So I didn't play much of walking bass but sometimes I do need it for like rock&roll and jazz or blues songs at church, Im always fine with the simplest formula or arpeggios.
But now that im getting better as a player i want to learn about how to actually build a real walking bass (not that of 5mintues instant walking bass, or easiest way to, or beginner friendly type of walking)
But i cannot seems to find anyone actually teaching how to do it in youtube (I know paid lessons will have it tho but yknow)
So can someone please help me to understand how to actually build a proper walking bass
I think of walking lines as being either arpeggiated, linear, or a hybrid of the two.
As you pointed out arpeggiated tends to be what you learn first. You basically spell out chord tones. To make a linear line, you can start by putting none-chord tones on beats 3 and 4. You can also think of these tones as upper extensions to the chord. 9 = 2, 11 = 4, 13 = 6.
Jazz tends to wonder around different key centers and also to use altered extensions. Being aware of this will help you make better note choices. Beats 1 and 2 get harmonic emphasis and should usually be a chord tone. Beat 1 is usually the root, but you can learn to break this rule. Beats 3 and 4 get rhythmic emphasis, and this is usually where use none-chord tones.
Hybrid lines just have elements of arpeggiated and linear lines, so no new knowledge is required to play a hybrid line.
Most people seem to think linear lines are better, but IMHO it's situational. Some songs really sound best with simple arpeggiated lines, while others favor mostly linear lines.
There are various strategies you can use for playing none-chord tones. The most basic is to simply use diatonic passing tones. Diatonic essentially means the notes belong to the prevailing key center. For example you might play a measure with 1,2,3,4 and then land on the 5 which is the root in the next bar.
More advanced strategies use none-diatonic tones. Rather than explaining, here is a resource that you should find helpful:
[Bob magnusson] the_art_of_walking_bass_a_method_(book_za.org) (slideshare.net)
Specifically I am referring to chromatic approaches and chromatic surrounds.
It takes time and experience to learn to create a good walking line. When you first start, it tends to be slow and require a lot of mental effort. I remember playing super slow and out of time, so I had enough time to think about note choices. The concepts are very simple but there is so much to keep track off. What are the chord tones, and what are the diatonic none-chord tones (key center).
I would learn songs in building blocks. For example I might work on one bar until I have developed a variety of note choices. Then I will move on to the next bar and do the same. Next I may work on both of the bars, so I can choose notes that lead from one chord to the next. The point is you need to develop sort of a spatial awareness, so you know where you are, where you are coming from, and where you are going. All of these effect your note choices.
After I figured out how to play two bars, I may move on the next bar. As I get comfortable, the building blocks add up to three bars, four bars, etc.
You need to develop your ear as well as your knowledge of theory. I think of theory as informing the ear. In other words, learning some new theory opens you up to different sounds and textures, that you may not be familiar with.
When you are actually playing, you tend to rely more on automatic learned responses, because the music often passes too quickly to actually think in pure theory. The chord symbols become archetypes for stores of information and patterns. The idea is eventually you see the chord symbol in the context of the music, and you pretty much know what to do on an instinctual level without a lot of thought.
To reach this point you need to have played the song in. This mostly relates to your choice of none-chord tones. The chord symbol tells you the chords tones very clearly, but they don't always help with the none-chord tones. This is because a minor 7 chord can function in different ways. For example in Major key centers you have ii-7, ii-7, vi-7. The implied diatonic none-chord tones are different for each of these. This is where you may consider practicing modes.
By playing a song in, you get the sound of the harmony and melody in your head, and over time you learn a bunch of patterns that work. To play a song in, you may have to really slow down and play out of time, so that you can actually work out the theory on a conscious level. Then later as you become more familiar, you don't really have to think so much. You see the chord, hear what others are doing, and sort of imagine the line you want to play while your fingers do the work.
Lot's of songs use the exact same chord progressions. As long as you are playing a song that fits in this category, you should get to the point where you can site read from the chord symbols and play a decent bass line.
However, there are also more compositions with much more sophisticated harmony, and these often require us mere mortals to work things out. In other words you may have to work through the alterations in the harmony and try to cobble together a line that works. I find that this sort of music frequently narrows what I can do. There are lots of possibilities, but I may only develop a couple ideas that I think actually work well over a given section.
There are ways to overcome these limitations, but I don't have the necessary sophistication of knowledge or the drive to attain it. My concealed point is you could spend the rest of your life learning how to play music. Don't be in too much of a rush, and try to enjoy the journey for as long as you can. In my experience when you stop growing, you eventually tend to stop wanting to play...in other words your musical journey is over.
Hope some of this is helpful,
Good luck!
