Now I Remember Why I Stopped Trying To Walk...

[Wasnex]

I've been trying this with my bass this morning, and I find that the breathed note gets drowned out by my bass, making it hard to compare the note I'm thinking/singing, with the one I'm playing.

Is that okay?

Also, I will say that my signing and vocal pitch reproduction is bad (I'm working on it), but because I can't really hear this breathed note, it's hard to tell if I'm even doing it in tune.

If you are practicing alone, just sing out loud. The pseudo-whistling thing was for privacy in the classroom. In other words the professor wanted us to be quiet so we didn't bother each other.

Ideally you should eventually learn to hear pitches and chords in your head. The pseudo-whistling can be a step in that direction. Practicing Solfege and other voice/ear training exercises with a piano is probably the best thing you can do...but not everyone has interest in or access to a piano.

 

[Matthew_84]

If you are practicing alone, just sing out loud. The pseudo-whistling thing was for privacy in the classroom. In other words the professor wanted us to be quiet so we didn't bother each other.

Ideally you should eventually learn to hear pitches and chords in your head. The pseudo-whistling can be a step in that direction. Practicing Solfege and other voice/ear training exercises with a piano is probably the best thing you can do...but not everyone has interest in or access to a piano.

Thanks! I don’t have a keyboard, but I have sequenced some solfege exercises to play in my car as I drive...

I have yet to actually put them on a USB to listen to in the car, so I'll go ahead and do that.

 

[tinyd]

The first walking bass book I used was "Walking Jazz Lines for Bass" by Jay Hungerford. It really helped me because he has a nice system of "reusable" patterns that you can use over common chord movements. Finding out ways to land on the next root when the chord roots are moving up or down fourth and fifths is a large part of creating walking lines. This is complicated by the qualities of the chords themselves (maj/min/dom7 etc) and by the duration of each chord, but having various ways to do this in your arsenal will go a long way. Bert Ligon has a one-page sheet with lots of these patterns - you should be able to find it online easily enough (it's called Bert Ligon Bass Fundamentals or something similar).

 

[Syncop8r]

I found this video helpful... not that I have got around to practicing it again...

 

[Matthew_84]

I'm kinda using this as my "random questions to play jazz" thread as opposed to creating a new thread... I hope that's okay.

I'm going through Ed Fuqua's "Walking Bassics" and am very early on where I'm just playing the root and then a chord tone in each bar (two quarter notes of each note in a row) on a Bb Blues line. The goal at this point is to get comfortable doing this, and try different things out (ascend up to the higher target, descend down to the lower target, use different chord tones, etc).

At this stage, should I just be staying in one position on the neck and work on getting comfortable here and then move onto the next exercises (adding additional chord tones and chromatics without repeating notes in a row) while staying in this position, and then branch out to moving into different positions as I get comfortable; or should I take longer on this exercise and get used to moving all around the board now and then slowly adding the other exercises as I get better?

The thing is that at this point, I'm not sure when and why I should be changing positions. I'm just kind of doing it to do it, but right now, I'm not following any melody in my head I'm trying to get out, I'm just trying to get comfortable in a chord to play a supportive line.

One thing to note is that in a month I'll be joining a jazz ensemble that meets weekly and jams, so I'm wondering which method would get me best prepared for that but without sacrificing my development down the road.

 

[Wasnex]

I'm kinda using this as my "random questions to play jazz" thread as opposed to creating a new thread... I hope that's okay.

I'm going through Ed Fuqua's "Walking Bassics" and am very early on where I'm just playing the root and then a chord tone in each bar (two quarter notes of each note in a row) on a Bb Blues line. The goal at this point is to get comfortable doing this, and try different things out (ascend up to the higher target, descend down to the lower target, use different chord tones, etc).

At this stage, should I just be staying in one position on the neck and work on getting comfortable here and then move onto the next exercises (adding additional chord tones and chromatics without repeating notes in a row) while staying in this position, and then branch out to moving into different positions as I get comfortable; or should I take longer on this exercise and get used to moving all around the board now and then slowly adding the other exercises as I get better?

The thing is that at this point, I'm not sure when and why I should be changing positions. I'm just kind of doing it to do it, but right now, I'm not following any melody in my head I'm trying to get out, I'm just trying to get comfortable in a chord to play a supportive line.

One thing to note is that in a month I'll be joining a jazz ensemble that meets weekly and jams, so I'm wondering which method would get me best prepared for that but without sacrificing my development down the road.

You change positions when you need to change positions. This can be because you can't reach a note, or because you want to set up a future note you won't be able to reach.

Normally when you are walking, you keep jumps within an octave. But with multiple jumps you can easily play a line that covers two octaves or more.

In my opinion, for now you should probably focus on playing lines that stay within about 1 1/2 octave for the most part, and shift up are down as necessary. If you are playing really basic lines that stay withing an octave, the shifting will be minimal. Most likely with the type of line you are describing, you will shift primarily when you change chords.

However, the answer depends somewhat on which instrument you are playing, the fingering system you use, and the key you are playing in. I use one finger per fret and primarily play a 6-string bass guitar, so I can play with minimal shifting. When I first started playing, I played string bass and used Simandl fingering (1,2,4), so more shifting was required, especially when the key signature prevented using the open strings.

Perhaps @Ed Fuqua will comment.

 

[Matthew_84]

You change positions when you need to change positions. This can be because you can't reach a note, or because you want to set up a future note you won't be able to reach.

Normally when you are walking, you keep jumps within an octave. But with multiple jumps you can easily play a line that covers two octaves or more.

In my opinion, for now you should probably focus on playing lines that stay within about 1 1/2 octave for the most part, and shift up are down as necessary. If you are playing really basic lines that stay withing an octave, the shifting will be minimal. Most likely with the type of line you are describing, you will shift primarily when you change chords.

However, the answer depends somewhat on which instrument you are playing, the fingering system you use, and the key you are playing in. I use one finger per fret and primarily play a 6-string bass guitar, so I can play with minimal shifting. When I first started playing, I played string bass and used Simandl fingering (1,2,4), so more shifting was required, especially when the key signature prevented using the open strings.

Perhaps Ed Fuqua will comment.

Thanks!

That actually helps me out quite a bit and helped me realized something I had forgot (I recently picked bass back up after 2 years of not playing).

I play a 5 string fretless BG tuned in D standard and I actually, personally, don’t like the tone much when I venture onto more than three consecutive strings depending on my location (ie, I feel the tone becomes less consistent, and I feel the higher notes sound better higher on the neck and the lower notes sound better lower), so I used to base my shifts on that.

I’ll work with getting that back into my playing, which should also promote me moving around a bit easier.

Finally, I’ll do as you suggest for now and keep my range somewhat limited. I don’t think I’m ready to make big leaps yet (musically anyway) so I’ll keep working on progressing in a narrower range and develop my ear and musicianship so I can venture up there to get the phrasing/movement I’m looking for, instead of just forcing myself into it to move around, and end up getting lost.

Thanks again!

 

[Matthew_84]

I’ve realized I can only learn to walk for an hour straight at the most. My brain becomes mush after that...

It’s good, as it’s proof I’m learning a lot (and I can already see a decent improvement, thanks to Ed’s book and your guys’ help), but this is exhausting lol.

I hope it’s not like this once I can do it decently - I’ll never make it through a gig!

 

[Wasnex]

I’ve realized I can only learn to walk for an hour straight at the most. My brain becomes mush after that...

It’s good, as it’s proof I’m learning a lot (and I can already see a decent improvement, thanks to Ed’s book and your guys’ help), but this is exhausting lol.

I hope it’s not like this once I can do it decently - I’ll never make it through a gig!

No worries. It becomes much easier over time, especially when you are playing tunes or progressions you know.

After you become proficient and learn a bunch of tunes, you will still struggle occasionally when you are presented new challenging harmonic structures, but most of the time it is relatively easy.