Double Bass How to do better walking bass lines

[kdrabbit]

Another +1 for Mike Richmond's book, I always go back to it to get fresh perspective

 

[Dimmik]

I would recommend just walking a single chord such as a D Dorian. Don't worry about ii-V or any of that. Just work one chord for all it's worth and pay attention to:

• Holding the notes out. It's really easy to cut them off without realizing you are doing it.
• Accent 2 and 4 which really gives you some jump.
• Work your way up and down gradually rather jumping around low-to-high high-to-low.
• Use your Simandl! It's the best walking book there is!

Also, work with ways to arppegiate using one chord such as our D Dorian. Start with D on every bar and try every possible combination you can come up with with just those 4. In fact, you can repeat notes in bars rather than use all four just don't resort to passing notes and what not. Try to see how much music you can come up with using just those 4 notes. You'll be surprised.

 

[tdmorley]

Richmond's book is fantastic. I still pull it out to play the "F" versions. In fact I know much of these by heart. They then sneak into my playing.

 

[pnchad]

I would recommend just walking a single chord such as a D Dorian. Don't worry about ii-V or any of that. Just work one chord for all it's worth and pay attention to:

• Holding the notes out. It's really easy to cut them off without realizing you are doing it.
• Accent 2 and 4 which really gives you some jump.
• Work your way up and down gradually rather jumping around low-to-high high-to-low.
• Use your Simandl! It's the best walking book there is!

Also, work with ways to arppegiate using one chord such as our D Dorian. Start with D on every bar and try every possible combination you can come up with with just those 4. In fact, you can repeat notes in bars rather than use all four just don't resort to passing notes and what not. Try to see how much music you can come up with using just those 4 notes. You'll be surprised.

Yes, on the single chord thing - I find that harder to keep fresh than moving changes - you have to learn ascending and descending, tonal center viarants, things like that

the tunes of value here are; So What, Equinox, etc.

when you're walking thru changes you have a lot of the 'tension/release' responsibility - it's harder to create the 'tension' side on a single chord

 

[bnutz]

Exercises and scale work are great, and should be a part of a regular practice regimen, but if you really want to create interesting lines that sound good on their own and help move the changes along, listen and transcribe as much as you possibly can. Then transpose the transcriptions into different keys and really internalize them.

It doesn't even have to be an entire bass line or solo, but just a passage, or turn around or single chorus that you find interesting. Figure it out and plug it into a different song with a similar change to see how it works. Then take a step back and figure out why it works.

After doing this for a while you will have so many ideas to pull from over any given set of changes that whatever comes out will be your own and won't sound like you're just parroting the masters (which isn't such a terrible thing, anyway.)

-b

 

[Dimmik]

Yes, on the single chord thing - I find that harder to keep fresh than moving changes - you have to learn ascending and descending, tonal center viarants, things like that

the tunes of value here are; So What, Equinox, etc.

when you're walking thru changes you have a lot of the 'tension/release' responsibility - it's harder to create the 'tension' side on a single chord

Yes, walking in one chord is actually more challenging in some respects. Likewise, playing in two-feel can be more challenging than walking in terms how not to sound monotonous and overly simple. I don't know if there are any threads about the intricacies of playing in two-feel but there should be. And when I wrote about playing just the four notes, I obviously meant 1, 3, 5, 7 but I didn't make it clear. Again, it's a challenge to do that and find those tension and release points which is why it's a great exercise. When I play with my band mates, we often to do that--just play in one chord and everybody solos while I walk it and I'll solo too--but we'll stretch out that one chord thing for quite a while and just groove on it. I then notice that when I start walking over changes, it's easier, almost effortless. And I agree that "So What" is a very good one to practice that with.

 

[tdmorley]

LaFaro and Chambers transcriptions are particularly interesting. They break all the rules, and really play countermelodies in quarter notes.

 

[Marc Piane]

Patitucci called walking "improvised counterpoint" in a clinic once. That really stuck with me. Rather than just thinking about connecting chords make sure the line has melody and is in the moment and is interacting with the other lines and rhythms.

 

[davidhilton]

That's where we'll have to disagree; in my experience, if you can't make a line of just quarter notes swing, no amount of crap you add onto that is going to make it swing.

Exactly...
www.basslessonslosangeles.com

 

[sean_on_bass]

Yes, walking in one chord is actually more challenging in some respects. Likewise, playing in two-feel can be more challenging than walking in terms how not to sound monotonous and overly simple. I don't know if there are any threads about the intricacies of playing in two-feel but there should be. And when I wrote about playing just the four notes, I obviously meant 1, 3, 5, 7 but I didn't make it clear. Again, it's a challenge to do that and find those tension and release points which is why it's a great exercise. When I play with my band mates, we often to do that--just play in one chord and everybody solos while I walk it and I'll solo too--but we'll stretch out that one chord thing for quite a while and just groove on it. I then notice that when I start walking over changes, it's easier, almost effortless. And I agree that "So What" is a very good one to practice that with.

I like to think of it has composing your own changes over a pedal backing. Modern jazz seems to have longer segments of single chords, so this skill is a must these days.

 

[Anonymatt]

I get bored of my lines a lot. The feel, tone and everything gets better and better with time, but I get stuck in ruts where I play notes that I think are dopey. I'm less often in the position of feeling like I don't know what to play and feeling more like what I'm playing is okay but lame.

My lines are the best when I know the song so well that there is no fear of getting lost. Around a certain level of comfort, I feel like I'm able to think clearly about the melody of the line and not get caught up in making the changes. This only rarely happens to me on the half dozen tunes I know really really well.

 

[tdmorley]

I like to think of it has composing your own changes over a pedal backing. Modern jazz seems to have longer segments of single chords, so this skill is a must these days.

Some modal jazz has a bass ostinato, which can sound wonderful, but is really boring to play. In songs like "So What" it's easy to lose the forward movement and tension/release. It's much more difficult than the changes would indicate.

 

[powerbass]

Walking is about feel/vibe and the technical stuff. As mentioned playing one note over 4 measures can be really hip, sound and feel great or it can be dull/lifeless. In my limited experience feel and time are the top priorities then followed by theory. Listen to jazz, listen to Duke Ellington, the bass is front and center, the playing is not overly technical but it sure sounds great.

 

[tdmorley]

Indeed, while other bassists will notice the notes that you play, the important parts are time and groove -- moving the song forward -- defining the form.

 

[Jeff Bonny]

There are a lot of ways to get there but ultimately you need to know the tune well enough to sing (or whistle or hum or run in your head) a great line with great time and clear intent.

 

[Kai Sanchez]

A lot of good advice has been brought up so far, but I believe that the rhythmic aspect is a priority. You have to be able to swing the quarter notes before worrying about the bass line's motion and note choices (studying bass line construction is also very important). Triplets and skips don't make quarter notes swing, the consistent placement of the quartet note and how you feel the third partial of the triplet are crucial in creating that consistent floating feel of a walking bass line. A good example would be to write a set of quarter notes and ask a classical bassist "play these quarter notes pizzicato", and then ask a jazz bassist "play these quarter notes", just play what's on the sheet, both will sound very different! Obviously, the jazz bassist will put a swing feel to it. But wait a second they are just quarter notes! Exactly! It is what beat are you feeling internally, you are already playing the downbeat, so that third partial of the triplet, where all the skips, snare drum accents, horn accents happen, has got to be consistent in your head so that the quarter notes fall in the right places.
All this is my opinion and my own experience, some people will play along the records and get it, and some get it quicker than others, and some think they can swing when they actually are not, I was one of those who thought I was swinging all while the drummers weren't smiling at all. As I improved drummers let me know and more gigs started coming in. I'm still working on this and have a long way to go.

 

[allTimeFavorite]

There's always this.....

Just ordered it.

 

[lurk]

Ron Carter's Building Jazz Bass Lines is fantastic. It seems deceptively simple at first glance, but is actually profound, and will really help anyone. Another thumbs up for Mike Richmond's book from me too, BTW ; it's just plain fun to play.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Learning and absorbing ideas from the legends is essential, but one thing has helped me more than that in my early years.... listening back to and analysing my own recordings. Unlearning ingrained habits forced me to identify where/how my playing sucked.

- be more consistently ON the same part of the beat. I would sometimes rush ahead of the beat for a few notes, esp with tricky passages.

- Beat 2 of the bar. I used to play the 2nd or 7th note of the scale waaaay too often here. I now try to play more notes the grab the ear.
eg. Octave up or octave down, #4 followed by 5th, 3rd of scale below (descending 6th).

- I was playing only a few descending lines, mostly scalar. So I practiced arpeggios high->low->high.

- I used to play within one octave (starting on root to octave above) too much. That's how I used to practice scales.
Then I learned to play scales/arps across all 4 strings without changing left hand position.
eg. C major scale: play from open E string to A on G string.
From C on A string I could play a M6th (or b7th) above or m6th below without changing position.
This one really opened up my lines.


Listening to recordings of yourself can be pretty humbling, but has been my best teacher so far. Be kind to yourself.

Pick one thing to improve on and listen for any improvements. Moments of brilliance will come more often once we shake off our old habits.

 

[pnchad]

There was a slight mention above of listening to the other players - if you're playing jazz here's a tip the old timers gave me many moons ago

Don't listen to yourself so much. If you're in a trio, 1/3 of your ears are for you. In a quartet 1/4 of your listening attention. Big Band, lookout.

But it works. Once you are more aware of that going on around you te more interactive you immediately become. Rhythmically as well. So if you have reasonable theory chops you'll chose 'good' notes and start stretching out interacting with your band mates.

The first time I noticed myself doing this was while listening to a recording playback with a real nice quartet recorded live. We'd get our best takes on early tries. I heard myself both repeating ideas from the guitarist back to him as he soloed, accenting with the drummer and playing counterpoint to the movement of the piano. I had no idea I was doing so much of it.