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EBS Songbook Level One  Introduction

Bass Songbook Index – Level 1

Gigajam Songbook introduction

The Gigajam Songbook for Level 1 Bass contains five pieces of music. These have been written specifically to enable students to practise the skills they have learned through their study of Level 1 Bass.

Each of the songs represents a genre within contemporary popular music, and begins to demonstrate how widely the skills learned can be applied to music of varying styles.

Developing your skills

Working with the written music, and the music played by the BassXtractor, you will develop your ability to:

  1. Read a bass chart.
  2. Play consistently in time.
  3. Play using the knowledge and many skills learned through the course.
  4. Develop some new variations to bass lines and grooves learned.

By playing with the BassXtractor, you can record your performance and compare it to the bassist in the BassXtractor, using Analyser. You should be listening to your performance and comparing the sound you create to that of the recorded bass part. You should use Analyser to identify areas of your playing where you feel you are not quite getting it right or, perhaps, where you are unsure as to why you are going wrong.

Playing live

The songs have been written for guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. So, when you have become familiar with your part in the band, you can play the songs with friends and colleagues in a live band situation — with or without the BassXtractor.

If you have a drummer and bassist, for example, you could play together — muting the drum and bass parts on the BassXtractor — and use the BassXtractor parts for the keyboards and guitar, so that you have ‘virtual’ players in your band.

How to use the Songbook

In the Bass Songbook Index — Level 1 panel (at the top right hand side of this page) is the list of songs you can learn to play. Choose a song and then use the notes that accompany the song. These will help you to understand the structure of the piece and they contain many tips to help you get started.

As always, play along to the BassXtractor whilst reading the part. Feel free to cycle tricky parts of the tune, using the looping function on the BassXtractor. You can also slow the tune down to help you learn small sections. When comfortable, record and analyse your own performance and see how you are getting on.

We hope that you enjoy the pieces and that you have lots of fun playing along.