Ron Carter's Comprehensive Bass Method

About the Book

This is the centerpiece of the Ron Carter Library. (He refers to it as "THE book" when talking to his students)

While other bass lesson books teach you arco techniques and how to audition for a classical orchestra, this book is completely different.

It shows you how the bass functions, and the hand positions and locations on the instrument so you can find those beautiful notes too. And it has QR codes that link to video demos so you can watch the Maestro play the exercises himself.

With this book you can do what Carter does every night. Play rhythm changes all the time, make wonderful blues choruses, or in the Maestro's case, play Little Waltz for 25 years. And have it be new and fresh every time.

About the Author :
RON CARTER is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. He has recorded over 2200albums, and has a Guinness world record to prove it!In Jazz: From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. He can be heard onmany iconic jazz records of the 60's and 70's such as Speak No Evil, Maiden Voyage, Speak Like a Child, RedClay, Nefertiti and Miles Smiles, to name a few.In other music genres: After leaving the quintet he embarked on a prolific 50-year free lance career thatspanned vastly different music genres and continues to this day. He recorded with Roberta Flack and ArethaFranklin, appeared on the seminal hip-hop album Low End Theory with a Tribe Called Quest, wrote andrecorded pieces for string quartets and Bach chorales for 2-8 basses and accompanied Danny Simmons on aspoken word album.As a leader: Carter spends at least half the year on worldwide tours with his various groups. The Ron CarterTrio, The Ron Carter quartet, the Ron Carter Nonet and Ron Carter's Great Big Band. He has recorded multiplealbums with his groups.As an author: Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, where he explains his creativeprocess and teaches bassists of all levels to improve their skills and develop their own unique sound. He alsopenned his autobiography "Finding the Right Notes" which is available in print and also as an audiobookread by the Maestro himself.His books share a unique feature he pioneered, that of including QR codes in every book that lead toadditional material, instructional videos, all enriching the text and making each book more valuable.In 2021 he pioneered a new type of music transcription with Chartography, which follows the development ofthe bass line for Autumn leaves over 5 performances with the Miles Davis Quintet, showing not only the bassline but also how the band responded and how the entire tune transformed over time.As a teacher: Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at clinics and master classes, instructing jazzensembles and teaching the business of music at numerous universities. He was Artistic Director of theThelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty ofthe Music Department of The City College of New York, he is now Distinguished Professor Emeritus, hecurrently teaches at Manhattan School of Music.In film scoring: In addition to scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects forPublic Broadcasting System, Carter composed music for A Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., ThePassion of Beatrice directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. Vance.Film appearances: Most jazz documentaries feature the Maestro because of his indelible contribution to thegenre. Ken Burns "Jazz", "Birth of the Cool" about Miles Davis, "It Must be Schwing", the story of the BlueNote and many more. He also appeared as himself in HBO's hit series "Treme" and was the bassist onsoundtracks of Twin Peaks, Bird, and way too many others to mention.Education: Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in Rochester and amaster's degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. He has also received six honorary doctorates, from the New England Conservatory of Music (1999), Manhattan School of Music (1998), University of Rochester (2010), University of Michigan, (2016), Juilliard(2018), Berklee (2005.

Review :

"We are fortunate, as students, (and we are ALL Ron Carter students) that Sansei has codified his approaches to bass playing into concise and practical methods. Many decades of teaching at the highest level, at schools like Juilliard and Manhattan School of Music, and clinics and masterclasses at virtually every top conservatory in the world, insures his position at the top of the Jazz Bass Totem Pole, and the Bass Education Totem Pole!"

-- Steve Bailey, Chair, Bass Department, Professional Performance Division, Berklee College of Music