Struggling with Walking

[BHurn]

I'm doing an audition saturday for a jazz ensemble and I am having trouble walking a Swing line. I have the chords and, as I said, I have to write the line. If anybody can take this and come up with some idea that I can work with that would be great. I'll write it out as clearly as I can.

Swing
Quarter - 144
Key of Eb Major

(EbMaj7) - (Em7(b5)/A+7(#9)) - (Dmin6/9) - (Db7) - (Cmin7) - (F7) - (Fmin7) - (Bb7/(eighth rest followed by E7(#9) hold)) - (EbMaj7) - (Em7(b5)/A+7(#9)) - (Dmin7) - (G7) - (2 measures written) - (Bmin7 coming off Bb dotted eighth from prior measure) - (E7/Bb7.E*Eb)

Key: ()-Measure /-beginning of chord at 3rd beat
*-eighth notes .-End of chord at beat 4

If any clarification is needed, please don't hesitate to ask. I also needed to ask about a ballad bass line. Let me know if you have interest in helping and I will post that chord chart out as well.

Thanks for the help!

[bThumper38]

Use the chords to make your bass line, and just try to make a walking bass line that flows. not to much jumpin' around. Use tri-tones in the 1/2 measure chord changes, and practice is really slow till you get it up to speed. good luck=) brian

[CamMcIntyre]

I'd recommend spelling out the chords. This will let you see where the smooth transitions are. You have a ton of options...welcome to the world of walking bass. The more you do it, the easier it gets.

A quick example for the first 2 bars:

Eb G Bb G | E Bb A E| D etc etc etc.

OR

Eb Bb Ab G| E G A A(low)| D

I see that you're in a Youth Orchestra, have you studied much chord theory or walking lines in general? A few things that have helped me a lot are: transcribing & listening, Ed Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines, taking lessons from someone who can guide you.

all the best.

[BHurn]

It's a classical youth orchestra...so the music, obviously, is more busy then a jazz line. I appreciate the help though. If you could, what would your recommendation be for the Dmin6/9? I don't know what to do with that one at all...

[MarkMcCombs]

do you know what notes are in a Dmin6/9 ? I couldn't tell if you do or not - and I'm not dissing you if you don't. If you don't, then I would recommend studying up on chord theory and nomenclature.

MLM

[WJGreer]

The simplest and most effective advice I ever received about structuring walking basslines was to approach the root by half step. As a rule, it doesn't always stand up, but it helps me get through charts I'm not familiar with, and is especially useful when each bar has two chords.

[Marc Piane]

Ed wrote a good book on this very topic. I use it with my students that are learning to walk.

[hdiddy]

Beyond Ed's book, there's also lots of discussions about this in the past. Check the newbie links.