiago’s original songs hold steady ground against the standards included like On Green Dolphin Street, Body & Soul, and Days Of Wine & Roses. The opening cut, No Big Deal, is a melody built on the standard “rhythm changes” chord structure, but the melody instantly made me think, “Hmm…I wonder how Miles, Sonny, Trane, or Wayne never came across this muse!” The waltz, Fize (a tribute to Thiago’s mother), is an incredible tune as well. There’s a bounty of emotion in it, and there’s no one who can relate it better than Thiago on an instrument as expressive as the fretless bass.

Dom Moio and Thiago lock up perfectly throughout The Jazz Tradition. Dom is one of the premier drummers out in the field, especially in terms of knowing how to play things appropriate to what’s going on around him in the melody, chords, and solos. Simply put, he listens better than anyone I’ve ever heard.

Thiago does include two covers of Jaco Pastorius’ music on The Jazz Tradition. I noted earlier that he definitely has more in his pack than Jaco did, but it’s clear that Thiago truly learned a lot of things in the study of Jaco. What is incredible about both of these covers (Three Views of A Secret and Liberty City, by the way) is that Thiago plays all of the parts himself, including parts that Jaco never played on the bass, as far as anyone knows.

The rest of the supporting cast really does justice to everything about Thiago’s musicianship, as well. Trained thoroughly in jazz and classical styles, Jim Stinnett has, for a long time, been an incredible force on the string bass. Great tone, great note choices, and fantastic time feel. Todd Johnson is a chord texture master, able to color any song how he wants to convey the right emotion. We’ve been over Grant Stinnett’s continuing rise as a musical mad scientist. And Dino Govoni, if we invented a time machine, could probably have taken Lester Young or Coleman Hawkins in a cutting contest any night of the week. Early and late sets.

Really, you need to hear the music on The Jazz Tradition for yourself. There’s so much that any bassist can enjoy on this record, let alone how much any bassist can learn from this record. Thiago will be a household jazz music name very soon. Get on the train early!

The Jazz Tradition is available for download from Stinnett Music now. You can visit Stinnett Music by clicking here.

The Jaco Pastorius Bass Method was written by Ray Peterson, a student of Jaco’s. This book covers what Ray learned over the course of his lessons with Jaco. The book has the focus on intermediate players with plenty of material for advanced players as well. Written in both tablature and notation, this book is bound to keep you busy for quite some time.

Chapter 1 and 2 cover basic technique and theory. Chapter 3 covers harmonic elements to include triads, diatonic triads, and then progressing through the triads in root position, first and second inversion in, of course a chordal triad progression, i.e., C-Dm-Em, etc. The interesting part of this chapter is combining the triad progressions with tritone relationships. Chapter 3 also covers the family of Major, Minor, and Dominant Seventh Chords. Chapter 4 covers scales, modes, diatonic intervals, melodic sequences, and turnarounds. Chapter 5 gets into rhythmic elements using quite a few of Jaco’s tunes as examples. Chapter 6 covers soloing elements, again using some of Jaco’s tunes, with an analysis presented before each tune. Chapter 7, well, that is just food for thought, and chapter 8 is appropriately titled the Sketchbook, which has 2 pages of excerpts from Jaco’s practice book.

A CD is included with the book for quite a few of the exercises. Tunes in the book include Teen Town, A Portrait of Tracy, Donna lee, and many other popular Jaco tunes.

The book and CD together retail for $19.99, which is a great deal, considering the amount of knowledge in this book written by one of Jaco’s students. 


The Jaco Pastorius Bass Method is published by Hal Leonard and is available from your local music store or online at Music Dispatch.

Ty Campbell started playing bass at age 13 in the high school jazz band and local bands in and around Columbus, Ohio. He attended Capital University majoring in Jazz Performance for 2 years. He attended the Recording Workshop in 1994 and was in the top ten for his class. Ty and his lovely wife Susan have lived in Nashville since 1997. Ty has done extensive touring with various groups throughout the US. When he is not rocking out with ‘Shareen and the Kings’ or running sound at the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree, you can catch him sitting in at the Nashville Palace with the Larry Hamilton Group or subbing with other groups in and around Nashville.

Let me be the first to tell you that his debut album, To Those Who Believe, has nothing to do with riding any of those coattails.

To Those Who Believe is a GREAT piece of modern jazz music. Anyone who has read my reviews of modern jazz records at this site before (see: Christian McBride, Greg Garrison, Brent Rusinow) will know how much I long for old-school, walking bass, swinging’ jazz. My kind of “mantra”, if you will, has been that most jazz records coming out today need to have a gimmick (ostinatos, odd times, straight-8 latin feels, etc.). THIS is the kind of record that I need to hear out of the cutting-edge scene. It’s not someone counting off and kicking into “Oleo”, but To Those Who Believe leaves nothing to apologize for.

It should be mentioned that in addition to Whalum’s incredible playing and compositions in this set, he has wisely chosen to employ some of the absolutely best names in instrumental music behind him in pianist Robert Glasper (piano texture genius), drummer Chris “Daddy” Dave (best drummer working today. I challenge you to defy), and good friend of Bass Frontiers Derrick Hodge on electric and upright bass. I want to point out that these guys are all good friends in addition to running in the same musical circles (all four play in Maxwell’s band, and Robert, Chris, and Derrick frequently make up a trio, as well as playing in the RCDC Experiement). If you can, always choose to play with people who you love outside of music, as well. You’ll have so much more fun, and the “in the pocket” communication is easier by a mile.

To Those Who Believe starts out with a loungy/R&B track, If We Try, which features the band interspersed with spoken word clips from Dr. Kenneth Whalum, Jr. I’m always a sucker for family people who have no problem showing where they come from, and this is a great way to start off the record. Glasper’s chords are lush here, and Chris Dave lays out an assertive, but flowing beat underneath the repetitive vocal accents. This definitely keeps you feeling hesitant motion, like you’re waiting for it to break. It never lets up, fading out into the next track, Hope for Today. Whalum has a really breathy sound at times when he plays throughout the record, and I really enjoy the way it enhances the expressiveness of his melodic phrasing by adding some real human feeling. Hope For Today continues the hesitated mood in the listener’s ear, before the track, essentially an intro, finally gives way to the first “hard” groove in A Song For Tomorrow.

A Song For Tomorrow is the first point in which we get to see the tremendous interplay between this monster quartet. I definitely am reminded of the great Coltrane quartet and the way they sounded after a few records and tours, and could feel each other out. What I said earlier about modern jazz gimmicks and lack of feeling, I think, finds its bottleneck in the music of those Coltrane records, where the overall feel and musical choices get to be much more free, but the “eye contact intensity” is so fierce that it’s really just an unspoken substitution. Subsequent groups just didn’t get it!!!!!! Whalum perfectly walks the tightrope between melodic and rhythmic prowess on this entire tune, and it’s incredible how Glasper meets him with chord textures, melodic interpolations, and great feel at every step. Chris Dave has no problem getting a little crazy here, and he is supplanted beautifully by Hodge’s upright. If you watched our interview with Derrick, he mentions how he doesn’t think about music when playing with Chris, and they just let feel dictate what goes on. Every bit of that is believable on this track.

Gratitude To Crystal is, after the ever-sound of A Song For Tomorrow, an exercise in the radiance of simplicity. Kenneth plays so very few notes and phrases, but they have such an effect in their smoothness and their succinct phrasing over Glasper’s repetitious left-hand play. The whole thing ramps up for just a moment just past halfway through, but comes right back down, not letting it get carried away. Hodge is fantastic here, playing SO very little, but the few times he speaks his peace, it adds such a thrust to those moments.

By the time we get a couple of tracks later, So Simple is a nice, crisp melody that, although a Whalum original, feels so very familiar and pleasing to the ear. The choice of tones and phrases is clearly influenced by Gospel musics, which as the son of a pastor, you would expect him to be very familiar with.

The next track, STS, is the closest we get to a “traditional” formed jazz tune, with Whalum and Glasper taking solos while Hodge walks over Chris Dave’s GREAT balance of the old and new school jazz drumming styles. This is a high intensity tune, and it shows in a very matter of fact way that Kenneth Whalum III, with continued musical growth and excellence, will eventually follow in the flowchart of the saxophone pantheon with names like Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Branford Marsalis, and Joshua Redman.

Following this, Kenneth just messes with the listener by starting the title track, To Those Who Believe, and then stopping to take a re-do…..as though there was anything imperfect or lacking in beauty in the false start! This cut is simply stated by Whalum on the soprano sax, over thick, expressive chord melodies from Glasper. If the melodies out of the soprano don’t tug at your heart’s strings here, then you need to get your medicine adjusted!

The lone “guest” contribution on the record comes by way of master hip-hop artist/poet/wordsmith Common. It Was Written is a nice alternation of a hyped up modern New Orleans groove and a more spacious phrase. One might expect that Common would do his thing over the harder groove, but he gets his peace in during the more sparse section. This works perfectly. In my opinion, Whalum does his BEST blowing on this track.

A quick fade-out/fade-in brings us to the final cut on the the record, Benediction. This is a succession to It Was Written, and finds Glasper and Hodge playing a lot of pedal point to Whalum’s incredibly succinct phrasing here. The track has various spoken clips of news and speeches interspersed, making this almost a prayer for the world. The pedal point and overall way the quartet is locked in definitely backs that up, making a musical mantra, repeated over and over until they finally take it out and the music fades away.

If you couldn’t tell, I am extremely enamored with To Those Who Believe. This is a great statement of instrumental music continuing the jazz tradition into this century and helping set the bar for those to come. All four of the musicians that are involved on this record are a treat to hear at any time. Each one is definitely one of my heroes for their respective instrument, and any time they can get in a room together and play, I’d invent a teleporter just to hear. All the tracks on this release bear Kenneth Whalum’s name, and that is an amazing sign for his future. With this being his first release, it’s downright scary to think where his compositional talents (ASTOUNDING melodies, in particular) will be able to go from here. I, for one, can’t wait for more.

Bootsy is a funk legend, having performed with James Brown, George Clinton, his own band, the Rubber Band, and many other artists. The book has a companion CD and is written in both tablature and notation. 12 tunes are covered including Give Up the Funk, It’s a Musical, F Encounter, and Up for the Down Stroke.

The book starts out with Bootsy’s gear setup, which also lists the effects he uses and the signal paths for high, mid, and low frequencies. After that, there is a quick “groove primer”, then we end up getting into the meat and potatoes of the funk. Each tune is broken down into sections (ie…Intro, Verse, Chorus, etc) and there is a brief explanation of each section. The cd track for each section is listed. If you really want to “get the funk” out and about, this is the book that should get you on the right track.

Bootsy Collins -Legendary Licks is published by Hal Leonard and is available for $17.99 from your local music store or online at Music Dispatch.

Ty Campbell started playing bass at age 13 in the high school jazz band and local bands in and around Columbus, Ohio. He attended Capital University majoring in Jazz Performance for 2 years. He attended the Recording Workshop in 1994 and was in the top ten for his class. Ty and his lovely wife Susan have lived in Nashville since 1997. Ty has done extensive touring with various groups throughout the US. When he is not rocking out with ‘Shareen and the Kings’ or running sound at the Ernest Tubb Midnite Jamboree, you can catch him sitting in at the Nashville Palace with the Larry Hamilton Group or subbing with other groups in and around Nashville.