Two change bars

[xyloeye]

Hi Todd,

I've been working my way through vol. 1 of Walking Bass Lines. Great method for a classically trained player like me. I can play the charts in front of me, but before your book I could never see the logic in bass line construction. Seems simple when you know the answer. Thanks for your excellent series of books.

I do have a question. A lot of stuff I play has two chords per bar. It sounds kind of strange to play the tonic on 1 & 3 with leading tones on 2 & 4 in every measure. But given the frequency of changes, what else to do?

Thanks,

Ken

[Todd Johnson]

Originally Posted by xyloeye

Hi Todd,

I've been working my way through vol. 1 of Walking Bass Lines. Great method for a classically trained player like me. I can play the charts in front of me, but before your book I could never see the logic in bass line construction. Seems simple when you know the answer. Thanks for your excellent series of books.

I do have a question. A lot of stuff I play has two chords per bar. It sounds kind of strange to play the tonic on 1 & 3 with leading tones on 2 & 4 in every measure. But given the frequency of changes, what else to do?

Thanks,

Ken

Hi Ken,

Good work! Sounds like you're doing just fine.....way to go!!

With 2 chord changes in a bar ....I would recommend starting with the roots on the down beat of the chord...for sure...absolutely....then get comfortable with the root, 3, 5, and the half step ABOVE and BELOW leading tones on beats 2 & 4. For example:

11...1a...1b...13...15

This is a great start.....then mix them up according to "taste" and you'll be in great shape!!

Have fun!!

[xyloeye]

Thanks, Todd. Sounds good. I'll work on it.

Ken

[ctregan]

Hi Todd, I also just started to work my way through book one and have a question.

Is there a Roman numeral label system, for the progression used in book one?

[Todd Johnson]

It's just a jazz blues in "F"....one of several/many possibilities.

We could definitely assign roman numerals to the progression, but that's not my goal that early in the system.

Hey, here's your assignment....Figure out what those roman numerals would be!! Cool??? Cool....

Let me know what you come up with.

[ctregan]

Wow, Extra Credit!
I will try to remember way back, to a music appreciation class, I took at the local community college. Here it goes:

I II III IV V VI VII VIII
F G A Bb C D E F

I imagine the Jazz blues, is a form of a I IV V progression, but there are a few more chords than the "regular blues".

My thought was, by finding the roman numerals, I could experiment in different keys. This may complicate the simplicity of your method, so maybe I'll stick with key of F for now.