Meet your new bass: Bass and the bassist -- Shopping -- Getting acquainted with your new friend -- Facing the music: Reading the directions -- Fascinating rhythm -- Getting to your roots -- Great leap forward: Major scale -- Chords and Arpeggios -- Other chords you'll need to know -- Using what we've learned so far -- Movin' and groovin': Home sweet home: Concept of keys -- Minor madness -- Wandering from home: Chord progressions -- Further from home: More chord progressions -- Going modal with scales -- Progressive jamming -- Moving on up: Spicing up your playing -- Further on up the neck -- Riffs to clip and save -- Going solo at the improv -- Playing for life: Slap, crackle, pop: Some more fun techniques -- Loud stuff: Rock'n'Roll -- Blues -- Not-so-loud stuff -- All that jazz and some extra spice -- We are the world -- Taking care of your best friend -- Afterword -- Appendixes: Guide to "The complete idiot's guide to playing bass guitar CD" -- Glossary -- Warm-ups and other exercises -- For further study -- Index

"Whether readers have just picked up the bass or are learning to improve their technique, this book provides a strong foundation in reading music, purchasing the right equipment, and care and maintenance of the bass guitar. A CD of original music helps budding bass players practice their skills. a Includes an original CD featuring examples and practice music for a wide range of stylesa blues, rhythm and blues, country, hip-hop, rock, swing, jazz, Latin, reggae, and more a Written by the managing editor and senior columnist at www.GuitarNoise.com, one of the webas most popular and highly regarded instruction sites."--Publisher