I read it when it first came out - 2007? 2008? - and have reread a handful of times. Also I’m just realizing that I don’t know where my copy is… I think I lent it to a saxophone player and it never came back to me, damn wind instruments.
The 10 Elements of Music concept alone has had a really profound impact on how I play, and how I teach, especially the emphasis it lends to things that are often undertaught/underdiscussed, like Listening and Space.
I love Victor’s teaching approach, maybe we can get him in on a future Bass Buzz course.
I have not, though I am familiar with him. Would you recommend it for a total beginner or more for those students of yours who have a bit of experience?
This is a sweet and earnest book. It is not written by a writer, and it won’t be in the annals of Literature to be studied for its prose - but the messages it has, the basic and simple truths it discusses, and the open and loving way that it treats music and learning of all kinds is worth while for any student of anything. I lose my copies all the time by people not returning them. I like to think that they are still being loaned out, passed around, borrowed, and the wisdom is spreading forever and ever!
Josh, or anyone really,
I’ve gone completely though the course now. I’ve grabbed some bass tabs I want to try online. And I’ve gone to Amazon music to try to play along. But, I’m not sure where I start playing at the start of songs. I’ve mastered Pride and Joy and I’m able to kind of hear where to start. Is there an easier way to tell when I start playing?
Hey Mike, just replied to your comment on the Beginner to Badass lesson too, but I’ll repost here: If I’m understanding your question right, then yes you just need to use your ears. Unless you have a detailed chart that tells you how many bars before the bass entrance, or tells you what the cue is to come in. But using your ears is never a bad thing anyway! With time and practice it gets easier and easier to pick out bass parts by ear.
