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Just starting playing jazz Walking bass

G

gai113

Apr 25, 2008
866
7
#1
Maybe jazz isn't as difficult as i thought

Aside from knowing the chord changes and using different approaches (dominant, scale, or chromatic); and sometimes just playing appregios


Is that good stuff to get started on?

Also someone told me I that i Dont have to play the root on Beat One and sometimes playing the 3rd or 5th on beat one works also...(or even the 7th)


A question about approaches does a scale approach just mean within the scale.. because somtimes a chromatic approach is the same a scale approach..?

What are the textbook jazz standards? I heard there are like 10 standards for all of jazz

Thanks for the help
 
#3
The middle chapters of The Total Jazz Bassist (pages 25-86) provide an excellent, clear, comprehensive course for developing prime walking skills.

But Ed's book looks great too! ;)

As far as the "10 jazz standards", I have yet to see that classic article. One thing you could try is The Real Book... Practice walking to all those chord progressions and you will likely cover all the major standards and then some.
 
#4
For me, learning to create interesting walking lines came from two things: playing often, for long stretches, with musicians that were better than me; and transcribe, transcribe, transcribe. Knowing how Ray Brown or Paul Chambers would approach a set of changes went a long way towards de-mystifying walking bass.
 
#6
BillyRay said:
Yeah transcribe and listen a lot to the masters.

At face value, walking is easy. But once you start digging, you begin to notice that there's a LOT to walking a great line instead of an okay one.
Click to expand...

Yes this is true!! I've just started walking too, and sure it's easy to get by, which does feel kind of cool, but when you listen to really good people like Ray Brown it's like 'what the hell was THAT!!!!'

To be honest I think it's a lifetimes work - it's a bit like chess or something - the rules are simple but the possibilities are endless.
 
#7
The chess one is a great analogy. So true.

It's one of the most enjoyable things about playing music for me, and especially bass. I am in 2 blues bands - one of them we play very simple blues songs and we haven't learnt any new songs for a good year or so (the drummer fears change!).

It's never bothered me though - my focus is all on walking into and out of the chords - trying new things out each week. Same songs but different approaches.

It really helps if you can spend a lot of time on something simple. I've learnt that working on the basics never stops.
 
#9
#10
namm_sher.jpg


BigEgoHead is happy to note hisowndambook front and center in the display behind Chuck..
 
#11
cire113 said:
Maybe jazz isn't as difficult as i thought
Click to expand...
No

cire113 said:
Aside from knowing the chord changes and using different approaches (dominant, scale, or chromatic); and sometimes just playing appregios


Is that good stuff to get started on?
Click to expand...
Yes

cire113 said:
Also someone told me I that i Dont have to play the root on Beat One and sometimes playing the 3rd or 5th on beat one works also...
Click to expand...
Yes

cire113 said:
(or even the 7th)
Click to expand...
Not so much

cire113 said:
A question about approaches does a scale approach just mean within the scale.. because somtimes a chromatic approach is the same a scale approach..?
Click to expand...

Diatonic or chromatic, both are scalular.

cire113 said:
What are the textbook jazz standards?
Click to expand...

Lots.

cire113 said:
I heard there are like 10 standards for all of jazz
Click to expand...

Big no.
 
#13
Could someone give me a list of some of he legends of jazz ive got miles davis , charlie parker, ray brown..


Ive also noticed that alot of jazz tunes are in the circle of fifths.. well most of them right?
 
#14
It's a long and detailed read, but Ted Gioia's history of jazz would be worth picking up.

I would expect a beginning jazzer to get the blues and "rhythm" changes under their belt before tackling circle-of-fifths changes.
 
#16
Jazz bass is very rewarding and there are opportunities to enjoy it at a variety of levels. When you first start walking, you can sound really great on the straightforward changes of songs like Fly Me to the Moon or All the Things You Are. Just using the arpeggios and scale tones works great to create satisfying bass lines there. You can spend a lifetime swinging at this level and still find new and exciting ways to play these same changes.

As others have said, listen to the masters like Ray Brown, Milt Hinton, and Walter Page.

A bit farther down the road, you'll have to wrestle with the ambiguous tonality of composers like Monk and Coltrane. It's more complicated but it builds on the foundation you're laying now. Hang in there!
 
#17
I can't stress how important listening to other players is.

doing root 3 5 7 is the meat and potatos of walking, but knowing where to put in passing tones and other non chord tones, and which beats to accent is a skill that can only be aquired through listening and experience.
 

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