Reddit reviews Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson
We found 16 Reddit comments about Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Standing in the Shadows of Motown Book/CDJames Jamerson was the embodiment of the Motown spirit and groove - the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousandsHis tumultuous life and musical brilliance are explored in depth through hundreds of interviews, 49 transcribed musical scores, 2 hours of recorded all-star performances, and more than 50 rarely seen photosFeatures a 120-minute CD! James Jamerson was the embodiment of the Motown spirit and groove - the invisible entity whose playing inspired thousandsHis tumultuous life and musical brilliance are explored in depth through hundreds of interviews, 49 transcribed musical scores, 2 hours of recorded all-star performances, and more than 50 rarely seen photos
While I do love Vic and Jaco, I think that Standing in the Shadows of Motown should be required reading for anyone serious about playing the bass. I bought it 5 or 6 years ago and still play out of it all the time. Completely changed the way I play and view the bass
Standing the Shadows of Motown is the book that has had the single greatest impact on my playing overall.
The first part is a cool bio about James Jamerson and the Motown studio origins, and then it is super well done transcriptions and explanations of his bass lines which are some of the most innovative and influential bass lines of all time. The book also comes with cd's (if those are still relevant) of the songs with bass mixed to front so you can play along which was super helpful. Using that book taught me the bulk of note reading, taught me the mechanics of writing bass lines that compliment melodies, rhythms and complicated arrangements and really cemented a sense what is groovy and what is catchy.
I cannot recommend standing in the shadows of Motown enough https://www.amazon.com/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826
This book is pretty good. Most of it is about James Jameson, but in the back are loads of his Motown basslines accurately transcribed by some of the top session musicians. Comes with some CDs of them playing the bass lines too. Some of the bass lines are pretty solid, but there's some easy ones in there too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1527806266&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=james+jamerson+bass&dpPl=1&dpID=61pAjXGCGzL&ref=plSrch
THIS:
https://www.amazon.ca/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826
One important thing is to relax, and especially relax your fretting hand. If you've got the strings in a death claw, it's going to sound bad and you might eventually wind up with carpal tunnel.
Instead of trying to do hammer-ons right away, force yourself to go back to fundamentals. Set the metronome (you must have a metronome) to 40 beats per minute and play one finger per fret. Your fingers should fall immediately behind each fret. Whole notes, half notes, quarters, eighths triplets and 16ths...make sure you're playing in time with the clicks. Try to relax completely and use only the minimum amount of pressure it takes to sound each note without buzzing. The idea behind this exercise is to teach your muscle memory the exact amount of pressure you need to play a given note. Forcing yourself to play slow will give your muscles time to readjust in order to sound the notes accurately. Your fingers, wrists, body posture, etc. should be completely relaxed and comfortable throughout. If you start tensing up or feel pain or burning in your fingers, make yourself relax and loosen up.
Couple other popular hand exercises.
For books, there's a big difference between a good one and a bad one. I can personally recommend Serious Electric Bass, Bass Logic, Bass Grooves, and Standing in the Shadows of Motown (this last book is less of a beginner's guide and more of a project you could spend a lifetime on: i.e. learning from the great James Jamerson). Also highly recommended is Ed Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines. I also have and recommend The Bass Grimoire, but it is more a reference book for advanced scale and chord building, as opposed to a beginner's guide. Bass Guitar for Dummies is actually pretty good and comprehensive.
And there are some good online resources as well: studybass.com is great and starts from a beginner level. Scott Devine is an amazing teacher especially with more advanced techniques, but also for fundamentals. Paul from How To Play Bass Dot Com just steps you through a bunch of popular rock & r&b tunes...not bad for picking up new songs, but it's far better to learn the theory & structure behind a song than just memorizing the finger patterns. MarloweDK is a great player with hundreds of videos, but he's highly advanced.
Finally, musictheory.net has some great ear training exercises you can do any time, in addition to a wealth of info about basic theory that applies to all instruments.
http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826 is well worth a look at for some classic Jamerson lines. But it is notation only, so if your music reading is weak you'll need some practice before starting.
A truly awesome book !
Amazon Link
A lot of bass players swear by this book and for a good reason too. I personally don't own it, but when I used to take lessons my teacher would use it and my playing improved tremendously. If you wan't to learn why bass is played like it is today, get this book.
As for my listening reccomendations:
Paul McCartney (The Beatles)- the man practically invented pop rock bass playing.
John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin)- you would think that the guy playing in the biggest hard rock band of all time would be rather straightforward, but he could do it all. JPJ came from a studio player and could do jazz, blues, funk, you name it. He and John Bohnam could straight up hold it down.
Geddy Lee (Rush)- Sure Rush is technical and flashy (that's kind of the point) but Geddy Lee is the epitome of power trio bassists. He carries the melody, fills space, holds down time, and sings. At the same time.
For Motown, Standing in the Shadows of Motown: The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson is a must have. http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826
General practice and exercise: Bass Fitness
Theory, technique, ideas and concepts: The Evolving Bassist, Bass Method: Volumes 1, 2, and 3
Fun, interesting reads: 101 Bass Tips, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, The Music Lesson
Start from the beginning: James Jamerson.
Get Standing In The Shadows of Motown. It's got everything you need.
Maybe a nice book like this: https://www.amazon.com/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826
I'd highly suggest this book
A lot of the charts are kinda hard to read, but there's a ton of great songs ('Darling Dear', 'For Once In My Life', 'What's Going On' to name a few), music to practice a long to, and a couple little exercises as well
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
This book also called Standing in the Shadows of Motown is about him with notations and a CD that has bass in one ear and the band in the other.
http://www.amazon.com/Standing-Shadows-Motown-Legendary-Jamerson/dp/0881888826
I posted this question just as I started reading Standing in the Shadows of Motown and this exercise is one of the first things you play. I've been looking through some of the first transcriptions ("Uptight", "I'd be a Fool Right Now") and can now see the connection to the exercise. He really works the scale in his bass parts, hitting on not just the root and V but also the vi and vii to 'bring it home'.
Great stuff. Thanks all for the replies!