Walking bass Jazz

[Bob DeBoo]

I decided to take a deep dive in to Jazz. Iive been studying Ed Friedlands book and also Ed fuqua and Jay hungerford. Was wondering do you think its a good idea to have a really solid foundation in Blues changes,2,5,1,rhythym changes before moving on to learning the basic standards these books mention to learn?Or do I just go ahead and start learning some basic standards as well?

2nd that, there's no reason not to start diving into standards. Some of the most common would be Autumn Leaves, Bye Bye Blackbird, But Not for Me, Days of Wine and Roses - just to name a few. That said, having a super-solid foundation in the Blues form is essential. It's the litmus test for everything else.

 

[Bob DeBoo]

You learn pop songs by learning the bass lines and playing to the recording.

You learn RnB songs by learning the bass lines and playing to the recording.

You learn classic rock songs by learning the bass lines and playing to the recording.

You learn prog tech metalcore fusion emocore thrash songs by learning the bass lines and playing to the recording.

You learn jazz songs by . . . . reading walls of text on an internet forum?


I get that jazz has different rules, styles within the genre, and is more harmonically complicated than other pop music. I went to a yazz school, studied for four years with some greats. What almost always gets left out of the conversation is the most important thing: Learning some of the bass lines played by the greats. That will tell you more than any book, scale, arpeggio, or intarwebz forum will.

100%!!!

 

[Malcolm35]

Or......you know what bass line will work because of the chords in the song --- and then gather your bass line from the chord's notes. Which notes are kinda left up to you.

 

[pdbass]

Thanks for the shout out @CaseyVancouver!

3 things I would say to do above all else:

1. Find a teacher. It’s hard to monitor progress and correct mistakes (and videos can’t do that)
2. Listen to as many great bassists as possible. Find your favorites and copy (they are showing you what your music sounds like)
3. Find other musicians to play with as much as possible. You can study 100 books or learn 1000 tunes. Play 10 gigs and you’ll grow exponentially.

$0.02

Good luck!!

 

[FenderPHead68]

Thanks for the shout out @CaseyVancouver!

3 things I would say to do above all else:

1. Find a teacher. It’s hard to monitor progress and correct mistakes (and videos can’t do that)
2. Listen to as many great bassists as possible. Find your favorites and copy (they are showing you what your music sounds like)
3. Find other musicians to play with as much as possible. You can study 100 books or learn 1000 tunes. Play 10 gigs and you’ll grow exponentially.

$0.02

Good luck!!

Thanks for the excellent advice!!

 

[sean_on_bass]

I decided to take a deep dive in to Jazz. Iive been studying Ed Friedlands book and also Ed fuqua and Jay hungerford. Was wondering do you think its a good idea to have a really solid foundation in Blues changes,2,5,1,rhythym changes before moving on to learning the basic standards these books mention to learn?Or do I just go ahead and start learning some basic standards as well?

You can start right away. Enjoy!