My First Jazz Jam Session

[cubop]

Last night I worked up the courage to sit in on a jam session in Brooklyn and it was extremely intense. The tunes were "Straight No Chaser" and "Night in Tunisia". The changes flew by at the speed of light and it seemed like the solos went on forever. My fingers were numb, aching and self esteem was gone. I felt like a failure and couldn't wait to get off the bandstand. The musicians had no problem in letting me know I was a 'beginner'. The feedback I got was "WORK ON YOUR
1. Walking Bass Lines (I was playing Roots and 5ths only)
2. ii V I
3. VI ii V I

Yet, no one told me how to WORK ON these areas or why these are important for a bass player. Can anyone elaborate or make suggestions or recommend resources. I will not give-up and will be at the set next week to listen and learn.

[Roy Vogt]

There's a great deal of resources here:
Jamey Aebersold Jazz
If you don't already have it, I'd recommend Rufus Reid's The Evolving Bassist (both the book and DVD).
I can remember my first Jazz Jam at age 17. I, too, got my butt kicked! Keep working on it and it (and you) will get better.....

[Ed Fuqua]

This and that. This is from the forward to that and talks a little bit about what walking line is supposed to do, the book goes into how to make that happen.

PREFACE

If you’re a beginning bassist or even if you have some experience with other styles of music, playing jazz standards can be a scary proposition. Creating a walking bass line can seem almost too hard; it challenges your understanding of functional theory (what notes will work with these chords), your physical approach or technique (finding those good notes on the fingerboard) and your ear (which notes will sound good). And to do all of that not only with the chord changes as composed, but also in answer to a soloist’s direction and to drive a rhythm section, well it can be almost overwhelming. This book will try to give you the tools to build dynamic, propulsive, swinging melodic walking bass lines that are yours, which you come up with.


The points we’ll cover in order to create a walking bass part are these:
1. HARMONIC PROPULSION – What? All I mean by this is keeping the chords (the harmonic progression) moving. Although many jazz books and teachers base the swing feel on an approach to the 8th note, we as bassists (in the context of a walking line) are dealing with quarter notes. And to give forward movement to a line, to harmony, it’s really important that note choice MOVE THE MUSIC FORWARD.
2. HARMONIC DEFINITION – So “harmony” means the chords, right? Harmonic definition then must mean “defining the chords”. We bassists are the foundation of the harmony; whatever note we play can, in so many situations, define and change how the harmony is heard or functions. The most basic way to “define” a chord is to arpeggiate it.
3. MELODICISM – So many young players I talk with have a mental “divide”; they ask, “Should I work more on accompaniment (walking) or soloing?”, as if they are two different things. The work that helps you create a walking line also helps you build an improvised solo line. And all of the “vocabulary” that you use to build melodies– sequence, motivic development, scalar movement, arpeggiation, interval leaps – also helps you build a walking line.

We’re going to work on creating your OWN walking bass lines by using these 3 points.

[pbass888]

One of the best exercises that Ed suggested in his walking book that I still use to learn the standards is to work thru a tune in arpeggios and inversions ( CHORD LINE...see his book for the exact technique). Basically involves starting at a slow tempo and playing the chords in "close" hand positions. It REALLY gets the tune in my head when I jam with some pianists etc.


Also Im newer to jazz/'bass and I get "roasted" from time to time but I try to keep getting out there which is scary
That and listening to the vocal version ( I like actually learning the corny lyrics to standards).....

Also suggest listening to Percy Heath... lots of good meat without the fluff!

BTW thanks again Ed we are lucky to have guys like you and Paul on the site.
Best,
Sri

PS GET ED's BOOK!!!

[Russell L]

Jazz can be daunting when ya don't know what's going on. I have played jazz guitar since the early 60s, 6-nights-a-week in the 70s and jazz bass since 1988. At least by the time I was mainly a bass player I had a background. Mostly standards and some jazzy blues. But, what to do for bass lines? Well, I just used my noggin and theory degree to do the very things outlined above in Ed's post. It was just intuitive to proceed with ideas like that. I listened some, but really never dug too deep into anyone in particular as far as style goes. I figured I could figure it out, and I did.

It helps to know theory. Or, maybe I should say it is essential. I couldn't get by without it, myself. I have sat many an hour with the Real Book playing through the changes and doing one thing more that hasn't been listed---singing the melody along with the bass line. Eh, humming, that is. Sometimes the bass line on its own needs to hear the melody as well, especially when the melody is dissonant against the bass line. I wish I had spent more time playing the melodies, but I haven't. I was always more concerned about seeing that I was good to play gigs and just get through the bass part. I've done ok.

The bass line can't just be arpeggios, of course. To that end I learned to use scale steps to walk around through the changes when it was convenient (actually I've been able to find changes I had forgotten by walking on the steps). Sometimes, when it was ok I've been able to jump around a bit, only as long as the tune would allow. But, I've tried to not get stuck within just one octave all the time for the rest of the tune. At other times I've even found it useful to hit the root twice before going to the next note. Stuff like this has been very interesting to evaluate as I try to see what sounds good, or, on the other hand, to know what not to do again. Ya gotta try stuff.

I've never been one to use methods, though. Can't comment on any, but I'm sure there are good ones. I was fortunate in that I already knew theory, so I was able to figure a lot out by myself. But, today, I don't really consider myself a jazz player. I didn't delve far enough, but was taken by other styles, although I still like to play some standards when I get a chance. I'd never make it at a jam, though, unless they just happened to be playing the tunes I know.

Take notes at the jam and learn those songs that are the most commonly known. Then, get a chart and read it, trying different approaches, as listed above. Try not to be daunted by the other players when you get back to the jam. The more you play and learn, the more confidence you'll get over time. Good luck with it.

[cubop]

Thank you all, those links and all the information will be very helpful. I purchased the suggested book "Jazz Bassics" and will work through it. I can see there is much work in front of me. Thank Again.

[Ed Fuqua]

Where in Brooklyn was the session?

[henry2513]

Start by learning the modes and then learning which fit over what chords. That's a great place to start.

[Ed Fuqua]

I disagree.

[redname]

Originally Posted by henry2513

Start by learning the modes and then learning which fit over what chords. That's a great place to start.

how does that help?

[redname]

so far, what I've learned on walking bass lines is to know your chord tones.

basically, it's about what are the notes that make up a chord.

a good walking bass line consist of the chord tones (plyed in a way that defines the quality of the chord) and approaching the next chord in a chromatic way. This will develop that moving/walking feel and also let the rest of the band (esp the singer) know which chord that's playing now.

start with a tempo of ard 100, that will give you time think of what to play, then moving on to faster tempos. I'm currently practising on 160 which requires hell lot of endurance from me

you can start by walking some blues swing and also the song "All of me" cause most o the chords are 2 bars each ad that will give you time to think of what to do next

[Russell L]

Mode-wise, I think it's important to understand Ionian, the major scale, and how its harmony works. I find it most useful to know that I, IV, and V are major chords, ii, iii, and vi are minor, and vii is diminished. That's the most basic info there is.

[onosson]

I'm not really a jazz player at all, but I listen to a ton of jazz all the time. I play a lot of blues and r&b/soul and do a lot of walking in that context, and I think I understand pretty well how to make interesting walking lines, how to lead into chord changes, how to support a solo, complement the melody, etc.

What really trips me up when it comes to jazz is intuiting the changes. I get the basic, simple types of standard changes and turnarounds, but when it comes to longer and more complex tunes, especially when they are played at speed as can often be the case at a jam session with good players, I get LOST very quickly. I'd love to hear any tips or suggestions on how to approach learning overall changes and song arrangements in "traditional" jazz styles!

[redname]

Originally Posted by Russell L

Mode-wise, I think it's important to understand Ionian, the major scale, and how its harmony works. I find it most useful to know that I, IV, and V are major chords, ii, iii, and vi are minor, and vii is diminished. That's the most basic info there is.

so how does knowing the modes help in constructing walking bass lines?

[redname]

Originally Posted by onosson

I'm not really a jazz player at all, but I listen to a ton of jazz all the time. I play a lot of blues and r&b/soul and do a lot of walking in that context, and I think I understand pretty well how to make interesting walking lines, how to lead into chord changes, how to support a solo, complement the melody, etc.

What really trips me up when it comes to jazz is intuiting the changes. I get the basic, simple types of standard changes and turnarounds, but when it comes to longer and more complex tunes, especially when they are played at speed as can often be the case at a jam session with good players, I get LOST very quickly. I'd love to hear any tips or suggestions on how to approach learning overall changes and song arrangements in "traditional" jazz styles!

more practice for me on this.

basically, I'll just randomly pick song and walk through them at different tempos.the fastest i've tried now is 160 and that's really tiring and hard cause your brain has to think of the next thing to do really quick an your fingers have to move really quick as well.

[Russell L]

Originally Posted by redname

so how does knowing the modes help in constructing walking bass lines?

What I mean (I shoulda never used the word "Ionian") is that in any major key, the half-steps of the major scale are ordered in such a way that I, IV, and V will be major; ii, iii, and vi will be minor; and vii will be diminished. It's because of the fact that in a major scale (same as the Ionian mode) the half-steps occur between the 3rd and 4th scale steps, and again between the 7th scale step and the octave (or 1). The other modes simply move the positions of those two half-steps to get the sound they get. For instance, a II-chord in Lydian is major, instead of minor. That's because one of the half-steps in the Lydian scale is between 4 and 5, instead of between 3 and 4, meaning that the Lydian scale incorporates an augmented 4th scale step. See, that changes the chords.

So, when I'm playing and it comes to a ii-V progression, for instance, I know to play the ii as a minor chord, and the V as a major chord. Furthermore, because I know what they look like, shape-wise, on the fingerboard, I only need to think of the root, which tells me what fret to begin on.

[blakelock]

Originally Posted by onosson

What really trips me up when it comes to jazz is intuiting the changes. I get the basic, simple types of standard changes and turnarounds, but when it comes to longer and more complex tunes, especially when they are played at speed as can often be the case at a jam session with good players, I get LOST very quickly. I'd love to hear any tips or suggestions on how to approach learning overall changes and song arrangements in "traditional" jazz styles!

exactly the same for me. it seems that ed's "really learning a tune" approach is what is needed for this. it really internalizes the chord changes of a song so that even if you get lost, you open your ears, hear where the band is at, and pick right back up. of course, this only works one song at a time. making your way through all the standards would be a life's work but i suppose you'd start to pick up on some common (but not as common as ii-V-I) progression patterns after a while.

[onosson]

I guess that's the problem - I'm just not familiar enough with the common standards. I suppose, as with most music, getting to know the melody intimately would be very helpful.

[Snarf]

Originally Posted by henry2513

Start by learning the modes and then learning which fit over what chords. That's a great place to start.

I completely disagree. Arpeggios with the appropriate extensions should be the first thing. Modes can encourage players to play too linearly, when it's much better to think vertically. Modes are important to know about, but should not form the basis of an understanding of jazz.

[henry2513]

Originally Posted by Snarf

I completely disagree. Arpeggios with the appropriate extensions should be the first thing. Modes can encourage players to play too linearly, when it's much better to think vertically. Modes are important to know about, but should not form the basis of an understanding of jazz.

All those Apeggios and extenions are already in the modes if you apply them in the right way, after that it's just a matter of note choices which is why I believe it's also great place to start, especially if you want to build facility across the fretboard.