Paul McCartney: Bass Master: Playing the Great Beatles Basslines

I purchased this because it had the tabs for some of McCartney's best songs, that normally I can't find in other book compilations. But, I was blown away by the beauty of this book, and the authors truly took the time in explaining why these songs are so important. Reading about the way McCartney contributed to music through his outstanding bass playing style and talented abilities during his early Beatle years was a pleasure. He certainly did change the way bass was used. He was an innovator of the bass. This is surely one of my favorite McCartney books. Very well written.

SUPERBE ANALYSE MUSICALE.

ポール・マッカートニーを、ベーシストとしての側面から分析した160ページの著作です。著作前半では彼のベース・ギターの特色を、曲の部分的なタブ譜を多く含めて、編年体で解説してます。著作後半では全９曲のタブ譜とその解説とがあります。その９曲とは「Drive My Car」「In My Life」「The Word」「You Won't See Me」「Rain」「Taxman」「I'm Only Sleeping」「Lovely Rita」「Dear Prudence」です。どの曲もベース・ギターの占める役割が重要なものばかりです。また同時に、かなりの演奏技術が要求される曲でもあります。そしていままで出版されたタブ譜と比較すると、コピーの綿密さに気付くはずです。 さて、欲をいえば、曲数をもっと増やしてほしかったです。さらに続編の出版を期待したいです。なお全編英文ですが、タブ譜が中心なので、それほど心配する必要はないと思います。また、若干の英語力(拙劣な私どもも含めて)で、なんとかなると思います。

Having been written by Tony Bacon, one of the foremost experts in anything Beatles related, I was expecting something a little different to the usual run of the mill TAB books, and he didn't disappoint. A thorough background to McCartney's style and approach precedes some excellent bass transcriptions of nine of the best songs from the Beatles collection. Perhaps my only complaint is that the TAB is a little too small, and requires a bit of squinting to closely follow it. Otherwise all I can say is it's good bang for the buck.

This book goes into McCartney's bass-playing style and technique very thoroughly. The book starts off with some general coverage of the history and development of the Beatles, with reference to Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe. Throughout this section is fairly detailed analysis of McCartney's bass playing and various influences along the way. The book really comes into its own in the second part, where nine Beatles songs or rather the bass parts to the songs are transcribed and analysed. The authors go way beyond tab and notation. The songs have been analysed bar by bar, note by note. The nine songs, some better known than others all come from Rubber Soul onwards. I think that by reading this book and studying the second section the aspiring bassist will become inspired to develop as a musician. Those buying the book hoping to find root and fifth bass lines will be in for a big disappointment. It's uncommon for a member of a commercially successful group (bit of an understatement, we're talking about the Beatles) to be lauded so consistently and so widely for their musicianship but in McCartney's case it's warranted. This is an excellent book.