Billy Sheehan: Advanced Bass (Book & DVD) (Paperback)

~ Billy Sheehan (Author) "Something I'd like to cover is the relationship between the bass, my hands, the electronics, and the amp..." (more)
Key Phrases: Major Riff

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Billy Sheehan shares the secrets of his signature techniques, including neck bends, tapping, pinch harmonics, and much more! This eye-opening look into the mind of a bass master will add new dimensions to your own playing. 32 pages.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Alfred Publishing; Pap/DVD edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739033123
• ISBN-13: 978-0739033128
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #662,764 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brim full of take it or leave it ideas and suggestions, June 4, 2008

By	Gary R. Oliver "Booked Out" (TAMARAMA, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The previous reviewer criticises the book principally because it has no exercises. This is true. However if you buy the book and DVD combination there are plenty of activities for you to peform. In fact Billy encourages you to stop and try for yourself to see whether what he says helps you. The camera gives close ups and Billy gives an explanation. I saw this book at the bookshop a year ago and ignored it because of the unfavourable review. That was a mistake. Yes the text and the book and is almost the same. So I skimmed through the book to see what I wanted to pay particular attention to. Yes the book has many pages on many topics. Yes the definition of what is advanced is open to debate. However it is a long time since I have read/heard anyone be as forthcoming with details of so many of their techniques.

Billy also states the point of view that practicing some routines for their own sake rather than songs improves capability and that repetoire can be drawn on later. This is a case of a player describing what he does and what they wished they had known. He says many times to pick what appeals from his samples of ideas. I like that and I like the ways he fits those comments around the way his own playing and playing preferences have evolved. He helped me understand why I have always had a nagging thought about separate amping of pickups. He also provided some very concise ideas on harmonics. All in all I found the book and DVD combo well worth the money. In short what he says plus what he plays on the DVD are both informative (unlike the Hal Leonard Flea DVD which I bought at the same time where what he plays is ok but what he says is cliched and empty of meaning).

6 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not At All Useful, June 23, 2007

By	Matthew J. Weaver "ezweave" (Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was browsing in Guitar Center when I came across this book. I will admit I'm not a fan of Billy Sheehan's music... it smacks a bit too much of that 80's pop-metal kitsch. However, that has nothing to do with my review here: I respect his talent and was curious to see what kind of riffs he used.

This is absolutely not an instructional book/DVD for an advanced bass player. There are zero exercises in this book. Instead, the book/dvd combo is filled primarily with the following sections: amp and equipment, strap length, stage presence, bending the neck, and a few brief discussions of actual technique (natural harmonics, pitch harmonics, and two hand tapping). I'm not even joking, this is literally mis-labelled as being an "advanced book". If you have been playing bass for more than a month, you probably already know everything in this book... there is almost nothing useful here that you couldn't garner from reading forum postings on the web.

The music exercises (on the aforementioned areas: natural harmonics, pinch harmonics, two hand tapping) have a single measure exercise on a single page and the DVD doesn't even go that far. The DVD basically amounts to an interview with Billy and the book just reiterates the same points with a slight increase in content.

The bottom line: this is not a worthwhile purchase unless you are an absolute beginner (then you can learn more from reading a whole page on strap length and four pages on amps). Do not be misled by the "advanced" title. This is strictly a book for the rookie. I regret this purchase and am very disappointed.

An aside: neck bending is not really that useful, don't do it unless you play a Fender style bass and you can afford to replace the neck in a few years.