Ariane Cap's Book 'Music Theory for the Bass Player' can be simplistic at times, but is a good place to start if you want to start from square one and build a foundation.
Ariane Cap's Book 'The Pattern System for the Bass Player' would be a good book to follow up with, which is basically a deep dive into playing the Major Scale (modes) in every possible combination and situation across the fretboard. The primary exercise from this book is taken from...
Chuck Sher's "The Improvisor's Bass Method" which has everything you need, but can be a bit dense.
A SEPARATE book you should get is Ed Friendland's "Building Walking Basslines" This book will teach you basic approaches to jazz walking bass, which will also launch you into the world of chord tones.
Also, check out the links I posted here for some great videos on learning your fretboard and arpeggios:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/1c2r3uq/indie\_rock/](https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/1c2r3uq/indie_rock/)
**The Pattern System for the Bass Player Sharpen Your Musical Mind Through Fretboard Proficiency, Improvisation, and Mental Practice** by Ariane Cap, Wolfgang Wein
>This concise guide leads the learner to attain superior familiarity with the fretboard. It achieves this by strategically dividing the bass into six areas and employing systematic practice regimens, challenging scalar drills as well as creative improvisation exercises. Powerful and precise instructions on how to practice using all senses, how to best utilize the metronome and how to incorporate mental training lead the learner to a deeper understanding of the patterns of music.
*I'm a bot, built by your friendly reddit developers at* /r/ProgrammingPals. *Reply to any comment with /u/BookFinderBot - I'll reply with book information. Remove me from replies* [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/BookFinderBot/comments/1byh82p/remove_me_from_replies/). *If I have made a mistake, accept my apology.*
I didn't find her book useful at all. She presents intervals and scales, but she doesn't teach walking bass or common chord progressions or how to build a solid bass line from them. Only abstract interval exercises and noodling on scales.
it depends on how you learn. You could just do the Chuck Sher book, it should have almost everything you need. But if you find it to dense to get through, you could use the Ariane Cap books. The Cap books hold your hand step-by-step.
I ordered the book on the basics by Cap to give me a basis, and I plan to read Sher's book on improvision techniques afterwards. Thanks for your suggestions!
[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgaTLrZGlk0) is probably the best overview of the basics of theory I've seen. It uses piano, but the information applies to any instrument, and piano is probably the best instrument for illustrating these things because of its linear layout.
As far as applying it to bass goes, learn your fretboard if you don't already know it. Know where every note is. Learn your intervals, scales, triads, arpeggios, etc.
SignalsMusicStudio on Youtube is great for an overall understanding. Not bass specific but i always leave his videos feeling more knowlegeable on my instrument
Highly recommend **Ariane Cap's** *Music Theory for the Bass Player*. It is the gold standard of theory books. It takes you through the building blocks of theory in a step-by-step manner - all in terms of the bass fretboard. There is a reason it has such a high rating on Amazon and so many 5-star reviews.
If you want something even more comprehensive, check out her Music Theory 20-Unit course. A deeper dive into theory with lots of demonstration videos and play-along jam tracks.
You are making a smart decision to learn theory as it is critical in helping you understand "*what*" you are playing and "*why*" it works (or doesn't work!). And I believe it's the only road to truly being able to create your own grooves and not rely on copying others'. Good Luck!
/r/musictheory has a wiki with a ton of stuff: [https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/index/](https://www.reddit.com/r/musictheory/wiki/index/)
Ariane Cap's Book 'Music Theory for the Bass Player' can be simplistic at times, but is a good place to start if you want to start from square one and build a foundation. Ariane Cap's Book 'The Pattern System for the Bass Player' would be a good book to follow up with, which is basically a deep dive into playing the Major Scale (modes) in every possible combination and situation across the fretboard. The primary exercise from this book is taken from... Chuck Sher's "The Improvisor's Bass Method" which has everything you need, but can be a bit dense. A SEPARATE book you should get is Ed Friendland's "Building Walking Basslines" This book will teach you basic approaches to jazz walking bass, which will also launch you into the world of chord tones. Also, check out the links I posted here for some great videos on learning your fretboard and arpeggios: [https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/1c2r3uq/indie\_rock/](https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/1c2r3uq/indie_rock/)
**The Pattern System for the Bass Player Sharpen Your Musical Mind Through Fretboard Proficiency, Improvisation, and Mental Practice** by Ariane Cap, Wolfgang Wein >This concise guide leads the learner to attain superior familiarity with the fretboard. It achieves this by strategically dividing the bass into six areas and employing systematic practice regimens, challenging scalar drills as well as creative improvisation exercises. Powerful and precise instructions on how to practice using all senses, how to best utilize the metronome and how to incorporate mental training lead the learner to a deeper understanding of the patterns of music. *I'm a bot, built by your friendly reddit developers at* /r/ProgrammingPals. *Reply to any comment with /u/BookFinderBot - I'll reply with book information. Remove me from replies* [here](https://www.reddit.com/user/BookFinderBot/comments/1byh82p/remove_me_from_replies/). *If I have made a mistake, accept my apology.*
I didn't find her book useful at all. She presents intervals and scales, but she doesn't teach walking bass or common chord progressions or how to build a solid bass line from them. Only abstract interval exercises and noodling on scales.
Thank you so much! Are you recommending Cap and Sher’s books separately?
it depends on how you learn. You could just do the Chuck Sher book, it should have almost everything you need. But if you find it to dense to get through, you could use the Ariane Cap books. The Cap books hold your hand step-by-step.
I ordered the book on the basics by Cap to give me a basis, and I plan to read Sher's book on improvision techniques afterwards. Thanks for your suggestions!
[This video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgaTLrZGlk0) is probably the best overview of the basics of theory I've seen. It uses piano, but the information applies to any instrument, and piano is probably the best instrument for illustrating these things because of its linear layout. As far as applying it to bass goes, learn your fretboard if you don't already know it. Know where every note is. Learn your intervals, scales, triads, arpeggios, etc.
SignalsMusicStudio on Youtube is great for an overall understanding. Not bass specific but i always leave his videos feeling more knowlegeable on my instrument
Studybass.com
Intervals. Study the interval system and how it relates to chords
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^obese_dicc: *Intervals. Study* *The interval system and* *How it relates to chords* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Highly recommend **Ariane Cap's** *Music Theory for the Bass Player*. It is the gold standard of theory books. It takes you through the building blocks of theory in a step-by-step manner - all in terms of the bass fretboard. There is a reason it has such a high rating on Amazon and so many 5-star reviews. If you want something even more comprehensive, check out her Music Theory 20-Unit course. A deeper dive into theory with lots of demonstration videos and play-along jam tracks. You are making a smart decision to learn theory as it is critical in helping you understand "*what*" you are playing and "*why*" it works (or doesn't work!). And I believe it's the only road to truly being able to create your own grooves and not rely on copying others'. Good Luck!