I think most bassists could improve by working through the book. Its improved my playing a bit, but I need to keep working with it to grow more. The book starts at beginner level, and the tunes/tracks get more challenging. It has a CD with piano/drums on one side, bass on the other. The focus is jazz, and he encourages note reading, but once you get a feel for these techniques you can use them as you like in other styles.

Top Priority in Building Walking Bass Lines is timing. This book is a very serious instructional manual whose goal is to "familiarize you with the techniques used to build walking bass lines, and to help you develop an awareness of how the process of walking works." There is an emphasis on timing and reading music. Part One covers using the root, fifth and octave of a chord. Part Two introduces the third and seventh, and also goes into scales: the diatonic major modes, minor scales, pentatonic scales and scalewise motion. There is also discussion about arpeggiation and chromatic motion.

I have not managed to complete all the lessons in this book, but I can tell that doing so will make me a better bass player and overall musician. I think that the objective is not so much here are the notes to play, but "here are the concepts and if you use them, you will be able to create freely, using the bass."

I think that this book is directed toward a jazz style mostly, but that the concepts really benefit anybody wanting to have mastery of the bass guitar in order to play with others. The book has a CD that accompanies the lessons and was recorded in such a way that you can turn off the bass part and play along. Interestingly, the Appendix at the end has ten commonly played jazz standard progressions. The written bass lines are left out, but they are on the recording. This serves as an exercise in playing by ear--leaving you to figure out and transcribe them on your own.

All in all, this book may be just a bit over my head, and I have to admit that I am not a big jazz fan. However, I love to jam and I believe that the techniques and theories in this book are vital to developing the tools one needs to improvise with other instruments successfully.

The Author's name says it all. How to walk by an expert of the highest order. The book comes with a CD so the learning experience is enhanced and you learn to learn to play by ear as much as from the music itself. This is a serious study book with great rewards for the student that is painstaking , persistant, patient and simple doesn't know how to give up when the going gets serious.