The Bottom Line

The ultimate bass line book for acoustic or electric bass. Contains 23 chapters on bass line construction and other areas such as sound production, practicing, special effects, blues/rhythm, slow/fast tempos, and time/feel. Review exercises are included for each chapter. The CD includes Todd playing the exercises and etudes so that you can match his sound and jazz phrasing—something that is equally as important as playing “right notes.” Customer testimonial: “I want to thank you for your book The Bottom Line. As a late-middle-aged novice bassist (of sorts), I’m delighted by your choice of material and your presentation of it. You’ve confirmed many things I’ve long suspected but could not find good information regarding, including forward motion, the importance of 3rds and 7ths, the use of fingerboard patterns, and many more. And you’ve raised and explained many more things I hadn’t thought about, such as thinking of jazz in 12/8 time, the ride cymbal, and tipping in two-beat. I own dozens of jazz and bass music books, but this one book and its CD have brought more together for me than any of them. It’s a joy just to sit and read it, even when my bass is miles away. Again, thanks very much for this truly great work.” —Jack Clark (Idyllwild, California)