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Sight Reading For Bass is a beginner to intermediate level course that explores all aspects of reading and writing music notation for bassists. The ability to not only read but also write music notation is essential for any bass player who prepares music to be performed by other musicians. Following a clear analytical approach that begins by connecting the notes on the fingerboard to the notes on the staff, you will be presented with the standard guidelines of music notation, common note and rest values, articulation markings, and intervals before moving onto more advanced rhythm studies. You will learn how to decipher key signatures, time signatures, and chord symbols as well as navigate lead sheets and chord charts. Utilizing a collection of complete transcriptions featuring classic and contemporary bass lines in rock, blues, jazz, motown, latin & funk styles, you will become a proficient reader of standard notation through real musical application. Alternate versions of selected exercises also include tablature to help verify your work and track your progress. From learning to recognize basic notes and elemental rhythms to understanding sophisticated signs, symbols, and terms, this course will help establish the foundation you need to more effectively communicate with other musicians in all your future musical endeavors. Whether your principle goal is to become a professional session bassist, a member of a college jazz ensemble, bass chair of a symphony orchestra, perform in a school musical, play in church, jam with some friends in your garage, or to simply increase the productivity of your practice sessions, improving your sight reading ability will only expand your opportunities as a working bassist. Musicians of all playing levels who are required to read or notate music in bass clef will benefit from this comprehensive course. ... Enroll Today!

Each month, the IIB gives its viewers the opportunity to participate in various monthly giveaways. To become eligible to win products including basses, amplifiers, speaker cabinets, combo amps, effects, strings, instrument cables, pickups, gig bags, straps, gift certificates, DVD's, CD's, books, lessons, t-shirts, and more. ... ENTER TO WIN TODAY!

ProSteels are D'Addario's brightest and most magnetic bass strings. A specialized alloy delivers harmonically rich, brilliant high-end coupled with deep, tight lows that work in tandem to create the coveted "piano-like" tone steel players crave. Great for both articulate fingering or aggressive picking, ProSteels give you that little extra edge and punch you need to cut through the mix.

Suggested Retail Price - $32.99

The Planet Waves Gold-Plated 1/4" Angled - Straight Instrument Cable has near-perfect frequency response, double-insulated/double-shield coverage, and the lowest triboelectric (handling noise) of any cables on the market. The plug is soldered, covered with an internal copper shield tube, and then over-molded, first with a rigid PVC to encapsulate the solder joints, and then with a flexible polymer for unprecedented strain relief. This virtually indestructible construction is so tough, so durable, that Planet Waves Gold-Plated Instrument Cable carries a limited lifetime warranty.

Suggested Retail Price - $29.99

Tired of those shoulder and back aches after a long session with your heavy guitar or bass? The Planet Waves Padded Comfort Strap helps relieve the discomfort of playing a heavy instrument by distributing the instrument's weight across a wider area. This 3" wide, heavy-duty tubular strap is equipped with an internal pad that is designed for weightier instruments.

Suggested Retail Price - $29.99

The International Institute of Bassists is a bass-centric web site aimed specifically toward the art of contemporary bass playing and the study of the bass tradition. Since its founding in 1997 by bassist Cliff Engel, the IIB has established a long-time presence on the internet and grown into one of the largest and most popular interactive bass-related web sites found online.

In September, 1999, the IIB delivered its first monthly newsletter to less than 100 subscribers. Today, the IIB's newsletter reaches over 25,000 thousand bass aficionados worldwide each month. As a newsletter subscriber, you have the opportunity to win products such as basses, amplifiers, speaker cabinets, combo amps, effects, strings, instrument cables, pickups, gig bags, straps, gift certificates, DVD's, CD's, books, lessons, t-shirts, and more!

In order to fight spam, we require a double opt-in sign up process to make sure you really want to receive our mailings. After you submit your e-mail address using the newsletter sign up box found in the left column of each page on the IIB, you will receive an e-mail confirmation. To activate your subscription, just follow the instructions in the e-mail. Once your subscription has been completed, you will start receiving our newsletters once to twice per month. The IIB takes your privacy very seriously and will never share, sell, or divulge your e-mail address or other personally identifiable information to other organizations or third parties.

Bass Lessons - You will have access to a huge database of lesson material that has been written on subjects such as Classical & Jazz Music Theory, Sight Reading, Ear Training, Bass Line Construction, Right & Left Hand Technique, Soloing, Jazz Improvisation, Slapping, Tapping, Chordal Techniques, Harmonics, Fingerstyle Funk, Altered Tunings, and Concepts For Solo Bass Playing. All of the lessons are available as downloadable PDF files.

There are over 175 individual lessons and over 100 MP3 play-alongs currently available for download within the IIB Subscriber's Area. Click the graphic below to download a sample lesson.

The IIB Giveaways - Each month, the IIB gives its viewers the opportunity to participate in various monthly giveaways. To become eligible to win products including basses, amplifiers, speaker cabinets, combo amps, effects, strings, instrument cables, pickups, gig bags, straps, gift certificates, DVD's, CD's, books, lessons, t-shirts, and more. ... Read More.

The IIB MP3 Bass Samplers Volumes 1 & 2 - You'll receive access to the IIB MP3 Bass Samplers which feature 22 selected tracks that have been recorded by many of today's premier bass artists including Michael Manring, Marcus Miller, Stuart Hamm, Gary Willis, Ray Riendeau, Adam Nitti, Norm Stockton, Todd Johnson, Jeff Schmidt, Yves Carbonne, Tom Kennedy, Gerald Veasley, Chris Tarry, Chuck Bianchi, David Hughes, and many more. 2 HOURS OF MUSIC! ... Read More.

The lifetime subscription is a simple one-time fee that will allow you to receive all the benefits of the IIB Subscriber's Area including an extensive collection of exclusive lesson material featuring over 175 individual lessons which cover a broad range of subjects, the IIB Monthly Giveaways, and the IIB MP3 Bass Samplers Vol. 1 & 2 for years to come.

To become a lifetime subscriber, simply fill out and submit the form below. Include your desired Username & Password, click on the "Subscribe" button, and then you will be redirected to PayPal where you can complete the subscription. All fields are required to process your subscription. Please allow us a few hours to setup and activate your subscription after submitting your payment. As soon as your IIB Subscriber's Area account has been activated, you will receive an e-mail notification that will confirm your subscription. If you would prefer to become a subscriber of the IIB by using a personal check or money order, please read the instructions below. Your subscription is greatly appreciated!

Check/Money Order - You can use a check or money order to purchase a lifetime subscription to the IIB. Please make your subscription of $49.95 payable to "The IIB" in United States dollars, and submit it to the address below. Be sure to include your e-mail address along with your desired Username and Password so that we may setup your account.

If you have any questions regarding your subscription or need to retrieve your Username/Password, please e-mail: InstituteOfBass@Yahoo.com.

If you purchase a 6-month advertising package, not only will you receive 2 months of web site advertising for FREE, but your banner will also appear in each monthly newsletter during that 6-month period for FREE! That is a savings of $150 off the regular 6-month newsletter advertising rate! In September, 1999, the IIB delivered its first monthly newsletter to less than 100 subscribers. Today, the IIB's newsletter reaches over 25,000 bass enthusiasts each month! The International Institute of Bassists is a bass-centric web site aimed specifically toward the art of contemporary bass playing and the study of the bass tradition. Since its founding in 1997, the IIB has established a long-time presence on the internet and grown into one of the largest and most popular interactive bass-related web sites found online. As a viewer of the IIB, you can read exclusive interviews with bass virtuosos including Michael Manring, Stuart Hamm, Jeff Berlin, Gary Willis, Alain Caron, Matt Garrison, Keith Horne, and Brian Bromberg to name just a few. Viewers of the IIB also have access to free, downloadable lessons which are published by a staff of highly-respected instructors such as Michael Manring, Todd Johnson, Ray Riendeau, and Berklee College of Music professor Jim Stinnett. In addition to these lessons and interviews with the bass greats, viewers have access to interviews with the founders of manufacturing companies, bass shops, and bass events along with the latest bass-related news, reviews, and streaming media. Plus, viewers can also communicate with other bassists around the world through the IIB chat room. ... Read More!

Playin' Through The Real Book is the latest educational series produced by Todd Johnson. In this video series, Johnson breaks down classic compositions from the jazz repertoire that every jazz musician needs to know. Whether you are a beginner with no formal jazz training or a seasoned professional looking to add new vocabulary to your playing, this series will provide you with all the tools you need to understand and perform jazz music. In each of these 10-20 minute videos, Johnson improvises bass lines, solos, and chords for each song. He plays all of the examples at various tempos and provides explanations of what he is playing. This video series is available by download directly from Johnson's web site. Along with each video, you receive a complete transcription of the material and an MP3 play-along track. Featured songs include "All The Things You Are," "Autumn Leaves," "Bb Blues," "Blue Bossa," "C Minor Blues," "Solar," "Stella By Starlight," and "Summertime."

In the third and final installment of his popular Walking Bass Line Module System instructional series, Todd Johnson expands upon the fundamental components of triad and scale modules that he presented in the preceeding volumes. Johnson demonstrates how to improvise walking bass lines using rhythmic articulations. He also discusses modal bass line construction, two-beat playing, building bass lines on the E and A strings, playing in 3, transcribing, and more. This volume, available exclusively as a downloadable file directly from Johnson's web site, also comes with all of the exercises notated in PDF format.

Issued by Bassline Publishing, Sonorous Bass Transcriptions features complete transcriptions for every track on the debut recording of solo bassist Zander Zon. Also contained in this book are detailed performance notes for each composition and an interview with Zon which provides suggestions on getting started with playing in altered tunings on piccolo bass. Transcriptions include "Epic Love," "Circle Of Melodies," "I, Resolute," "Accelerate," "She Danced," "Tribal Chant," "Hope," "Looking Glass," "Meditation In E," and "Sencilla." 104 Pages.

With music by Michael Manring, Ray Riendeau, Jonni Lightfoot, Alex Bershadsky, Scott Harlan, Zander Zon, Chuck Bianchi, and Mike Dimin, Holiday Rumblings is the first collection of its kind to feature endorsing artists of Zon Guitars performing arrangements of traditional holiday music on solo bass guitar. A complete listing of tracks includes "We Three Kings" (Ray Riendeau), "Angels We Have Heard On High" (Michael Manring), "Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies" (Alex Bershadsky), "Silent Night" (Zander Zon), "The Holly And The Ivy" (Chuck Bianchi), "O' Come All Ye Faithful" (Scott Harlan), "Greensleeves" (Jonni Lightfoot), "Gloucestershire Wassail" (Mike Dimin), "Suite No. 1 In G Major" (Michael Manring), "In The Bleak Midwinter" (Chuck Bianchi), "Ma'oz Tzur" (Alex Bershadsky), "O' Holy Night" (Zander Zon), and "Carol Of The Bells" (Jonni Lightfoot).

XYZ Factor is a three-song EP from bassist Joseph Patrick Moore which fuses together elements of contemporary jazz with electronica and is inspired by the creative sounds of artists such as BT, Moby, Imogen Heap, Owl City, and Tiesto. Tracks consist of "Yield," "Xanadu," and "Zig Zag Zoom."

New York, NY - 12/26/2011

In this corner, weighing in at only 3 lbs., the new "Light Heavyweight" – the Tone Hammer 350! Sporting the legendary "Aguilar Sound" in a tiny package, the Tone Hammer 350 is a TKO (Tonal Knockout)!

Following on the heels of the massively successful Tone Hammer 500 amplifier, the Tone Hammer 350 retains the big sound of its predecessor within an even smaller footprint. Giving the Tone Hammer 350 its flexible tone-shaping capabilities is Aguilar's Tone Hammer preamp, the same preamp used in the Tone Hammer D.I./preamp pedal, which has become a favorite of bass players all over the world. The Tone Hammer 350 features bass, treble and fully sweepable midrange controls. The Drive control utilizes Aguilar's proprietary AGS circuit which adds subtle distortion and midrange punch to the sound.

Assembled in Aguilar's New York City factory, the Tone Hammer 350 will be released in March 2012 and carry a street price of $499.00.

Aguilar Amplification is a manufacturer of high quality bass amplifiers, speaker cabinets and accessories located in NYC. Many of the world's greatest musicians have chosen to use Aguilar. Our list of endorsers includes George Porter Jr. (The Meters), Tully Kennedy (Jason Aldean), Bill Dickens (Leo Nocentelli), Joe Karnes (Fitz and the Tantrums), Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction) and Ron Johnson (Warren Haynes).

For more information, please visit: AguilarAmp.com.