Extreme Metal Bass: Essential Techniques, Concepts, and Applications for Metal Bassists

It's rare to peer into the mind of a brilliant artist especially one that shares their gifts to the world. In this book you will be challenged, the book opens up with a warning regarding hurting your hands and to practice comfortably from slow to fast. If you follow this book to the T and practice at least 3 hours a day every day you will be a monster.

I've been playing for a long time, but you never stop learning. I picked this book up a few months ago after eye balling it for a while. I am a fan of Webster not just for the music he plays with Cannibal Corpse, but also because he is a very articulate and learned bass player. He can rattle off alternate modes to scales like nothing, is always very clear in interviews, and the his playing chops are undeniable. If anyone was going to help me polish my playing for quick and aggressive metal, it would be him.The one thing to note is that this isn't a beginners book. Webster's deep understanding of music comes at the reader very quickly, with only a minimal amount of explanation. The writing supposes that the reader has a basic understanding of musical theory and notation. An absolute novice may want to start with a intro to theory book because diving into this.For a more experienced player, the book quickly quickly gets into some scales that Webster finds appropriate for heavy music. He explains the structure of the scale and the feeling it imparts to the listener. Then he goes into a series of exercises to help you build the speed and accuracy of your both your fretting and plucking hand (he supposes the reader is playing finger style like he does). If you start at a moderate tempo and work your way up, it is quite a workout. A metronome is a requirement for serious practice, and I have found that playing these routines with some drum software keeps them interesting, and allows me to crank up the speed.Tapping techniques and polyrhythmic syncopation are also covered.At only 60 pages, this book takes the reader through the topics at a fast pace. The fact that a book like this even exists is awesome, even if I would have liked a longer one with more exercises and techniques. So far I am enjoying it a lot. It will take me a while to master all of the material in it, which I feel makes it valuable.

I've been playing death metal guitar and bass for about 20 years. A lot of the scales and techniques in this book I already knew and have practiced for a long time. I've been an Cannibal Corpse / Alex Webster fan since the early 90s. I wanted this book for my collection. The print is large, the tabs are easy to follow and the online tracks are fun to play along with.

Some of these reviews are saying this isn't for beginners and maybe in general it's not. But it starts easy with scales and exercises a beginner can and should learn so one can gradually scale their skills up with this book. If you did Metal and you're a n00b; buy it.

I've tried playing bass for over 25 years now. I am about to start again...something keeps pulling me back in and that's my love for death metal/hard core punk/grind bass.Onto the book: I've read the first few chapters and understood just about everything. I was amazed at how easily Alex conveyed scales, exercises and good playing habits.Like another reviewer, I wish Alex had included four string version of his lessons. That said, the amount of clarity and common sense in this excellent little book nearly makes up for that.As someone who isn't math-centric or knowledgable about music theory, I am thrilled Alex' book is so easy to understand.I cannot wait to put these exercises into practice and look forward to bringing it to my bass teacher(s) so I can get another teacher's perspective on the content.

Very useful book. Definitely a good purchase if you plan to take on extreme metal bass playing.

As an intermediate bass player, I wanted to further improve my skills and improve in techniques that are derivative to the style I play which is of course metal. So many other books give you the runaround and don't give you the material that you really need. In this book, Alex Webster covers not only the basics but everything you need to play any style of metal. After mastering this book, you will be proficient enough to play metal bass, great book, highly recommend.

If you bought this book, chances are you've heard of cannibal corpse and a lot of bands that play so called extreme metal. As a player it can be hard to break down everything you're listening to and trying to emulate in these genres. This is an excellent book for those who are frustrated with the common hal leonard and the similar basic rock and funk books that don't cater to this type of playing. I would definitely not get this as a first instructional book. This book is for bassists that already dominate the basics and want to get better chops to keep up with more complex music.

Great Book by a master bassist. Very thorough. Slow and steady through the exercises. Is there such a thing as finger twisters? If there is... they're in this book. 🤘🏻

Das Gute an diesem Buch ist, man kann es auch astrein zum Gitarre üben verwenden.Einfach auf der b-Saite einen halben Ton höher greifen und schon kann man die Tonleitern üben die Alex Webster vorgibt. Aber das Beste an dem Buch ist, daß endlich mal ein Musiker einer legendären Death Metalband einen Leitfaden herausgibt, um die Techniken zu erlernen, die man braucht um technischen High Speed Metal spielen zu können. Und Alex Webster gibt hier sein Wissen und seine Erfahrung aus Jahrzehnten an den Mann. Von Gitarristen ist man gewohnt, Techniken für Solos beigebracht zu bekommen, wenn man sich solche Bücher kauft. Z. B. John Petrucci oder Paul Gilbert. Aber Alex Webster gehört zur Rhythmusfraktion von Cannibal Corpse und die Rhythmustechniken für Bassisten sind die eines Gitarristen nicht unähnlich. Und daher ist dieses Buch zwar hauptsächlich an Bassisten gerichtet, aber dennoch verwende ich es zum Gitarre üben und hab in den letzten Wochen einiges dazu gelernt. Dazu kann man sich zig Audiobeispiele runterladen die es pro Übung in zwei Versionen gibt. Einmal mit Bass und einmal nur mit Ron Jarzombek an der Gitarre!!! und Schlagzeug. So kann man hören das die Gitarre das gleiche spielt wie der Bass und darum sind alle Übungen und Riffs und Songs 1:1 auf der Gitarre anzuwenden. Genial!

As a beginner with little knowledge for music theory, I can use this to learn and expand my learning with the help of other books.The explanation is very friendly, this book aims for players who have knowledge with music theory but beginners can use this as well with extra research to know different terms and how to apply it.

Alex Webster ha bisogno di poche presentazioni: è uno dei bassisti annoverabili tra i grandi della scena metal estrema e calca dal 1987 i palchi con i suoi Cannibal Corpse.Da un punto di vista tecnico Alex suona (solamente) in fingerstyle e a velocità veramente elevate, e in questo libro vi spiegherà come approcciarvi gradualmente ai generi più estremi della galassia metal.Il libro è ben spiegato e con esercizi graduali, ma da principiante trovo che la difficoltà iniziale sia leggermente troppo elevata, Vengono spiegati bene tutti i concetti fondamentali, ma per riuscire a padroneggiare anche solo i primi esercizi è richiesto molto esercizio anticipato, soprattutto su velocità e precisione nell'esecuzione.C'è però una pecca: si ritiene fondamentale che ci si eserciti con un basso a 5 corde, tutti gli esercizi sono infatti strutturati per un basso di questo tipo, anche se in qualche maniera ci si può arrangiare con un 4 corde.In definitiva è un volume che consiglio a qualsiasi bassista che si dedica o si vuole migliorare nei generi più veloci e aggressivi, perché Alex è una garanzia da questo punto di vista: pochi tecnicismi fini a se stessi, ma soprattutto pulizia di esecuzione e velocità incredibile.

Useless to add anything about Webster as a musician and his contributes in metal music. The book is an awesome starting point for whoever is a self-taught on the instrument, and is able to correct some mistakes that are common without a teacher to be followed by. It contains very useful exercises and the results are easy to notice onward the time. It doesn't require a previous aknownledgement since the exercises start from the easier one to the more diffcult one, so is a natural progression and no theory is recquired (for this I can suggest some books from Malone, Willis or whoever good bassist out there). I truly suggest this!