Mr. Johnson,

Hello. I am new to this site and I am not sure if I can ask you a question. Reading that you are a Jazz Bassist (among other things) I thought you would be the one to answer my question.
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I play electric bass and my cousin plays the piano. I know I should follow his chords with my tones (using arrpegios and the such). Do you have any other suggestions/tips to spice up my bass play?

Thank you,
Tony

Mr. Johnson,

Hello. I am new to this site and I am not sure if I can ask you a question. Reading that you are a Jazz Bassist (among other things) I thought you would be the one to answer my question.
hh
I play electric bass and my cousin plays the piano. I know I should follow his chords with my tones (using arrpegios and the such). Do you have any other suggestions/tips to spice up my bass play?

Thank you,
Tony

Hi Tony!!

Man, please forgive me.......I completely spaced and overlooked your kind and thoughtful post. Actually there were 3 or 4 I missed....Anyway....my deepest apology.

Well, the first rule is to provide the root motion. So, play the root or letter name of the chord on beat 1. That's always a GREAT place to start. After that, it's a matter of what style you're playing.

If it's a jazz style, then there's a TON of possibilities.

(Sorry....I don't mean to sound like a salesman.....) But if you want to learn how walking bass lines work, then I recommend you pick up my walking bass DVD's. I made these DVD's specifically for guys like you. It breaks things down into bite size chunks you can digest and have great success with. (other TBers can vouch for my videos)

Go to my YouTube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/toddjohnsonmusic and check out the videos that cover my walking DVD's. There's some good information there.

ALSO....PLEASE check out my friend Jim Stinnett. Go to www.jimstinnett.com and check out his books. Plus he's also got a few short lesson clips on his site you might find useful.

I hope this helps. If not, then give me something more specific and I'll do my best to answer your question. Fair enough???

Again, sorry for spacing on your post!!:o