Music Theory

So I’ve began getting more and more interested into learning ‘Theory’, but couldn’t find anything focused specifically on the Bass until I came across this book by Ariane Cap. Although she does offer online lessons and such, her style and technique (and cost) are not really my cup of tea (and her website is VERY difficult to navigate - not to mention the pretty strong egos there).

Anyway, her book is certainly full of technical knowledge, and having began going through the lessons in her book I find that it does build upon what @JoshFossgreen taught in the B2B course and as such does help me progress into understanding more of my role as a bassist.

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I am by no means trying to push her book, and am hoping that Josh can provide some sort of “in depth” online course in Theory, but in the meantime I’ll just have to settle on learning from a damn book (I’m not a book person)! Thing is, learning from a book is just not as enjoyable (or fun) as watching Josh and his banana tattoo bebop online with his fashionable tee-shirts and all…:laughing:

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It’s a great book. I read it a few months ago when I first started playing bass, and still use it as a reference. I love music theory almost as much as I love playing.

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@PamPurrs… Now I know who to turn to when I get stuck on something!! :smile::smile:

I’m reading through the entire book before even thinking about picking up my bass since I need to have a visual idea as to how and where she’s going. So far I’m on Chapter 3 and even just reading through, I’ve picked up a ton of information - way more than my old brain can cipher through… You can certainly tell that she’s from Austria and has been Classically trained… Have no idea how she can play that 6 string bass though… but then again, she has some long-ass fingers!!

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@Lanny - I had a student pick up that book.
I found it super heavy on the theory and minutia, and light on the practical application. That was my issue.
The theory came at you in fat, chunky, heavy bricks, but didn’t apply to anything.

Josh had recommended another book on here a while back -
https://www.amazon.com/All-About-Music-Theory-Understanding/dp/1423452089
It looked more application friendly, and was a bit easier to get through.

If the Cap book works for you, go for it. Full Speed Ahead! If it seems like it’s denser than it needs to be, or moves fast, or is a bit aggressive with it’s approach and demands… it’s because it is.

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Has anybody checked out the new edition of the Beato Book 3.0 put out by Rick Beato?
https://rickbeato.com/collections/books-cds-pdfs/products/the-beato-book-3-0-pdf

I read that version 1 was basically a print out of his hand written notes and that version 2 was a proper typed version. Version 3 just says it’s updated with new examples.

At $49.00 and 463 pages I’m suspicious that he’s going for quantity over quality.

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I have been pondering to buy it for a long time. My gut feeling is that it is a great book, but that a lot of it is way over my head (at the moment). Still, it might be a good investment for the future in case you are really determined to dig deeper into theory and get a good understanding.

So, Beato’s book might be “overkill”, and a better choice for most of us here in this forum might indeed be the book @JoshFossgreen had suggested a while ago, that @Gio just reminded us about.

On the other hand, we could also make use of the combined knowledge already residing in this forum (its members) to tackle some (recurring) theory questions as they pertain to bass playing ourselves!?!

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Another book I read awhile back that really kick started my knowledge of music theory is “Music Theory For Dummies”. It starts from the very basics and slowly works it’s way up. Very easy to read and understand.

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I found a link to it here:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/music-theory-for-dummies-michael-pilhofer/1100321751/2662108359138?st=PLA&sid=BNB_ADL+Marketplace+Good+Used+Textbooks+-+Desktop+Low&sourceId=PLAGoNA&dpid=tdtve346c&2sid=Google_c&gclid=CjwKCAjw5_DsBRBPEiwAIEDRW_Il8LZ-KjyLhQ4nSh4efgQBkayisXNOQgBfBe4SOaaQJN4BctqPvhoC9VQQAvD_BwE

Looks like a good read, @PamPurrs :slight_smile:

Cheers, Joe

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@Gio - Certainly have to agree with you there!! So much appreciate your input on this!!:smiley:

It is a difficult read and her approach is certainly classically orientated which makes learning somewhat difficult and confusing - not to mention her Austrian roots and native German dialect (ie: she refers to ‘Chugging’ 8th notes as ‘Pumping’ 8th notes :grin:). What I do appreciate is being able to see and hear how music theory actually translates from piano to bass.

I’ve taken Classical Guitar lessons way back when I was a kid in the 50’s-60’s and hated every minute of it (heavy on ‘music theory’ - light on ‘music’) - but now that I’m (way) older, it’s starting to come back in small pieces.

I am however so glad that I relearned my basics on theory by taking the B2B course even before opening her book. @JoshFossgreen’s style of incorporating some of that (Bass Orientated) theory into the course was all it took to rekindle some of what I learned years ago. I guess I’ve always looked at all things in a manner that if I’m able to learn just ‘one’ thing from anything that I do that will help make me better at whatever I’m doing (even if it’s a negative, confusing, difficult or even a somewhat impossible experience) then nothing… ‘really’… is a loss.

Just can’t wait till some Josh Fosgreen courses on Intermediate/Advanced Music Theory specifically focused on Bass are available… “Hint,Hint…”:wink:

‘Keep on Thumpin’!
Lanny

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I had already read “Music Theory For Dummies” before I read Ariane’s book, so her deep theory approach didn’t bother me that much. She focuses a lot on learning intervals, which I think is fairly important, although some people disagree.

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Ta da! Created a Theory subforum for us all to nerd out in. :nerd_face: No need to keep all music theory topics in this one thread.

EDIT: If I were really devoted to our nerddom, I would of course include a link to the Theory forum.

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Yay! Thank you @JoshFossgreen

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Thanks, @JoshFossgreen :slight_smile:

I noticed you also moved a few other threads to place them in more appropriate Categories.

Looks as if our Forums are growing . . . :+1:

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Sure did! There’s so much juicy goodness in the forum now, had to put it into more organized piles of goodness for improved goodness-acquisition. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Really interesting Adam Neely piece just posted.

Makes excellent points on the pitfalls of overly clinging to one specific set of past traditions. The specific presentation may provoke some people, but that’s unfortunate if it does, because he makes some really excellent points in here.

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Interesting video by Adam, as always.

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For anyone interested, a link to The Journal of Schenkerian Studies Volume 12:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dTOWwlIsuiwsgAa4f1N99AlvG3-ngnmG/view

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THIS IS A GREAT VIDEO!!!

The intro of replacing the term “music theory” is worth an entire college career in music theory.

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The part with the reaction to Ewell’s paper was infuriating too, in a way that only low-stakes, high-nastiness academic infighting can irritate you :slight_smile:

And the subsequent point there about Lewis’ Law was spot on.

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Nope, nope, nope.

Eric slooowly backs away from the potentialy inflamatory material.

Am I clear? I think I’m clear.

Whew. Okay back to the music room.

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