walking basslines

[marine18]

what is the best way to create walking basslines in jazz music

[bigblondeafro87]

with an upright

[RedLeg]

Listen to some bass lines and bassists you want to emulate. You want to develop a vocabulary, one must know the language first. You gotta know your arpeggios ascending and descending (2 octaves is major plus) for:
maj7 ,dom7, min7, maj6, min6, half dim, dim7, dim, and aug
And I mean KNOW 'em.

1. Chord tones and common tones are your friend especially on strong beats
2. Scale tones round out the edges on your lines and keep you "in" sounding
3. Half step approach from above or below, usually occurs on weak beats, this is that thing that bass players get away with and sounds really hip when done tastefully.

In the end it is about smoothness and highlighting both the changes and what the soloist is playing. There is soooo much more, but I will be brief. Hope this helps.

[Ed Fuqua]

Shameless BigEgoHead...

[Asher S]

Here's my post from this thread over in the Jazz Technique forum:

You have to crawl before you walk, right?

3 great books to check out:

Ed Friedland: Building Walking Bass Lines, and Expanding Walking Bass Lines (both available at Amazon).

Bruce Gertz: Walkin' http://www.brucegertz.com/walkin.html , also available at Amazon tho' they mis-spelled his name as "Gerzz"...

Ed's books give a very clear progressive intro to walking lines, starting with root-5, then adding chord tones, then scale tones, then chromatic approach notes etc etc. The second book also deals with rhythms beyond the quarter note walk.

Bruce's book has a nice couple of pages near the start with (a) common scales, and (b) common chord patterns. The rest of the book is filled with great examples of walking lines. It's very helpful to analyze each page, i.e. is the target note a chord tone? If so which one? (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th), If the note is an approach note, what kind is it (chromatic, whole tone, dominant, scale tone, chord tone)?

Each book comes with a CD that's great to listen to and to play along with.

One way of learning to play great walking lines is:

1. Look at each pair of chords within the progression, find the chord tones for each chord, then identify scale tones and chromatic tones that link the 2 chords together smoothly, within the context of the melody (which you should be able to play on your bass). The strongest approach notes are often notes shared by 2 chords or scales.
2. Think about TARGET NOTES (the first note you hit for a given chord, almost always a chord tone), and APPROACH NOTES (the note(s) you hit 1-2 beats before the target note).
3. Find some recordings of walking lines you really like. Transcribe them, then analyze them as I describe above. Use The Amazing Slow Downer software if needed.
4. TAKE YOUR TIME. Don't expect to be generating great walking lines on the fly from the get-go. Like every other skill, this one needs to be patiently nurtured and developed.

... and as always, practice a ton, have fun, make it musical and not just aiming for notes that fall in the chord.

[TimoMetzemakers]

Originally Posted by Ed Fuqua

Shameless BigEgoHead...

Ed might be shameless but the book is excellent. I've been using it with my students for a year, and they all have grown alot. The book is short and to the point, but it will keep you busy for years to come.

Thanks Ed!

[Ed Fuqua]

Thanks, Timo!