Kickstarting a movement for the Left Handed Bass Player!
When I wrote Music Theory for the Bass Player I thought very hard about how to best present music theory concepts on the fretboard. I really wanted to work around having to be able to read notation. (Read here why I think learning theory first, then reading is the better way and other thoughts on the topic of reading and theory)
I observed in others and myself that a great way to approach the bass fretboard is to learn by shapes (visual learning) and feel (kinesthetic learning), so I decided to use fretboard diagrams to teach music theory. It did occur to me however, that a book so heavy on diagrams would be hard on left handed players (I acknowledge that in the foreword, but that’s it). I get dizzy when I attempt to create a left handed view, so that’s how it must feel for left handed players to look at my right handed diagrams!! It’s like driving on the other side of the street!
I have been getting quite a few inquiries from left-handed players recently who are longing for fretboard diagrams to be reversed accordingly and language altered to fit their needs. I would love to be able to provide that! The cost to pull this off would comprise creation, setup and legal costs, managable, but a few thousand.
I cannot do this alone, so this is where you come in…
- Anyone good at Kickstarter campaigns or IndieGogo who would enjoy lending a hand setting this up and running it?
- A left handed bassist who would volunteer to adapt the language in the text?
- A left handed player who could turn the diagrams around. I get absolutely cross-eyed when I try to do that, though there may be a one-click operation to do that in InDesign once we figure out how to mirror the images.
I’d also like to interview a few left handed pro players and educators about specifics of the lefthanded life on bass, and add a chapter specifically for the left wing. So if you would like to participate in that or know someone, I’d love to talk to you!
I can’t do this alone, but with your help this could happen. You’d be part of the “Music Theory” street team (hey I just created that 🙂 ). Rewards will be early access to new books and products as well as free access to my upcoming 20-week course and other products.
Email me via my blog, if you are interested!
Cheers,
Ari
