Learning Walking Bass

[Carter Reid]

I'm not really a bass player so this is kinda an idiotic reply. For my bass lines I mimic the left hand of the piano player. I love boogie woogie (barrel house) music so it involves a lot of repeating figures following the root of the chord progressions. I suppose you could try looking at the piano sheets and ignore the treble staff and just play the bass staff.

 

[Wasnex]

I'm not really a bass player so this is kinda an idiotic reply. For my bass lines I mimic the left hand of the piano player. I love boogie woogie (barrel house) music so it involves a lot of repeating figures following the root of the chord progressions. I suppose you could try looking at the piano sheets and ignore the treble staff and just play the bass staff.

Although this will work for boogie woogie, typically most bass player would rather tie the keyboard player's left hand behind their back .

 

[Gio Orfitinho]

I love boogie woogie (barrel house) music so it involves a lot of repeating figures following the root of the chord progressions.

A walking bassline by definition is improvised and does not involve a lot of repetition.

 

[Russell L]

A walking bassline by definition is improvised and does not involve a lot of repetition.

Although, boogie woogie and blues, and sometimes other styles do often have repetitive lines, in fact.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Listen to Ray Brown's walking bass lines - and when one makes you grin from ear-to-ear, analyze it, practice it, and steal it!

 

[Groove Master]

What’s the best way to learn walking bass over jazz standards?
Open to all ideas and or suggestions.
Thx!
Bassman

One of best teaching method I use with my students is to focus on one approach at the time and I make the students write down the bass line using only that one. For example walking in 2 with only 1-5 helps putting the fifth up or below the root and recognize where it fits best when connecting chords with the smallest interval for connecting chords. Then you improvise your own and then mix with another approach.

 

[basschanges]

transcribe transcribe transcribe. Then see the reasons behind the notes and create your own cadences.

 

[reddog]

This guys a Jedi, for sure

 

[Carter Reid]

What a wonderful lesson! Good advice. Taken individually I've heard those patterns in many songs. Taken together they make an original sounding accompaniment.

 

[tinyd]

A couple more book recommendations -

Mike Downes "The Jazz Bass Lines Book" is really comprehensive and it contains side-by-side transcriptions of lines by different players over the same tune

Also, "Walking Jazz Lines For Bass" by Jay Hungerford is good because it contains a lot of reusable patterns that you can use for connecting chords.

The money you'd spend on these and Ed Friedland and Ed Fuqua's books is well worth it IMO. They all cover the same material, but in different ways and you'll pick up something from each of them.

 

[drumsnbass]

I really like the Hungerford book.