Motown bass lines book

I would reccomend a book that hal leonard puts out named motown bass. The second book of transcriptions is called motown bass classics. This is a book about the musical genius of james jamerson. This book is this ultimate resource for those wishing to learn more about legendary motown bassist james jamerson and learn some of his most famous lines. I would recommend the standing in the shadows of motown book this is the best motown bass study out there. The 2 cds are fantastic with the commentary and actual bass parts played in the forefront. When the record label was based in detroit in the 1960s he was the man behind the bass lines of hundreds if not thousands of records. Real bass lessons 9 jamerson motown bass line youtube. Everybody digs the neat little riffs, the deep grooves, the feel good feeling when the bass player is working his motown bass line.

Motown bass classics by various bass tablature songbook. Motown selections will include analysis and transcriptions of his bass lines for heat wave 1963 by martha and the vandellas and my guy 1964 by mary wells. Motown this style of music was recorded mostly in detroit in the 1960s and used some of the greatest studio musicians of all time the funk brothers. Well find them or write them ourselves after all, were bass. Recorded in 1965 for motowns bustling tamla label, here jamerson makes the bass swing as much as the sax.

Motown bass classics and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Learn this really useful motown bass pattern bass line creation. Following, the thesis will focus on the years 19661971, with further description of. It gives you the bass lines written in notes and tab plus comes with an instructional cd. Frank wilson 1965 motown do i love you mp3 with carol kaye bass, earl palmer drums. Aint no mountain high enough baby love dancing in the street get ready i just want to.

The motown sound was bass driven, and this book explains how and why. His basslines have stood the test of time containing a mercurial mix of flair, complexity. I bought this book to help me learn motown bass lines. Top 10 motown basslines discussion in recordings bg started by troyus, may 22, 2009. Standing in the shadows of motown by allen slutsky, jam.

Amazingly the majority of them were improvised from chord symbols. Apr 19, 2019 30 motown bass riffs bruno tauzin youtube. This was the first book i was recommended when i was 12 and it is brilliant. The motown session bassist james jamerson is widely regarded as one of the most influential and important bassists in modern music history. The simplest walking bass line formula exactly where to start duration. Motown another physical practice exercise to help develop your motown sound in your right hand, is to play. Or rather, restructured the role of bass to absorb the role of the cello. In the book, the bass lines are presented in standard notation and in tablature format and. Bassist james jamerson was the embodiment of the motown spirit and groove the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousands.

Learn this really useful motown bass pattern bass line. Each song is presented as a songartist history and a breakdown of each song section. That is one reason his execution of faster lines is unique in sound and feel. Jamerson was the house session bass player for motown records in the 1960s and 1970s. The performances of jamersons bass lines by the books guest bassists are found. Forget your guitar solos and your vocal gymnastics. This book teaches everything you need to know to create great bass lines. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon.

How paul mccartney bass lines changed from 1962 to 1970. If youve got standing in the shadows above this book doesnt cut much new ground, theres a few tunes in it not covered by the allan slutsky book. The high f notes alone, and the transition between octaves in the introtag line, seem to indicate he wove in a. The book includes a biography of jamerson, transcriptions of his bass lines, two cds in which 26 bassists such as pino palladino, john entwistle, chuck rainey, and geddy lee speak about jamerson and play the transcriptions. Jamerson was described by motown records founder berry gordy as a genius on the bassan incredible improviser in the. There is no tab in this so it is great for reading practice and comes with a cd of truly great bass players playing jamerson bass lines. As with the double bass, which fingers you use to pluck the string makes a big difference in sound and feel. The book features an exhaustive biography with input from members of jamersons family and colleagues such as label boss berry gordy, and musicians clifford mack, jonnie mae, hank cosby. His tumultuous life and musical brilliance are explored in depth through hundreds of interviews, 49 transcribed musical scores, two hours of recorded allstar performances, and more than 50 rarely seen photos in this stellar tribute to behindthe. I used it to work on my reading before i really knew who jamerson was. Motown bass classics by hal leonard publishing company. In 1971, kaye published her method book electric bass lines no.

Apr, 2018 so anyone thats listened to any classic motown hits by stars like stevie wonder, marvin gaye or the supremes will have wondered about the awesome bass playing and tone of james jamerson. Bass players james jamerson james jamersons basslines were the foundation of the motown sound full of complex 16th note passages, dissonant passing tones and intense syncopations. Standing in the shadows of motown bassline publishing. Motown bass bass signature licks guitar tabmusic book. Straight to the point, valuepacked bass lessons learn this really useful motown bass pattern bass line creation this short video lesson shows you a really powerful but very simple pattern that james jamerson and countless others used in many classic basslines. James jamerson was a genius, and hes a constant source of inspiration for this bass player. Marvin gaye bass lines bass musician magazine, the face. Constructing walking jazz bass lines book i walking bass lines the blues in 12 keys bass tab edition. James jamerson bass lines, tab and getting that tone. Written by uk session legend paul westwood, the bass bible is a book filled with more styles of music than you thought existed. Now jamersons work has become widely appreciated thanks to allan slutskys groundbreaking book. All james jameson bass lines however this is not simply the sheet music to the songs. Theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie.

Aug 09, 2014 welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions. Motown bass bass signature licks paperback october 1, 2000. James jamerson was basically the first electric bass virtuoso, and these transcriptions of his lines provide a great reading workout. Technically not the most difficult, but stunningly beautiful. He knew how to define harmony and how to drive it forward. Marvin gaye was a singer, songwriter, record producer and multiinstrumentalist. Jamerson was the subject of a book by allan slutsky in 1989 titled standing in the shadows of motown. His tumultuous life and musical brilliance are explored in depth through hundreds of interviews, 49 transcribed musical scores, two hours of recorded allstar performances, and more than 50 rarely seen photos in this stellar tribute to behindthescenes motown. In celebration of bass week, we rounded up a list of alltime classic lines, along with your suggestions and the input of the musicradar team, with the aim of crowning one overall bassline champion. Practicing from this book will help you recognize and execute the basic motown language. The soul sound of motown was driven largely by its innovative bass playing, and that playing was provided largely by the unheralded james jamerson.

Exact transcriptions with tab for 21 bassheavy motown faves. This style of music was recorded mostly in detroit in the 1960s and used some of the greatest studio musicians of all time the funk brothers. Jamerson would add his authoritative and funky bass lines to the vast majority of the companys everexpanding catalogue. Jamerson played bass on all the classic motown hits of the 60s and 70s and had a very distinctive tone and playing style.

This is a book for those who love the music made to be heard and those who make the music to be heard. Apr 19, 2020 jamerson was the house session bass player for motown records in the 1960s and 1970s. However you look at it, i dont see anything new to be gained from this book, regardless of the title. Walking bass lines in 12 keys, techniques and exercises for the electric bass. His nimble bass playing was considered an integral part of the motown sound. On the cd, the music for each section is played by a band with the bass. If he used standard bass tuning eadg, i doubt he relied on open position for very long, as busy as his bass line was on that song. Welcome to this collection of james jamerson transcriptions. Teach yourself to play bass guitar at your own pace. Its such a strange phenomenon that the bass had only been around as a massproduced instrument for a few years when james jamerson came along and cemented himself as one of the greatest of all time on the instrument. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon digital. The cd is divided up in the same way so you can practice each piece. Theres also some bonus motown transcriptions at the end of the book too including the bob babbitt line on band of gold and stevie wonders awesome keyboard bass line on isnt she lovely.

This one features 21 motown tunes with jamersons lines transcribed and tabbed for those of you who cant read music if not, why not. Ive got this book somewhere been meaning to sell it though, its kind of ok but if youve got the slutsky book theres nothing new here except tab. In each workshop, james teaches one of his easy to understand bass line creators like the two note t ransition. One of marvin gayes most famous tracks, considered by many to be one of jamersons greatest bass lines and its my favourite too.

James jamerson at his best, accurate tabs, great tunes. To get some great and saddening insight into his life and work, to see how many bass players are in awe of him, and to try to keep up with some of his best bass lines including my personal favorite, the bass line to whats going on, check out this book. Each section of the song has a definite cadence style lick that ends the phrase and sets up the beginning of the next. This great new book by jim stinnett looks at pitch sets, rhythmic cells and more, and includes full transcriptions of five iconic hits. The american society of music arrangers and composers has honored carol kaye for creative bass lines on records, movies and tvfilm recorded music. This is how he revolutionized bass the whole idea of bass, in fact. James jamerson standing in the shadows of motown pdf audio. Motown tracks use very simple chords and james plays very distinct lines in each tune, as distinct as the melodies themselves. An easytouse, stepbystep approach to basic theory is given as a foundation, and then the essential stylesand many styles within each styleare explored from the bass point of view. The life and music of legendary bassist james jamerson, a bass guitar instruction book by allan slutsky, which features jamersons bass lines. Paul chambers played all his bebop lines with one finger only. The third book of jamerson transcriptions is called motown bassbass signature licks by dave rubin. Licks gives the reader a snapshot into the ups and downs of one of the greatest unsung musicians. Methinks he meant to say what makes motown bass motown.

Here are 12 marvin gaye bass lines from one of the pioneers of the motown sound. Welcome to big bass tabs, the fast growing website with free and accurate bass tablature of all your favorite artists of every genre and era and new bass tabs every day couldnt find what youre looking for. For that, get the motown bass classics book, but youre better off with this. Part one of a threepart series, this book introduces music theory, scales and chords. You will begin to build your mastery over the coolest bass lines ever played. In the book, the bassists many admirers are quoted.

May 17, 2017 james jamersons double bass was a german upright acoustic bass that he bought as a teenager and later used on such motown hits as my guy by mary wells and love is like a heat wave by martha. A large part of jamersons genius was his note choice. The film was inspired by the 1989 book standing in the shadows of motown. Motown s tormented genius, james jamerson is unanimously acclaimed as the first virtuoso of the electric bass. Reconstructing the history of motown session musicians. Audibly i am sure that the transcriptions are accurate, but i find it hard to believe that songs were played on bass in keys such as b major, eb major and db major, it. If you are just starting to play bass the motown sound might be a little difficult to pick up.

Bass tabs big bass tabs free and accurate bass tablature. Pdf james jamerson standing in the shadows of motown pdf. Motown seldom identified the individual names of its studio band during the 1960s, and their first significant credits on album artwork. The life and music of legendary bassist james jamerson, a bass guitar instruction book by allan slutsky, which features a biography of james jamerson along with his bass lines. There are bass lines in the style of bass legends as well as grooves from around the world including many south american and african styles. James jamerson, bass of the motown sound udiscover. As your library of jamerson licks grows, you will become a better reader and player in all styles. He transcended the standard bass line and created a duet with the. As far as younger, newer players im sure there isnt a decent teacher alive who wouldnt reference motown to a student in some form.