Intermediate - advanced walking tutorials

[LBS-bass]

Brief discussion: I work with a couple of blues bands so I do a lot of ersatz walking. I do a good job but I know that my bag of tricks is a little limited and I'd like to expand beyond that, incorporating other sorts of approaches to what I do. It's all too easy to fall back to the standard patterns.

So I'm on the hunt for videos and other materials that will bring some additional phrases and lines into my vocabulary. Doesn't have to be blues oriented stuff, jazzy stuff is fine as it all cross-pollinates well. I'm also open to live instruction if anyone out there wants to tutor a cranky old lady via zoom (unless you're local to me) who already has some chops, and if you're willing to figure out where my deficits are and help me fill the gaps.

What have you got?

 

[superheavyfunk]

Ed Friedland has a fantastic book about walking bass lines. It helped me a lot, personally.

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[superheavyfunk]

Ed Friedland has a fantastic book about walking bass lines. It helped me a lot, personally.

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I just discovered that “Scott’s Bass Lessons” has an online, self-guided version of the lessons in this book. Here’s the link for that, if you wanna check it out:

The Ed Friedland Walking Bass Masterclass

 

[LBS-bass]

I just discovered that “Scott’s Bass Lessons” has an online, self-guided version of the lessons in this book. Here’s the link for that, if you wanna check it out:

The Ed Friedland Walking Bass Masterclass

Thanks. I have this book, have worked in it in the past and plan to get back into it once I finish the book I'm in right now. Looking more at the moment for some quicker tutorial videos or other things that will just toss some new licks at me that I can take to the stage over the next few shows, but I will get back to Ed soon.

 

[superheavyfunk]

Thanks. I have this book, have worked in it in the past and plan to get back into it once I finish the book I'm in right now. Looking more at the moment for some quicker tutorial videos or other things that will just toss some new licks at me that I can take to the stage over the next few shows, but I will get back to Ed soon.

Well there’s always YouTube, although I assume you’ve already looked. I found these with a quick search:




What id really recommend though, is grabbing iRealb or whatever it’s called now. iReal Pro, maybe? Anyway, it’s a fantastic tool for learning songs and styles… it doesn’t have any lessons or anything per se, but it does have a ton of backing tracks and many folks use it as the basis for developing lessons of all kinds, especially as relates to jazz. Maybe try doing a search for iReal + walking bass and see what you come up with. I’ll do the same and report back

 

[oldandbold]

I just discovered that “Scott’s Bass Lessons” has an online, self-guided version of the lessons in this book. Here’s the link for that, if you wanna check it out:

The Ed Friedland Walking Bass Masterclass

It appears the enrollment is closed on this.

 

[LBS-bass]

Well there’s always YouTube, although I assume you’ve already looked. I found these with a quick search:




What id really recommend though, is grabbing iRealb or whatever it’s called now. iReal Pro, maybe? Anyway, it’s a fantastic tool for learning songs and styles… it doesn’t have any lessons or anything per se, but it does have a ton of backing tracks and many folks use it as the basis for developing lessons of all kinds, especially as relates to jazz. Maybe try doing a search for iReal + walking bass and see what you come up with. I’ll do the same and report back

Thanks. Yes, I am primarily looking for videos. There are many out there, primarily geared toward beginners and I'm hoping to not spend a lot of hours search through those. Thought some folks here might already know of some good ones. I will take a look at these and see if there's anything useful.

I tend to fall back on my habits and not explore too much when I play at shows. Keeping things safe tends to keep the music safe, too, but I'd like to stretch beyond that just a bit.

iReal book is great, I have that here as well and worked a lot with it about three years ago. I did find it helped me stretch a bit when I used it regularly, so maybe I'll go back to playing around with standards and see what I can learn on my own at this point. I appreciate your time!

 

[Bass4Gsus]

Brief discussion: I work with a couple of blues bands so I do a lot of ersatz walking. I do a good job but I know that my bag of tricks is a little limited and I'd like to expand beyond that, incorporating other sorts of approaches to what I do. It's all too easy to fall back to the standard patterns.

So I'm on the hunt for videos and other materials that will bring some additional phrases and lines into my vocabulary.

What have you got?

I assume you are referring to standard blues walking lines and not jazz walking. I was recently in the same place and came across this 12 Bar Blues Survival Pack by Ryan Madora and Derrek Phillips.
12 Bar Blues Survival Pack For Bass And Drums | Ryan Madora

I took a chance and I have to say it has helped me break out of some of my standard fall back patterns and opened up some new ones. I find myself actually combining different pieces together to come up with my own mix. It seems so simple and obvious but sometimes you just need a guide to walk you through. It's how we put together all the stuff in our bag of tricks that create our sound.

Ryan has some YouTube videos if you want a taste.

If you want some Jazz oriented walking Ed Friedland's walking books are good. I also found Ed Fuqua's Walking Bassics very good. Ed Fuqua is an active member on the Double bass side. There is also Ron Carter's Building Jazz Bass Lines.

All great stuff. My only problem is finding the time.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Brief discussion: I work with a couple of blues bands so I do a lot of ersatz walking. I do a good job but I know that my bag of tricks is a little limited and I'd like to expand beyond that, incorporating other sorts of approaches to what I do. It's all too easy to fall back to the standard patterns.

So I'm on the hunt for videos and other materials that will bring some additional phrases and lines into my vocabulary. Doesn't have to be blues oriented stuff, jazzy stuff is fine as it all cross-pollinates well. I'm also open to live instruction if anyone out there wants to tutor a cranky old lady via zoom (unless you're local to me) who already has some chops, and if you're willing to figure out where my deficits are and help me fill the gaps.

What have you got?

This is a cool resource. The author is over on the DB side of TB. If you dig it there's a video and some accompanying explanation in a thread over there I can link to if you like.

 

[BOOG]

@LBS-bass
I don’t know him personally but, I have a lot of respect for this cat. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is approachable and open to some one on one discussion. I think he operates in accomplished circles and his interests in music are tasteful. If he doesn’t have the answers you’re looking for, I’d guess he knows which direction to point you.

It sounds like your level of musicianship is at the point where theory and creative imagination/inspiration are converging to becoming more equally reliant on the two. Possibly, you’re dealing with a creativity block. From what little I (assume to) know about you, you have the chops and experience (volumes beyond my current KSA’s) and just need some inspiring (right brain) discussion on applying alternative formulas to the theoretical (left brain) rules.

Good luck on your quest!

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

This is a cool resource. The author is over on the DB side of TB. If you dig it there's a video and some accompanying explanation in a thread over there I can link to if you like.

Sorry I totally uploaded the wrong file.
This is by the same guy but on the topic you asked about.
The other one is really interesting though if you have the inclination.

 

[ELG60]

I found that copping what Tommy Shannon was doing with SRV gave me a much more varied approach to walking the blues. Obviously not as efficient as direct lesson videos, but it helped me, nonetheless.

 

[J R Knots]

I’ve gotten quite a bit from Jared Plane.

He does quite a few gives solid info.

 

[fretlessman71]

This totally-laid-back and disarming middle-aged gimp can easily deal with a cranky old anybody. I would be more than happy to meet with you via Zoom sometime soon and help you get pointed in the right direction. I've played jazz for years and understand the concept of walking well, and can teach it well as well. (Well! I'm certainly full of myself...)

Drop me a PM if you want. Like any good pusher, "first one's free".

The above offer is open to anyone here on TB, or anyone else for that matter.

 

[akukulich]

It would be worth checking out Rufus Philpot’s YouTube page.

 

[LBS-bass]

Thank you all for all of this. I will be checking out some or all of these resources; happy if you keep them coming

 

[onda'bass]

if you want advanced lines, forget tutorials and start transcribing bass lines you like and learn from them.

 

[Eli_Kyiv]

These guides could be interesting:

 

[Johnny StingRay]

Make sure it swings.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Brief discussion: I work with a couple of blues bands so I do a lot of ersatz walking. I do a good job but I know that my bag of tricks is a little limited and I'd like to expand beyond that, incorporating other sorts of approaches to what I do. It's all too easy to fall back to the standard patterns.

So I'm on the hunt for videos and other materials that will bring some additional phrases and lines into my vocabulary. Doesn't have to be blues oriented stuff, jazzy stuff is fine as it all cross-pollinates well. I'm also open to live instruction if anyone out there wants to tutor a cranky old lady via zoom (unless you're local to me) who already has some chops, and if you're willing to figure out where my deficits are and help me fill the gaps.

What have you got?

Well, I’m still working on different ways to negotiate 1-4-5 progressions and I’ve been at it since the 60s. My conclusion is going from point A to point B is it just needs to sound logical. Be mindful of the modes and have at it.