Ron Carter: Blueprint for the Working Jazz Bassist

About the Blueprint 

Whether you're a beginner or an accomplished pro, this Ron Carter book teaches you how to create your unique sound. A sound that will give you a lifelong career as a working bassist who will be hired over and over again because people know that unique sound and want it on their records and performances.

It takes you step by step through Ron Carter's Method of the "Connect the Dots" system of note choices. It's the system he created as a young player, and he still uses it to this day.

The bass is the heartbeat and the spine of any band. In the right hands, it makes the other players sound better.

Unlike the old days when the bassist was hidden behind the palm tree, they are now front and center, have the audience's attention, and are sonically center stage.
Now that you've got their attention, what do you do with it?

This book is your roadmap.

*Please note this book is delivered digitally. For a spiral-bound copy, please visit Mr. Carter's store.

From Ron

"Creativity is not a property of exceptional people.  It is an exceptional property of all people." 

-Ron Carter

Testimonial

"I have studied with Mr. Carter for 7 years, but I can honestly say that his books are the next best thing to get to know his process and approach to developing a high level of skill on the instrument.  With that, you can ultimately construct the kind of melodic, powerful, and contrapuntal bass lines that can impact and affect the music you play." 

-Saadi Zain

About Ron Carter 

Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. He has recorded over 2200 albums and has a Guinness world record to prove it!

In Jazz: From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. Over his 60-year career, he has recorded with so many of the jazz greats: Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Bobby Timmons, Eric Dolphy, Cannonball Adderley, and Jaki Byard, to name a few. He can be heard on many iconic jazz records of the '60s and '70 such as Speak No Evil, Maiden Voyage, Red Clay, Speak Like a Child, Nefertiti, and Miles Smiles, to name a few.

In other genres

After leaving the quintet, he embarked on a prolific 50-year freelance career that spanned vastly different music genres and continues to this day. He recorded with Roberta Flack, Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Bette Midler, and Aretha Franklin, appeared on the seminal hip-hop album The Low End Theory with a Tribe Called Quest, wrote and recorded pieces for string quartets and Bach chorales for 2-8 basses and accompanied Danny Simmons on a spoken word album.

As a leader

Carter continues to do worldwide tours with his various groups. The Golden Striker Carter Trio, The Foursight quartet, the Ron Carter Nonet, and Ron Carter’s Great Big Band. He has recorded multiple albums with his groups.

As an author

Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, where he explains his creative process and teaches bassists of all levels to improve their skills and develop their own unique sound.

His books share a unique feature he pioneered, that of including QR codes in every book that lead to additional material, enriching the text and making each book that much more valuable.

He also penned his autobiography “Finding the Right Notes,” which is available in print and e-book and also as an audiobook read by the Maestro himself.

As a teacher

Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at clinics and master classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the business of music at numerous universities. He was Artistic Director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston, and after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of The City College of New York, he is now a Distinguished Professor Emeritus.  He also taught at the Juilliard School and at the Manhattan School of Music.

In film scoring

 In addition to scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects for Public Broadcasting System, Carter composed music for A Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., The Passion of Beatrice, directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. Vance.

Film appearances

In 2022 PBS premiered the full-length feature film documentary of Carter's Live and Legend "Finding the Right Notes.  Many jazz documentaries feature the Maestro because of his indelible contribution to the genre, including Ken Burns' Jazz, “Birth of the Cool” about Miles Davis, "It Must Be Schwing," the story of the Blue Note, and many more. He also appeared as himself in HBO’s hit series “Treme” and was the bassist on soundtracks of Twin Peaks, Bird, and way too many others to mention.

Education

Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School in Rochester and a master's degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.