Topics in Jazz Bass – a new book from Danny Ziemann

I’ve been a fan of Danny Ziemann ever since I checked out his first book The Low Down.

Danny seems to be in constant motion. Whether traveling to Europe for various projects, creating courses with Discover Double Bass, or embarking on his latest Topics in Jazz Bass book, Danny approaches everything with a refreshing level of care and clarity.

About Topics in Jazz Bass

This latest book from Danny looks to be the first of a series of books covering jazz bass. It’s labeled as Vol. 1 – Harmony, and it’s broken into five chapters and accompanying demonstration tracks with bass, piano, and drum set:

  • Chapter 1 – Exploring the Relationship Between Tonic and Dominant in Static Harmony
  • Chapter 2 – Adapting I-V-I to Harmony of Two Bars Length
  • Chapter 3 – Triadic ii-V-I Shapes
  • Chapter 4 – Reduction Harmony
  • Chapter 5 – Reduction Harmony II: Rhythm Changes

As stated in his volumes, one of Danny’s main goals is to “create the most informed bass lines with the most basic harmonic information.” He aims to “imply in one note what a pianist does in five” and focuses on harmonic control with simple and effective structures.

Danny’s books are sequential and quite clear in their layout and intent, and Topics in Jazz Vol. 1 is no exception. Each chapter is divided into an introduction, exercises, and full walking samples.

He also demonstrates several “walking pitfalls” that bass players commonly fall into and how to avoid these in your own bass line construction:

The exercises throughout the book are thorough and lead to a three-dimensional understanding of the topic being covered.

Final Thoughts

This book is great for any intermediate level or above player. I’d encourage those just starting out with exploring bass lines to check out The Low Down volume 1 and 2, and then move into this new Topics in Jazz series from Danny.

Congratulations to Danny for another great resource, and I can’t wait to check out the next volume in this series!

Learn more about Danny:

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