Bass Transcriptions : websites and books

Thanks so much to all the musicians who created this amazing music and those that painstakingly transcribed it!   I encourage you to go to the websites of the transcription folk listed below and click on their links to buy stuff or ads so they can get revenue to help support their work.

Tab alone just doesn't cut it.  Transcriptions have and continue to be so helpful in developing my small but growing knowledge of lines and styles.

When I started playing bass whatever I learnt was by ear.  Then I got some bass instruction books and my first transcription book about Jaco Pastorious - from zero to hero!  Not exactly a gradual introduction ;)  Fast forward past many bass-less years to this past 12 months when I got into the bass again, bought a couple and started learning riffs and complete basslines from transcriptions, both bought and free online resources.  There are some absolutely amazing resources out there, put out by bass players who are highly skilled and open with their work.  They inspire me and fill me with gratitude.  Here are some of the books and sites that I've found most useful - bear in mind my interest is mainly Soul, Funk, R&B, Jazz, Latin, Reggae, Latin,...

My favorite bass transcription websites

* playbassnow.com : run by my favourite living player MarloweDK (Thomas Risell) of YouTube fame, has lots of very cool playalongs and has transcribed loads (you get a bundle of his stuff if you donate something)

* Stevie Glasgow : exceptionally high quality, only a few though, with in-depth analysis (lots of early Anthony Jackson)

* HowToPlayBass.Com : prolific learning-by- song-not -scales output by Paul Wolfe, with excellent free videos but paid-for transcriptions (which I signed up for) vie regular "ezines", a sample is given on the site.

* Arcellus Sykes : not checked more than a couple out, but lots here of old and modern tunes, very varied lots of soul/funk too

* FunkyBassOnline by Stefan Redtenbacher : oddly enough oodles of Funk!

* thelibster : transcriptions and more, check out the basslines section too which contain a lot of the charts she's done for Australian Idol

* The Bassment : lots of wellknown Funk, Soul, Pop lines here

* Freebasspart : very comprehensive website by Pierre Verger . often transcriptions of whole albums. absolutely tons of Soul, R&B, Funk  (Chuck Rainey, Jerry Jemmott, Rocko Prestia and more)

* Tom Kenrick : eclectic mix from Michael McDonald, Jamiroquai to Paramore,  bias on modern stuff

* Johnny Copland : another great mix of lines including Chuck Rainey's melodic beauty "Until you come back to me"

* PlayBassLines.com : very slick presentation with videos and info

Other bass transcription websites I've not had time to delve deeply into yet that may be or become your favourites!

* Basso Ridiculoso : great blog, navigate via tag cloud. lots of Jazz

* Lucas Pickford : emphasis on Jazz, plus some Soul/Funk (Jackson, Miller, Pastorius)

* Bruno Chaza : mix Jazz, Soul, Funk

* Jake Brown : modern, eclectic  mix

* Cliff Engel : transcribes to order, a few examples

* Marco Accattatis : mainly Jazz, but also some Beatles and Flea!  Also has a very large pay-for collection

* Our Class by Ron Mollinga : mostly Rock. Part of a school site!

* BassLessons.be : another very eclectic mix


* Ian "Dodge" Paterson : funk, soul, jazz

* Bassistik by Sebastien Husson : about 25 of funk, pop, rock

Feel to suggest your own in the comments to get them added.