Ask the question or make the comment. All this waiting to be in the exact string is BS. I made a string for Lesson 2 and 117 came but no one ask a question or made a comment. So forget about all this segmenting. Ask away.
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Building Walking Basslines Lesson 1
- Thread starter Pbassred
- Start date
Yes. When we finish this book our bass lines need to sound good no matter which way we have elected to go. By now most should understand I'm of the chord tone interval number group. Deciding what chord tone interval numbers to use with MY bass line is the ultimate goal. If it sounds good it's good.
One thing that is helping me -- I am using Audacity to lower the piano volume on the CD so I can hear the bass. Being able to hear the bass line on the CD emphasized the fact that the exact note is not all that important- it's the over all affect - that is the important thing. Gets back to the groove. Gotta groove.
Are you making notes of the generic bass lines you want to incorporate into your playing. I did not use the 8 all that much in the past. It's now a part of my "stuff".
Great post. You raise some excellent points.
For those who question the value of reading standard notation in conjunction with developing walking bass lines, I'm attaching an example from a chart that is very typical of what you might expect to see in a working situation. This chart requires the ability to walk over changes, but also the ability to read a written out line.
Attachments
Bear in mind that there is much more to a walking bass line than just chord tones. One of the things that I find interesting about Ed's approach in the BWBL book is that he introduces the concept of chromatic approaches before he discusses the third and the seventh, which are arguably the two most important notes in the chord.
I'm not participating in the study but have the material and work on it from time to time. Reading a number of posts here, I see a lot of frustration with the way it is going. The idea is a good one but maybe the approach needs some help.
If I may offer my .02. Everybody can study the same book but not everybody can do the same lessons at the same time/pace. I'd suggest folks working at their own pace but posting and getting responses about their specific focus at that particular time. Does that make sense? There will be may branches of the tree forming. It's really independent study within a group of people. Not everyone can be on the same page at the same time. I'd hate to see this thread die. Bob
If I may offer my .02. Everybody can study the same book but not everybody can do the same lessons at the same time/pace. I'd suggest folks working at their own pace but posting and getting responses about their specific focus at that particular time. Does that make sense? There will be may branches of the tree forming. It's really independent study within a group of people. Not everyone can be on the same page at the same time. I'd hate to see this thread die. Bob
Is it me or is anyone else a lil confused by this. I know what the dominant is(5th) and what is meant by dominant of the dominant. The part about the U/L dominant of the dominant(which is really the second). Why isnt it the dom of the dom just referred to as the second?
I too was confused with the term. I Jumped over this and now welcome hearing the answers to this question.
Pg 5. The left channel only is bass and drums. Right is piano and drums. Just select left or right channel based on the needs of the moment.
This is common usage on instructional recordings.
I run every thing through a mixer so not only can I pick a channel I can center the remaining one so it plays on both sides of my headphones.
Because a walking bass line is just as much about where you are going as it is about where you are. As Ed says on page 4 in the preface: "the walking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere ... the walking bass line is movement."
What Ed is doing in this section is looking at the current note to see what its function is with respect to the next note that you are going to play, rather than its function with respect to the current chord. That's one way to create movement in a walking line.
Since we are the students, and NOT the teachers, we should trust the teacher to get us there. There is a mission statement or goal actually listed in the book.
If we had all the answers, and knowledge and skill, we would have written the book and not Ed.
If you trust ED, and want to make the effort to really learn what Ed is teaching, then study the book. Ed put it in there for a reason.
I have BWBL already, but started with Jazz Bass (a mistake in order I see now). I am an experienced bass player, and had lessons too, who skipped some important stuff for a lot of reasons. I am now going back to basics to learn the stuff I missed using Teach Me Bass Guitar by Roy Vogt. I am going to put this book into my study cycle because walking is simple yet really tough to do right.
I strongly urge anyone still listening, not to make the same mistake I did. It is ALL important, everything, you do not have the knowledge, wisdom, or experience to know better. And the teachers are still learning too. Trust that Ed will get you there, by really studying the book. It will take time, that's OK..
I strongly hope to learn from this thread. (more than just the typo).
If we had all the answers, and knowledge and skill, we would have written the book and not Ed.
If you trust ED, and want to make the effort to really learn what Ed is teaching, then study the book. Ed put it in there for a reason.
I have BWBL already, but started with Jazz Bass (a mistake in order I see now). I am an experienced bass player, and had lessons too, who skipped some important stuff for a lot of reasons. I am now going back to basics to learn the stuff I missed using Teach Me Bass Guitar by Roy Vogt. I am going to put this book into my study cycle because walking is simple yet really tough to do right.
I strongly urge anyone still listening, not to make the same mistake I did. It is ALL important, everything, you do not have the knowledge, wisdom, or experience to know better. And the teachers are still learning too. Trust that Ed will get you there, by really studying the book. It will take time, that's OK..
I strongly hope to learn from this thread. (more than just the typo).
I'm not sure I understand your question, but I'll give it a go.
With the dominant approach, you're playing the note that's the 5th of the next, or target, chord, not the 5th of the chord you're in at the moment.
Take exercise 17, the first one with the Dominant Approach. It sets you up nicely. Gm7 is followed by C7. What's the 5th of C? It's G. So right before you get to the C7 chord, the note you play is G. U/L is just letting you know to come at the C7 from above (U - a high G) or below (L - a low G). There are a lot of instances in this exercise where the 5th of the next chord is actually the root of the current chord.
On the 3rd line/3rd measure, F7 is followed by D7. The 5th of D is A, so A will be the note leading into D, in this case coming at it from above ('U'pper A). A also happens to be the 3rd of the F7, so it's a note that both works in the current chord (F7) and as the approach (5th) of the next chord (D7).
With the dominant approach, you're playing the note that's the 5th of the next, or target, chord, not the 5th of the chord you're in at the moment.
Take exercise 17, the first one with the Dominant Approach. It sets you up nicely. Gm7 is followed by C7. What's the 5th of C? It's G. So right before you get to the C7 chord, the note you play is G. U/L is just letting you know to come at the C7 from above (U - a high G) or below (L - a low G). There are a lot of instances in this exercise where the 5th of the next chord is actually the root of the current chord.
On the 3rd line/3rd measure, F7 is followed by D7. The 5th of D is A, so A will be the note leading into D, in this case coming at it from above ('U'pper A). A also happens to be the 3rd of the F7, so it's a note that both works in the current chord (F7) and as the approach (5th) of the next chord (D7).
Now this thread is cookin!
I like that this concept appears early.
As it says in the book, "A good line has a feeling of forward motion." The half step approach, from either above or below, wants to, needs to resolve.
For example, sing a major scale using solfege syllables, ending on "ti."
do re mi fa sol la ti
See what I mean?
+1
If the participants could use the title line as a page and/or track reference, it would make it easier to quickly search within the thread.
So for the dominant approach, you still need to pick a note from the current chord tone?
When do you venture out from the current chord tone or scale when you approach. Even if chromatic approach, how often is it within current chord or scale?
For those who question the value of playing the chord tones, look at the same chord chart.
I've said in earlier posts that I think reading is important. I do both but focus mainly on chord tones for this book.
Febs, you have valid points and I appreciate your contribution to the thread.
Not necessarily. The dominant approach is determined by the 5th of the target, or next, chord. This approach note may or may not also be from the current chord tone.
In the 2nd example I cited, I just wanted to point out that in that particular case, the "A" not only was the 5th of the D7, but also the 3rd (as noted underneath by Ed) of the F7.
From your answers this began to sound familiar to something used by rhythm guitarists. Backcycling. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Where you let the circle of 5ths / 4ths take you to the next - in this case chord. In our case note. Works this way:
Circle of 5ths laid out in a line.
C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-B-E-A-D-G-C
If D is the target what leads to D? A leads to D.
If C is your target what leads to C? G leads to C.
If Bb is your target what leads to Bb? F leads to Bb.
OK got it. Very good exercise if you are writing bass lines on paper. Another use for the circle. Little more sophisticated than chromatic approaches which are relative easy to use.
Where you let the circle of 5ths / 4ths take you to the next - in this case chord. In our case note. Works this way:
Circle of 5ths laid out in a line.
C-F-Bb-Eb-Ab-Db-Gb-B-E-A-D-G-C
If D is the target what leads to D? A leads to D.
If C is your target what leads to C? G leads to C.
If Bb is your target what leads to Bb? F leads to Bb.
OK got it. Very good exercise if you are writing bass lines on paper. Another use for the circle. Little more sophisticated than chromatic approaches which are relative easy to use.
