Written by extreme bassist and sensei Bunny Brunel, Xtreme! Bass is a collection of phrase ideas, new intervals and exercises that will expand on your staid repertoire of soloistic patterns. More than just more or different exercises, Xtreme! is a creative "shot in the arm" for bass players who are stuck in a performance rut and do not feel they are getting any better no matter how much they practice.

All lessons are printed in the book using both tablature and standard notation and for both five and four-string bass guitar. Additionally, an included music CD recorded and played by Brunel in both MP3 and standard formats illustrates exactly how the many exercises that comprise a lesson should sound.

Lesson one starts with exercises in the Key of C Major with lesson two covering extended patterns and positions in C Major modes. Each subsequent lesson builds on what you've learned already with later lessons covering arpeggiated chords matched to modes.

I like how Brunel occasionally throws in interesting history or anecdotal information concerning the lesson's mode or melodic scale. For example in lesson seven we also learn that French Impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel both loved the C whole-tone extended scale that goes with augmented chords like C aug or C7#5. You can hear this scale at the beginning of Stevie Wonder's "You Are The Sunshine of My Life."

At $19.95, Xtreme! Bass from Backbeat Books will teach you new scales, patterns, fingerings and master phrases that seem impossible to play on the bass. It is available at bookstores, online or by calling 866-222-5232. Go to www.backbeatbooks.com for more information.


Bunny Brunel's Xtreme Bass