When I first saw this book years ago in a Music store book department I thought it was not worth even with its cheap price: only chromatic exercise, no CD included and so on. But then, one day I spoke to another bass player about his velocity and finger independence and he told me that the most valuable source for him was: Bass Fitness by Josequin des Pres. So some day after I went back to that music store and bought this book: I could not have done better. In a couple of month I was able to push
my band bpm (beat per minute) so fast they could never imagine, and with great precision. What at first glance seemed to me like a too easy to follow bass lines became my daily practice warm-up and belive me: you will feel the burn in your hands.
There is no theory here, no scales no chords, no nice sounding riffs, nothing. You have to commit yourself to go through this, only at first glance boring, exercise gradually increasing the speed, once comfortable around 180 bpm, switching to another more complex exercise and so on.
In a month or two, when the band start playing fast you will have no trouble to keep up, precisely with them. To get that dexterity, timing and strength you need constant practice. And a metronome. Do not fool yourself by going through this book without playing each exercise exactly how they are meant to be played, you must stay in time and with good sounding quality. This book will be your companion exercise for long time and you will thank Josequin des Press anytime you need to play something fast.
Title: Bass Fitness
Author: Josequin des Press
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0793502489
ISBN-13: 978-0793502486
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