... It’s hard as hell.
It’s so much more fun for me to groove along to a funk tune, then fumble through a jazz tune and realizing I don’t know the fingerboard or theory anywhere close to a proficient level.
But, I’m at the point in my bass journey where I need to change things up. I’ve faked my way on this instrument for too long.
I have Ed Fuqua’s “Walking Bassics” on the way (should be here Tuesday), and already have Friedland’s “Building Walking Basslines”, a handful of jazz backing tracks, some Jazz workshop courses from Scott Devine, a Ray Brown songbook, and the big, Jazz Theory Book.
I figure I’m going to start with Walking Bassics, then use Ed’s advice (and maybe Friedland’s if there’s anything to add) to improvise over Ed’s tracks. Then go through Scott Devine’s workshop to introduce me to a few standards. Then split my time improvising over the backing tracks of standards, and transcribing Ray Brown’s basslines in the book (using the book to compare notes when I’m done) and then walking over Ray’s tunes. And finally, going through The Jazz Theory Book as I transcribe other walking basslines, and walking over them. At that point, I’m going to start working on playing melodically and soloing as well.
If anyone sees any faults in this plan, or has any additional tips, I’d welcome it. Thanks in advance.
Here is how I learned to walk. First, I played written out walking bass lines. Later I was given chord charts before I understood music theory. I was also given recordings, and I learned to copy the recordings while following along in the music. I learned the patterns well enough to rehearse and perform with a university jazz band at festivals and competitions, while I was still in high school. So before I learned to read and interpret jazz chord notation, my ears and fingers had a pretty good education on how to play a good walking bass line.
We played this tune faster than the recording so you know we were not jacking around. The Band Director called it our 2-minute drill and he got us very close to playing it in two minutes, and even succeeded a few times. Obviously I spent hours and hours practicing.
When I went to college I took music theory and Solfege voice/ear training. The first three semesters of theory taught primarily the diatonic 7 chords in the Major and Minor keys. During my first semester I also bought the Real Book 5th Ed and started teaching myself to read and interpret chord symbols. I needed some help with this as there is a lot of variation is jazz chord notation, and the 6 chords in particular had a different meaning than the 6 chords I was taught in classical theory. Luckily one of the teachers was a jazz guitarist in his mid 20s who took and interest in mentoring me.
When you are learning to read and interpret chord symbols, you basically use an incremental process and take it very slow. Pick an easy song that doesn't have a lot of altered harmony like
All of Me. Start with one chord and go as slow as you need to think about the chord tones you can play. At this point don't worry about tempo or playing in time. Focus on the right notes. Ignore the instrument for the moment and spell out the chord. Then build simple walking lines that use only the chord tones. Start with very simple lines like 1155, 1355, etc. When you are first starting, focus on the triad and don't even worry about the 7th. You can add that 7th later as you get more comfortable. If you listen to old music, this is pretty much how swing bass lines evolved.
When you get comfortable, move on to the second chord and do the same thing. When you have the second chord figured out, loop the two chords so you can learn how to transition from the first chord to the second. Now move on to the next chord and continue the process, etc.
As you get the necessary concepts under your fingers. Start trying to play a simple walking line at a slow, consistent tempo.
I think of walking lines as either arpeggiated or linear. Arpeggiated lines pretty much use just the chord tones, but you don't always have to start on the root. So the next step is to work on some chord inversions. Root position starts on the root of the chord and stacks the tones in 3rds (1357). 1st inversion starts on 3 (3,5,7,1) 2nd inversion starts on 5 (5,7,1,3). 3rd inversion starts on 7 (7,1,3,5).
Take these ideas as slow as necessary to work through them on your bass, playing them both up and down the neck. Eventually you will develop mental short cuts where you see a chord, hear a sound in your mind, and your fingers know what to do; so you don't think about the actual notes all the time. But for now you need to think about the note names. In reality you develop multiple ways of thinking about the same thing. You can spell out a min 7th chord and think about the notes names, or you can think about the spatial relationship of the different finger patterns on the fret board (box patterns).
Linear lines involve playing none chords tones between the chord tones. For example you might play 1,2,3,4 or 5,1,2,3. If you play these particular patterns, you should hear that they can lead your ear in a particular direction. I held linear for last because in some ways it's a more difficult type of line to master. In order to play the correct none chord tones, you have to know where your key center is and how the chord is functioning, and that is often difficult or even ambiguous in jazz.
When I am playing a walking line I like to move back and fourth between arpeggiated and linear lines and even play lines that would be hybrids.
A few rules: Normally you typically play chord tones on 1 and 3, and place a slight rhythmic emphasis on 2 and 4. You also typically play the root on 1 very frequently. When you get more advanced you can learn how to break these rules, but keep in mind the bass is the glue that is expected to hold the rest of the musicians together. If you break the rules too much, you will probably get the stink eye from other musicians.
Consider transcribing the bass lines in one or more of these recordings...you could write them out or just learn to play them by ear.
) and everything in between. Embrace the difficult. It makes the easier stuff much easier and better sounding.
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