Search - Best of Lennon & McCartney for Bass Guitar Featuring Bob Efford on DVD

Strange and disapointing

C. Ballreich | 01/02/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I got this video for Christmas and was excited to find an easy way to learn some tasty bass parts. I started on the first section - "All My Loving" - and immediately noticed some weird errors. Like referring to a 1-3-5 pattern as 1-3-3. Nothing too significant, but the sort of thing that should have been caught and fixed. The verse was explained in detail, going through it note by note, then at half speed. The bridge and instrumental were only played at half speed (no note by note explanation). The final part (really just a reprise of the bridge) wasn't discussed at all. I learned the verse and went to try it with the recording and it sounded "wrong". Not out of tune, but pitched like a guitar not a bass. So I went to YouTube and searched for "All My Loving". This turned up several videos of Paul McCartney (with the Beatles and solo) playing the song. Paul never plays above the 5th fret while Mr. Efford starts the verse at the 11th fret - an octave too high. I spent a lot of time listening to the recording and going over it in detail (the kind of thing I'd hoped to avoid with this video) and found several other small errors. A lot of effort clearly went into making this video and I don't understand why they didn't work a little harder on the musical aspects of it. I haven't yet worked on any of the other songs, but I did notice that the signature riff from "Day Tripper" was also played very high on the neck and I expect that this song has the same issues as "All My Loving". I gave this two stars instead of one because I did get some good ideas from it, but it has some serious issues."

It's Worth It!

who cares | Florida | 12/12/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you are just starting to play bass or if you are primarily a guitar player (like me), trying to add bass to your arsenal, this DVD is what you are looking for. The instructor is informative and interesting enough without boring you with unnecessary details. I've been playing guitar (non-pro) for over 40 years but with bass it's been on and off again. This DVD inspired me to stick with it. It covers some great songs and it was easy enough to learn from. If there is any difference from the original recording and what was taught on this DVD I didn't notice it and I could play along with the original recordings without a problem. In any case it sounded good to me! This DVD helped me feel closer to being a bass player and I think it will help you too."