Jon Liebman: Bass Aerobics (Book/Online Audio) (Includes Online Access Code): A 52-week, One-exercise-per-week Workout Program for Developing, Improving, and Maintaining Bass Guitar Technique Paperback – 1 Sept. 2011

I got this book about a month ago, and I've been sticking to the 'one exercise a week' system as recommended, so I'm currently on workout 5. It's designed to take you a year to get through the whole thing, so be prepared to stick with it for a while.I have been playing to a semi-pro level for over 20 years now, and wanted something to give me a bit of a kick in the butt to push me out of a rut.My first thought is that a well written and well thought out book that I can already tell will improve my playing. In fact it already has. I can already feel my technique improving.One thing is worth mentioning however: the front cover states " For all levels: From beginner to advanced". Now my idea of beginner may be somewhat different to Jon's, but if imho this is not a book for beginners. I would consider intermediate to advanced more accurate.Don't be put off though, it is a great book and I find myself looking forward to hearing the next workout, worrying when I see the score (my sight reading is not brilliant), and feeling proud when I have worked through it a week later.Overall thoughts? Brilliant! Well worth it.

This book is great if you are either self or teacher taught bassist. It's better for self-taught like me, because contains elements which i am generally too lazy to exercise alone, like recognizing key alterations and reading them and apply them in your playing. But even if you learn with a teacher, it will greatly improve your playing.This book is unique because offers you to exercise your technique (and does it hard) while maintaining 'the music', because while practicing you have to read music, and not senseless licks and scales like always happens.Every cent is worth because it offers me something i need for my learning, and that's not easy to find.It begins very softly with easy exercises (and easy note and time intervals) so even a good-willing beginner can afford it and then slowly get to harder and harder exercises.My experience with the first chapter about chromatics, for instance, is that i discovered a way to play music using chromatic passages which cover almost EVERY note in a fretboard section, and i didn't know that. I thought it was just a silly way to play, but now i know it isn't and i already am more aware of the fretboard because i have to play a lot of consecutive frets while reading and not look to my left hand.This book is great.

I bought this book about a year ago, and have worked on the exercises regularly. The studies are very hard for a beginner, and it would be more accurate to position this book for intermediate players with a year or two of experience. Backing tracks are available as downloads from Hal Leonard, but they run in a kind of app which is not very reliable and stops frequently, and I have found it impossible to use as a practice backing track. Also, the tempo markings have been omitted, so you have to listen to the backing track to find out what the "target" speed is that you are aiming to achieve. I have had to resort to constructing my own backing tracks using ChordPulse on my PC. Having said that, the studies themselves are excellent and have helped me a lot.

First and foremost - this book has great grooves. I've been playing for over 16 years and was finding it hard to motivate myself, as my learning curve had really flattened out. This book is challenging in many respects: it certainly is a workout, and it can be used as a reading exercise as well. I cover up the tab to stop myself from cheating and looking at it, and only check it when I need to make sure I'm fretting correctly - e.g. omitting open notes for fretted ones - there's also numbers in the notation indicating which finger certain phrases should start with, ensuring correct position and fingering.The chromatics section at the start of the book is brilliant for many reasons: It builds and improves individual finger strength and dexterity, but the exercises are fun to play because they GROOVE. It's Liebman's mantra really, the need to groove. This is what makes this book stand out from other 'workout' books, like say Bass Fitness; this book got tired very quickly because you're just running mindless exercises with no musicality. I realised after playing some of these exercises for some time, that my watch had become tight on my wrist due to the amount of blood pumping into my arm.Funk Bass and particularly Funk Fusion Bass are other books by Jon Liebman that I keep returning to, an invaluable source for any aspiring bass musician.

Excellent a must for any bass player

This is a great book, which really puts you through your paces as a bass player. It forces you to examine your fingering, your rhythm, your tonality and also how much you know around the fretboard ! I warn you, they are not easy, but at the same time they are not impossible either. They progress neatly through differing gradation of difficulty, each study focussing on a particular area of bass playing, thus making you a more rounded, more dexterous player. Serious hard-core bass exercises, however no pain - no gain !!!

I am now starting to get into the meat of this book and it is even better than i expected. Each workout really does push you hard. Personally i change the suggested fingering for some exercises and try to ignore the TAB but this book is helping a lot with speed, stamina and dexterity. I can't recommend this enough for all players.

Yet another book for those of you who can sight read music notation. No CDROM supplied but you do get a link to down load the audio.