About the Book
"Jonathan Townes has found a way to make studying a joy. This book has charm, surprise, and challenge built into every bar... I have a hard time putting it away because I want so much to know what the next étude is like!"
-Alex Lacamoire (Composer, Arranger, and Music Director for Hamilton, In The Heights)
The journey to complete fretboard fluency shouldn't feel like a mystery. This book is a sovereign, emotionally grounded method-a direct, step-by-step guide designed to lead bassists out of first position and into complete mastery of the neck.
82 Études for Four & Five String Bass is more than a book of exercises; it's a map of where the music goes. It began as a gift to a student and evolved into a method that inscribes decades of teaching experience into a clear, musically truthful process.
Designed for the Real World, Not the Textbook
Most reading methods simplify music, but in doing so, they fail to initiate students into the complexity of actual performance scores. These études were composed as realized improvisations, maintaining the organic rhythmic and melodic integrity of genuine music. By refusing to simplify, you're prepared to read any score without overwhelm.
What You Will Master
Holistic Musicianship: Choose your focus-sight-reading, ear training, rhythm, or improvisation. The variety of styles-from classical and baroque to hard rock, reggae, EDM, fusion, and jazz-means these exercises always feel like real music.
Positional Fluency: Études progress from open position to the twelfth fret, challenging you to master the instrument's full range.
Deep Theory: Navigate odd time signatures and train your ear to "hear" in Locrian.
Professional Benchmark: Students who complete the études can read repertoire like Bach's Prelude (BWV 1007) with ease.
4- and 5-String Mastery: Two distinct parts build melodic awareness on both instruments.
A Complete System for Rhythm
If the rhythmic demands feel challenging, that's intentional. The companion Rhythmic Counting Workbook offers practice with every rhythmic value explored-quarter notes to 16ths, including triplets. Use it alongside the études to master rhythm before placing fingers on the fretboard.
The Power of the Realisations
The written page is just the map. To connect theory to sound, 57 études grew into full compositions. These are presented as songs across four volumes: 57 Realisations From 82 Études for Four & Five String Bass. Use the audio to follow the score, find your place, and understand how written music becomes sound.
This method is clear, complete, and emotionally grounded in the lifelong pursuit of musical sovereignty.
About the Author :
Jonathan Townes is a composer, educator, and ritual architect whose work bridges traditional theory, modular design, and expressive transformation. With over 45 years of experience in music composition and instruction, he has developed a sovereign pedagogical system rooted in clarity, logic, and emotional resonance.His catalog includes The Rhythmic Counting Workbook, 82 Études for Four & Five String Bass, and the nine-volume series Octo Gradus Transformationis: Ratio Et Modus - a modular framework for melodic development that blends scale exercises, seed window logic, and transformational processes.Jonathan's approach honors recursive tonal logic, symbolic music design, and the expressive clarity of structured improvisation. Whether teaching, composing, or mythologizing the creative process, his work invites musicians into a deeper relationship with sound, structure, and self.
Review :
I've never been much good at studying. All my life I've found it tedious and rather boring. However, with this book, Jonathan Townes has found a way to make studying a joy. It's not often one finds musical exercises that bring a smile to their face.
The pages that follow include a variety of études in a variety of styles, all meant to improve one's musicianship. With these studies, you can choose a host of skills to practice-modes, improvisation, ear training, rhythm, sight-reading, or using the entirety of your instrument's range. The author/composer trains you in areas that I wished more exercise books touched on-odd time signatures, "hearing" in Locrian-and its audio companion, featuring a multitude of contemporary grooves like hard rock, reggae, and EDM, outwits the competition by leaps and bounds.
Jonathan has made that rare thing: a collection of miniatures for beginners, amateurs, and experts. This book has charm, surprise, and challenge built into every bar. With its sleekness and confidence in presentation, it signals that you are in the hands of not only a brilliant musician and teacher, but a storyteller.
I find this collection to be a bit of a page-turner-I have a hard time putting it away because I want so much to know what the next étude is like! How often does that happen with an exercise book? (Answer: rarely)
Jonathan Townes' études make me want to practice and study my craft. Jump to any page and I'm certain you'll feel the same.
-Alex LacamoireComposer, Arranger, and Music Director for Hamilton, In The Heights
