That’s true, and I’ve woodshedded my way through Coker, Ray Brown and the like. What I’m getting at here is developing the ability when walking to go to the nearest chord (or scale) tone. That is, to loosen the gravitational attraction of the root so as to be able to smooth out a walking line when appropriate. And to make a smooth transition between scales used throughout the form.
And you didn’t kill the conversation - yesterday I finally figured out how to get the tone I want out of my Alembic Series 1, after a long time trying. I was on the verge of selling it, and all of a sudden it showed what it could do. So I was a little absorbed!
And I’m glad I’m not the only one who makes scale/chord charts of the various forms of harmony!
Ray Brown is good stuff and can be readily adapted to electric bass. He played electric bass too (on the Merv Griffin show). I adapted his upright style to OFPF for electric.
You may already know this, but learning the seven positions that go with the major scale and its inversions will teach you the finger fluency for chord tones all over the neck. Once you have those patterns wired in your brain and can hear them, the importance of the positione per se becomes less important. This is a little more apparent with OFPF than Simandl technique. PS, another reason not to trust tab.
Ray Brown's playing style is very much about position and fluid shufting. If you study his walking lines and solos, you will see that very clearly. You will see a lot of his phrases involve passing tones instead of chord tones. He also goes beyond that to just fluid playing that isnt rooted in position, but the path to that mastery takes you through position playing first.
One common error in bass soloing is always starting solos on the root and gravitating to it. If you master the inversions on the neck and in your head, you will sound much more musical. For example, if the key is C and the Chord is C , kick your solo off with a phrase based around G Mixolydian or D Dorian and using the appropriate position.
If you are playing Autumn Leaves ( a great song for learning the almost diatonic changes) and you find yourself playing the same position for a given chord, stop and reconsider what other inversion options would work. If its in G, you could play Am all the way through and sound like Pat Martino (exagerrating). Learn to make phrases based on the correct diatonic position, then learn to make phrases using the alternates to the usual diatonic poitions.
Finally, look at the Melodic and Harmonic minor as being alterations of the Major diatonic system, rather than a totally new scale. For example, the 2nd degree of the Melodic Minor is the Dorian b2. Extending this....
Melodic Minor (4 degree) = Lydian b7
Melodic Minor 5th degree = Mixolydian b6
Melodic Minor 6th degree = Aeolian b5
Melodic Minor 7th Degree = Locrian b4
Do you see the pattern??? Also, this breaks down for the 3rd degree which is a Lydian Augmented instead of a Phrygian flat something. Why???
The Harmonic Minor scale has two alterations from the major (b3 and b6) and the above system breaks down except for the Mixolydian b2b6 and Super Locrian - Locrian B4, bb7. Calling the the 5th degree the Phrygian Dominant is more common, but obscures whats going on - a Mixolydian b2 b6 or Mixolydian b9b13 if you prefer.
Finally, once you know all the above rules, learn how to break them as the occasional passing tones and "wrong notes" are what catches the listeners ears.
Good Luck
