Essential Styles for the Drummer and Bassist: Book 1 [Paperback] Review

This book could have easily won a 4 or 5 star rating from me, but there is one serious deficiency in this book --- huge portions of what is actually being played is not transcribed. This may be more of a problem for the bassists who are interested in this book, since the drum parts generally are static most of the time. For the first half of the book the bass transcriptions range from very good (and complete) to partial transcriptions ranging from just a couple bars to several bars transcribed while several bars are just left blank, for you to figure out by ear. For nearly the entire second half of the book, the bass player / transcriber (could be a different person I suppose) just decides to entirely stop transcribing the bass part. That's right, for about half the tunes in this book they do not even bother transcribing the bass part. By today's standards, where any guitar / bass book you purchase will have full transcriptions as well as TAB and recordings.....this just doesn't cut it. Yes, even just listening to the tracks could be educational, but.....if I wanted to just learn by listening, I would actually just go buy some CDs of my favorite artists, and do just that....The entire point of purchasing an instructional book is defeated by this lack of complete transcriptions in this book.

The book is more orientated towards blues / funk / jazz styles, which is fine, but there are also many other styles that would make this book more complete and useful as a reference. All of the tracks on the CD are of top quality and true to the styles they represent and are the main reason for the 3 stars in my rating.

Another deficiency is the total lack of explanation of what the bass player is thinking or doing when creating the bass lines. What scales are being used, or theoretical tools, etc...Yes for some, just hearing an example and learning it by ear is enough, but for others like myself I do like to know in more depth what is going on with the scales and harmony.

If you just want to sample and hear different styles, with minimal instructions on how to reproduce it yourself, then you can't go wrong with this book as all the examples are excellent and the playing and recordings are of top quality. If you like to have a bassline fully transcribed, and some explanation as to why the bassist chose the notes or rhythms he did, then this book will fall short. The small amount that is transcribed is in standard notation only, so for those of you who don't read standard notation that would be another reason not to buy it.

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Product Description:
Essential Styles for the Drummer and Bassist, Books 1 and 2, are two innovative book and play-along CD packages that teach 50 essential grooves from today's jazz and popular styles. The books include written-out charts of each selection and performance tips for both drums and bass. All of the grooves have been recorded with a rhythm section and woodwinds, with drums mixed on the left channel and bass on the right, so either instrument may be dialed out. In addition, many of the tracks contain open choruses of comping so any instrument can practice playing solos! Essential Styles emphasizes the most important aspects of solid group playing- locking-in between the drummer and bassist- providing a strong rhythmic foundation and creating an authentic feel for whatever the style demands.--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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The Drummer's Bible: How to Play Every Drum Style from Afro-Cuban to Zydeco [Paperback] Review

Since I started playing the drumset I've been waiting for someone to complete the monumental task of compiling every known style of set playing in one book.But Mick Berry and Jason Gianni have gone far beyond simply transcribing over 160 styles (about 400 including variations):
They have included historical perspectives, background information, recorded examples (with and without click tracks), and put together a listening list with suggested albums and artists for every style.
There is a very helpful chapter on types of fills and appropriate use of them in each style, including references to famous recordings.There is even a section explaining appropriate tuning and muffling for a drummer playing in a given style.
I really can't stress enough how much detail is contained in this book.I'm a junior high and high school percussion teacher and this is a great reference tool for understanding and explaining different grooves, and I'll be sure to keep it handy when gigging.
Highest recommendation!

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Product Description:
This guide to popular drum styles offers approximately 400 musical examples in standard drum notation showing grooves and practical variations, and provides overviews of the history and development of almost all popular music styles. Among the many styles and subsidiary styles covered are blues, rock, jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, klezmer, zydeco, funk, bossa nova, polka, Dixieland, surf, and disco. While this resource and two-CD set can serve as a simple encyclopedia for those who need to know how to play a particular style, suggestions on varying the beat patterns for those who want to explore further and create their own patterns are also included. In addition, the two CDs contain performances of the musical examples in the book, which is designed with a lay-flat binding for easy use.

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Drummin' Men: The Heartbeat of Jazz The Bebop Years [Paperback] Review

A book about bebop drummers needs to explain 1) what bebop drumming consists of and 2) how the styles of the various drummers profiled diverge. This book does not do either. Instead we are told that drummer after drummer after drummer has "a great feel" and "great time"; we learn nothing.

If it were just that I'd give the book another star for its sketchy and scattered biographical information, but considering how badly written the book is, I can't justify it.

I suggest instead that you buy a copy of "The Grove Dictionary of Jazz" and look up the entry for each famous drummer you want to know about. You'll learn a lot more and have a much better time doing it.

For transcriptions consult Modern Drummer magazine.

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