The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to the Intermediate Student (Book 1) [Paperback]

Janice Tucker Rhoda (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2003

Janice Tucker Rhoda's phenomenally successful series, The ABCs of Bass, owes much of its success to the wonderful original material and to the sensitive arrangements of classical, folk, fiddle, rock 'n' roll, jazz and other popular melodies. After many years of teaching children and adults the author has developed a simple and enjoyable approach for studying the String Bass.
*The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to Intermediate Student, Bass Book 1 covers 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Half Positions. There are 49 Melodies, Finger Graphs, Warm-ups, Scales, Easy Duets, a worksheet for note-recognition, a glossary of music terms and symbols (page 47) and practice chart.
*The ABCs of Bass for the Developing Student, Bass Book 2 covers the following Positions: ½ pos, I, II, II ½, III, III ½, IV, IV ½, V and VI. There are 57 Melodies, Finger Graphs, Warm-ups, Scales, Arpeggios, and a worksheet for note-recognition.
*Bass guitarists can switch to String Bass with ease with The ABCs of Bass! Bass refers to Double Bass, Upright Bass or String Bass.
*The ABCs of Bass Easy Piano Accompaniment for Book 1 and 2 are also available!

Editorial Reviews

Review

The ABCs of Bass presents a wealth of information that is consistent with the pedagogy of the leading bass teachers worldwide!
-- Dan Swaim, Professor of Bass, Arizona State University

About the Author

Janice Tucker Rhoda's biography is included in Marquis Who's Who in America, Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the World. She has designed her path-breaking instruction series, The ABCs of Strings, to encourage students of all ages to play the Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass. She has given clinics and courses at colleges worldwide and has served as an adjudicator for solo competitions. Ms. Rhoda resides in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Ms. Rhoda is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts where her teacher was well-known violinist and pedagogue, Eric Rosenblith, protégé of Carl Flesch. She also studied with such luminaries as Nancy Cirillo, Rudolf Kolisch, Yuri Mazurkevich, George Neikrug, Daniel Pinkham, Gunther Schuller, Roman Totenberg and Benjamin Zander.

Mindful of the idiosyncrasies of bass tuning and technique, Ms. Rhoda has brilliantly adapted her innovative approach to the bass!

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Carl Fischer Music (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825852552
• ISBN-13: 978-0825852558
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Instruments & Performers > Guitar
  • #32 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Songbooks
  • #87 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Instruction & Study

More About the Author

Janice Tucker Rhoda is the author of the popular instruction series The ABCs of Strings published by world-famous Carl Fischer Music. She has designed her path-breaking series to encourage students of all ages to play the Violin, Viola, Cello and Bass. Her method makes learning to play a bowed string instrument easy and enjoyable. She gives string teacher training clinics and courses at colleges worldwide, and teaches an Adult Violin Course at Cambridge Center for Adult Education in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. She also teaches Viola, Cello and Double Bass, and accompanies students on Piano.

Ms. Rhoda studied in the prep and college division of New England Conservatory beginning at age 16 with pedagogue Eric Rosenblith, protégé of the famous Carl Flesch. Ms. Rhoda played a Brahms Sonata on a popular TV show at age 16, and became concertmistress of Massachusetts All-State Orchestra after auditioning playing Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto. When she was age 19 a car hit her Italian violin out of her hand and it sailed through the air and crashed to the ground! She grew up in a family of 5 children and 35 first cousins on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

Janice Tucker Rhoda's best-selling method series, The ABCs of Strings, encompasses Books, DVDs and CDs for Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass and String Orchestra. The books combine melodies from classical music standards, folk and fiddle tunes, rock 'n roll and jazz, and Ms. Rhoda's original compositions of these various styles along with warm-up exercises, scales and study pieces. There are simple graphs showing left-hand finger placement, worksheets for note identification and practice charts in all of the books. Each absolute beginner book has additional duets and a glossary of music terms and symbols.

Violinist Yuki Beppu began with the ABCs of Violin method series at age 4 with Ms. Rhoda. Ms. Beppu won the New England Conservatory concerto competition at age 10 and performed for the President. She stars in The ABCs of Violin for the Intermediate Player DVD and performs all 69 pieces from the ABCs of Violin Books 1 and 2, and A-Major, D-Major and G-Major Scales.

Ms. Rhoda's father played the steel guitar and harmonica; her mother played piano, acoustic guitar, accordion and sang. They both played by ear their entire lives. At age 60 both of her parents decided to learn to read music, so her father focused on Harmonica, and her mother on Piano. Her father practiced 5 hours or more every day while self-teaching. Her mother's private piano teacher from Russia said she would have been a child prodigy.

Ms. Rhoda has also studied Guitar, Flute, Clarinet, Recorder and Mandolin, and had years of private voice lessons beginning at NEC for college credit. She learned to read music at age 6 in the public schools and sang solos in school plays and graduations before studying Violin at age 9.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Beginning Bass Book I have seen!, December 16, 2003

By 

Sally A Cleary (Campton, NH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to the Intermediate Student (Book 1) (Paperback)

"How I wish I had had this book when I was just beginning to teach the bass years ago. It is so clear and straightforward, incorporating everything needed for the beginning bass student. With other bass books I have worked with this is not the case. Now I am relieved that I have this resource and can feel completely comfortable and confident about the material I am using.

This is by far the best beginning bass book I have seen!"

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy as Pie!, December 22, 2004

By 

Lenny (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to the Intermediate Student (Book 1) (Paperback)

I've played bass guitar for 6 years and wanted to learn string bass. This book was easy as 1 2 3. All the finger graphs showed me where the notes are.

There are 49 songs, alot of familiar, alot of new ones. In the back of the book there are duets, scales, a glossary and practice chart.

Worked great for me! It's says there's a book 2 on the back of the book--that's next for me.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something for everyone., September 9, 2007

By 

Rolf Wolfswinkel (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The ABCs of Bass for the Absolute Beginner to the Intermediate Student (Book 1) (Paperback)

I ordered this book, wondering whether there could indeed be a book that would make true on its promise to be of equal value to both beginning and intermediate students. But working throug it, it turned out to be just that: every bass player, whether just beginning or more advanced, will get pleasure from going over the exercises. And going through it one picks up or revives useful bits of knowledge. A little gem, highly recommended.