Book excerpt: This indispensable handbook helps players of all levels produce better, more creative, and more varied bass lines. Divided into two sections - Playing Your Bass and Knowing Your Bass - it covers everything from tuning, reading music, scales and chords, and advanced techniques to tips on buying and upgrading a budget bass and troubleshooting. Along with a list of suggested listening and reference guide, this book provides an unrivalled digest of bass information that might otherwise take an entire career to amass. It begins with a 'Basics' section that assumes nothing about your ability. 'Scales and Chords' shows you how to add other notes to your bass lines and includes exercises to extend musical knowledge and train your ear. It develops your understanding of the links between chords and scales, helping you to play from a chord chart or to improvise when required. Most of the ideas and techniques can be achieved without reading music at all, although the information is there for those who can. The 'Reading music' section develops an intuitive approach using pattern recognition rather than the usual mechanical (counting) method, and introduces a skill that may eventually become important to your professional career. Advanced techniques includes harmonics and fretless bass.