Help with walking bass - "Too Darn Hot"

[skycruiser]

I'm playing with a community big band group of volunteer musicians and really just barely hanging on. Most of the charts are fully written out but a few have some improvised sections that I'm getting better at handling. But we have one piece, "Too Darn Hot" that is fast and fully improvised. It also has some chords that I have trouble working out parts that sound good. I'm not educated as a jazz bassist so I'm basically trying to play notes that don't obviously sound like bad, wrong notes.

Since I was not able to keep up on this one improvising each time, I decided to write out a part (similar to the others we play). I'm wondering if anyone is willing to look over this to see if there are any really bad note choices that should be revised. In particular I'm struggling with handling the 6 chords, and measures where we hang on once chord for multiple measures. I know this is a "big ask" but I'd really appreciate any feedback at all about, but specifically point out any major errors that I need to fix.

My sheet music is attached. The measures without chords and written out as they are in the original sheet music.

 

[Leo Smith]

Surprised no one else has replied to this.

This is a well-written chart! Lots of good things happening here. There's no shame in writing out something like this.

Some of the ideas on the first page feel a little awkward (example bars 10-12) . Interestingly your lines get better and smoother on the 2nd and 3rd pages.

Repetition is good. Repeating the root note in a bar, for example, but also repeating whole ideas from one chorus to the next.

As you practice and get more comfortable with what you've written, you'll be able to break away from it and improvise around it.

Here are a few ideas and nit-picky things -
- pencil in rehearsal numbers / letters that correspond to the original chart so you can keep your place with the others during rehearsal.
- in a descending harmony like bars 9-11, stick with the bass notes of the chords, then in bar12 walk back up to the Cm (G-A-Bb-B). It's ok to repeat that whole phrase in bars 13-16, and at 69-76
- at bar 24, maybe play a walk-up (C-G-A-B) to help arrive at the top of the form. Yes, A natural and B natural. This draws from the C melodic minor scale.
- bar 52, repeat the G on beat 2
- bar 81 beat 4, definitely G natural (G# is not in the chord). then in the next bar play the D up the octave. Smooths out the line and is a typical sequence of notes for that chord progression. (similar to bars 21-22)
- at bar 93-96 maybe play a more scalar line -- C-D-Eb-E || F-A-Bb-B || C-E-F-F# || G-G-A-B || C etc....
- bar 118, do call that C flat a B natural, for the sake of correct musical grammar.

final thought - slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Don't be in a hurry to burn the temp! Take time to get good notes and good feel at a slower tempo before stepping it up.

 

[skycruiser]

Surprised no one else has replied to this.

This is a well-written chart! Lots of good things happening here. There's no shame in writing out something like this.

Some of the ideas on the first page feel a little awkward (example bars 10-12) . Interestingly your lines get better and smoother on the 2nd and 3rd pages.

Repetition is good. Repeating the root note in a bar, for example, but also repeating whole ideas from one chorus to the next.

As you practice and get more comfortable with what you've written, you'll be able to break away from it and improvise around it.

Here are a few ideas and nit-picky things -
- pencil in rehearsal numbers / letters that correspond to the original chart so you can keep your place with the others during rehearsal.
- in a descending harmony like bars 9-11, stick with the bass notes of the chords, then in bar12 walk back up to the Cm (G-A-Bb-B). It's ok to repeat that whole phrase in bars 13-16, and at 69-76
- at bar 24, maybe play a walk-up (C-G-A-B) to help arrive at the top of the form. Yes, A natural and B natural. This draws from the C melodic minor scale.
- bar 52, repeat the G on beat 2
- bar 81 beat 4, definitely G natural (G# is not in the chord). then in the next bar play the D up the octave. Smooths out the line and is a typical sequence of notes for that chord progression. (similar to bars 21-22)
- at bar 93-96 maybe play a more scalar line -- C-D-Eb-E || F-A-Bb-B || C-E-F-F# || G-G-A-B || C etc....
- bar 118, do call that C flat a B natural, for the sake of correct musical grammar.

final thought - slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Don't be in a hurry to burn the temp! Take time to get good notes and good feel at a slower tempo before stepping it up.

Thank you so much for going through this and providing these suggestions! Tonight I will go through them carefully and update my sheet music with these ideas.

My second gig with the group is coming up on Monday but I think I can work in these changes in the next few days.