Hal Leonard Bass Method – Complete Edition Books 1, 2 & 3 for Electric Bass, Guitar Book for Beginners | Guitar Chord Book to Learn Guitar with Online Audio | Instructional Method by Ed Friedland

I have worked through this as an experienced musician and music teacher, but not an experienced bass player. For me, it ticks all the boxes in terms of content and logical presentation. It covers all aspects of technique and music reading in a very thorough and easy to understand way. If you want to learn bass as an experienced musician, or with the help of a teacher, it is a great book and tells you pretty much everything you need to know. The play along tracks (you get a download code) are great and I recommend getting the version with the audio tracks , not the one without them. I am not surprised how good it is, given that it was written by Ed Friedland – great bass player and teacher.

This is a great book to learn how to play the bass by reading standard musical notation. However I would only recommend that you work through it from start to finish with the aid of a teacher. Working on my own I discovered that it was better to zero in on specific parts and concentrate on learning them first. For example, relatively easy, and essential, material on chords and scales is introduced in the later books and I felt it was wiser to cover this before some of the more difficult exercises in the first book. Also, your energies might be better employed learning the bass lines of real songs that you know, rather than those given here. I did pick out a few exercises that helped with particular skills and I memorised those. The rest I used to practice reading and once they became familiar, stopped playing them. A good companion book to this would be 'Bass Guitar for Dummies'. This has a section dedicated to grooving using chords and for a beginner would be more useful if you get together with other musicians to play.

Hal Leonard books are the way to go! Bought a bass to sink my teeth into over lockdown (already play the guitar) and this is my guide. It’s fantastic as expected, lays out great lesson plans, really easy to follow, starts off with the basics and builds in a coherent and logical way. Uses notation, it makes it really easy to follow and if anything see this as a great opportunity to learn music notation, it’s not as hard as you think.

A bit daunting when you first see it, but it is three books in one. It does cover how to read music manuscript but I think it is best suited to someone who can read music (and is familiar with American terms). I already had a good grounding in music, including double bass (if a little rusty), but found some bits hard to follow. the accompanying C.D.s are useful and start off mercifully slow to allow you time to get the feel of the instrument. Some more recognisable tunes would be encouraging. It is aimed at someone who is prepared to do the practice, rather than just play along to 'stairway to heaven' or whatever! All in all, it is very good for the price - it covers a lot of ground for the money!

When I first got my bass, I self-taught from Hal Leonard (No. 1 I think..). I got quite far with it, learning to read music as well as play. I then moved, and had barely picked up the bass in years. Recently, I decided that it was time to start again, but I'd forgotten everything and couldn't find the book, so I bought this one. It already has me back on track with my playing, and I'm re-learning how to read music. Fantastic book, great price for all 3 (incl. CDs)! Easy to follow - but not patronizing simple

I'm currently in college doing a BTEC Higher National Diploma course in music with bass as my first instrument. This book is not just for beginners as some reviews might say. We are using this book to learn better fingering techniques and sight reading skills. This book takes you step-by-step through all the stages needed to advance your playing skills and techniques. I recommend this to any aspiring bass players.

Great book. Covers loads of stuff for beginners. On the photo the cover says it has a CD, but that's not true. It doesn't. You have to download from the internet (or play it live on there). That was disappointing. Otherwise though very happy with it. Just what I need.

This is a useful book and I am finding the lessons helpful. I do have one complaint: in spite of adjusting the balance, the bass guitar backing in some of the audio tracks is drowned out and difficult to hear properly because of the other instruments. Because of this I am deducting 2 stars.