What exactly is a "walking" bass line?

[KingRazor]

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. To my knowledge, a walking bass line is, in its most basic form, a series of notes played in order to lead a song from one chord to the next. If this is true, then would this be considered a "walking" bass line?

In a chord progression moving from the C chord to the F chord, playing the notes:

C, E, F

Obviously this is over simplifying it, but in essence, this is what a walking bass line [could] consist(s) of, right?

Again, correct me if I'm wrong.

I've been tring to understand what exactly it is.

 

[billyfalconer]

It's more of a matter of contrasting with a pattern-oriented bass line, which is patterns like what a rhythm guitar plays.

In other words, as a bass player you nearly always have to cover the harmonic, or chordal, movement, but when you're walking you play the chord notes in a linear movement, while pattern-oriented bass lines cover the harmonic movement by playing the same pattern, which contains the chord tones, over and over.

 

[KingRazor]

It's more of a matter of contrasting with a pattern-oriented bass line, which is patterns like what a rhythm guitar plays.

In other words, as a bass player you nearly always have to cover the harmonic, or chordal, movement, but when you're walking you play the chord notes in a linear movement, while pattern-oriented bass lines cover the harmonic movement by playing the same pattern, which contains the chord tones, over and over.

I'm sorry but after reading this, I don't understand walking bass lines any better than I did before I read it.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Please, correct me if I'm wrong. To my knowledge, a walking bass line is, in its most basic form, a series of notes played in order to lead a song from one chord to the next. If this is true, then would this be considered a "walking" bass line?
In a chord progression moving from the C chord to the F chord, playing the notes:
C, E, F
Obviously this is over simplifying it, but in essence, this is what a walking bass line [could] consist(s) of, right?
Again, correct me if I'm wrong.
I've been trying to understand what exactly it is.

Your definition is basically correct. I'd change that "from one chord to the next" to read - "move the song along". Over the years we seemed to have relaxed the definition of walking.

When I first took up bass I thought a walking bass line did as you said -- you are on the C chord and to get to the F chord you would walk there in a chromatic order, i.e. C#, D, D#, E, and land on F. However I now understand Walking to mean moving the song along in several different ways; chord tones, arpeggios or scale notes in many different ways.

This would also be known as a walking bass line. Here we are using the notes of the chord in a generic format (R-3-5-R) and not tying them together with a chromatic run .
C Chord ...... F Chord .........G Chord
C-E-G-C........F-A-C-F..........G-B-D-G

We used the chord's tones (the 1, 3 and 5 interval of the chord) to walk the song along in this instance. What I am trying to say -- the definition of "walking" is a little broader than I first thought.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassline

 

[dalkowski]

^^^ Notice how there's no single correct way to walk.

 

[KingRazor]

Your definition is basically correct. I'd change that "from one chord to the next" to read - "move the song along".

When I first took up bass I thought a walking bass line did as you said -- you are on the C chord and to get to the F chord you would walk there in a chromatic order, i.e. C#, D, D#, E, and land on F. However I now understand Walking to mean moving the song along in several different ways; chord tones, arpeggios or scale notes in many different ways.

This would also be known as a walking bass line using the notes of the chord (R-3-5-R.)
C Chord ...... F Chord .........G Chord
C-E-G-C........F-A-C-F..........G-B-D-G

We use chord tones to walk the song along in this instance.

Right, but saying that could confuse someone into thinking they should just play arpeggios over each chord.

From what I read you need to take the individual notes from the chord/arpeggio and apply them in different ways depending on the song or part of the song.

Going back to the C to F chord example, it seems that if you played a C note, then an E note, then an F note, it would help the transition as opposed to playing C and then going straight to F. If I understand correctly this is essentially what a walking bass line is and what it does.

 

[eSmith]

DISCLAIMER: I have no idea what I'm talking about. I am a beginner and very interested in this topic. please, those of you with the knowledge. Please correct me if I am wrong.

That said, I'm doing walking bass lines right now in my bass lessons so here is my understanding so far.

In a typical walking bassline all notes are given equal weight, No notes are any louder or longer than any other so they are like footsteps that never change cadence. This helps with the forward motion of the music.

So, when you see a chord like C in a measure, you will begin on the C on 1 and walk (assuming 4/4) through notes availiable in that chord noting any special qualities in the chord (CEG for major, flatten the third for minor, sharpen the 5th for augmented, all the variations if it's a 7th chord, etc....)

So, all notes are equal, all are valid notes from the chord and quality indicated and then you follow the progression from chord to chord.

Thats the basics as far as I understand. There is more to it, I am very much a beginner here and I am currently walking triads in 4/4 where I repeat one of the notes in the triad to get the 4th pulse. The selection of the repeated note is a choice I am learning to make bassed on how close stepwise I can get to the root note of the next chord. The smaller the step between the notes connecting the chords the smoother the chord change will sound. This I am told will result in a more supportive baseline.

Now, each bar does not always HAVE to start on it's root, I am playing 1,3,5,(1) mostly but I will also have to learn to use triad inversions in order to walk both up and down from one chord to another, Then, there are other notes, those that are not in the chord but are in the scale that can be used as passing notes when the smallest stepwise spacing between two notes in two chords is still too large to support a smooth sounding chord change.

So, that's my limited understanding of what makes up a walking basslne.

I once had someone tell me to imagine a train passing in front of you. The train never speeds up, and it never slows down. Think of each boxcar as a bar of music. And each one is just as important as the last car and no more important as the next. Your bassline should have this feel in order to sound like it's walking.

-eSmith.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

Right, but saying that could confuse someone into thinking they should just play arpeggios over each chord.

From what I read you need to take the individual notes from the chord/arpeggio and apply them in different ways depending on the song or part of the song.

Correct -- a C chord could be played many ways:
All Roots, just a bunch of C's ..... or.......
R-5-R-5 for each measure.......
R-5-R-R or ......
R-2-3-5-6 that would be the major pentatonic scale or ... i.e. notes outside the chord
R-3-5-8-8-7-6-5 here playing 8 to the bar.
Really just about any note, within the key/scale, that will let you build a groove and move the song along.

 

[groooooove]

it doesent even have to neccesarily lead from one chord to another, you can walk on one chord for 16 bars sometimes, ext..

i'd describe a walking bassline as a groove thats continuous. you dont repeat the same lick over and over, like in pocket playing (however walks should be in the pocket, of course..) but it just keeps moving (and of course, can, lead from one chord to another, and outline harmonic movement)

 

[eSmith]

Ok Malcolm, you have me confused (not always hard to do)

You said:

Correct -- a C chord could be played many ways:
All Roots, just a bunch of C's ..... or.......
R-5-R-5 for each measure.......
R-5-R-R or ......
R-2-3-5-6 that would be the major pentatonic scale or ... i.e. notes outside the chord
R-3-5-8-8-7-6-5 here playing 8 to the bar.
Really just about any note, within the key/scale, that will let you build a groove and move the song along.

But to me, this isn't "Walking" at all. hammering the root, or playing a static pattern REGARDLESS of the chord is not walking is it?

A C chord is CEGB, so just playing C isn't playing the chord at all. Either is any of the ther descriptions you gave. I think where you state "Really just about any note, within the key/scale" You should really say "Really just about any note, within the CHORD"

I am aware I could be the one who is wrong here. Can anyone clear this up for me....?

-eSmith.

 

[A440Hz]

Did anyone make the point yet that walking connotes quarter notes? That is, the walking line matches the tempo pulse. If you count off the song, "1...2....1-2-3-4...", then the walking line is going to be at the tempo of the "1-2-3-4" counting (sorry if I'm condescending here--just trying to communicate the idea of a quarter note if that's not clear here--no elitism intended! I'm here to ).

So, walking line=quarter notes (with some exceptions granted on occasional fills, grace notes, etc.). It's not just the notes themselves, but the rhythm, which is more or less constant.

And as for note choice, check out some FAQs here on TB if you haven't already:

http://www.talkbass.com/wiki/index.php/Walk_With_Me_-_Walking_Bass_Lines

Basically, you have chord tones, scale tones, and chromatic tones. In really general terms, those are ranked in order of tension. Chord tones over a that chord create the least tension. Scale tones create more "movement" or desire for change. Chromatic tones--usually a half-step away from the next chord's root--create lots of desire for resolution, and thus, there's a lot of movement and tension created by chromatics.

A way to start to think about these things is that on strong beats, you use relatively low-tension notes. On weak beats, you use tension to help move things towards the next strong beat. This is really general, and there are exceptions, but "walk before you run." (pun intended!)

An example of four beats of C going to F:

C - E - G - Gb | F

That's the root, C, on beat 1, the strongest beat. Next, there's an E, the third, on beat 2. There's little tension there, but we're not changing chords on beat 3. Then, on beat 3, the G, which is almost as boring (low-tension) as the root, but that's fine on a strong beat like 3. Then, the Gb, which has very little to do with the C chord, and thus, there's dissonance ---> tension. This is good on the weak fourth beat moving to another chord on beat 1, measure 2. Plus, the G - Gb - F movement is in half steps, which is very strong movement.

[DEL]It's almost a cardinal rule that you always play the root of the chord on the beat in which the chord starts. There are rare exceptions. In our example above, you'd almost always play 'C' on beat 1, measure 1, and 'F' on beat 1, measure 2.[/DEL]

This is just one example of how to approach some of this stuff. The Wiki is great material to look over, understand, and practice.

Happy practicing.

 

[Ed Fuqua]

If you haven't seen that "I want to buy an iPhone 4" cartoon, you really should do yourself a favor and check it out.


Anyway - "walking bass" generally relates to, but is not exclusive to, playing jazz. There are any number of note choices that one can make, but what the "walking" part refers to is playing a quarter note on every beat of the bar, and, again very generally, a different pitch per note. They call this "walking" because that's what it emulates, your gait when you put one foot in front of the other in a regular, walking, getting from here to there motion.

For me (and although I'm no world class talent, I have been doing this for a minnit) there are three distinctive "functions" of a walking bass line - harmonic definition, harmonic propulsion and melodicism. Harmonic definition is just what it says, defining the harmony/chords, the easiest way to do this is by outlining the chord, or arpeggiating it. Harmonic propulsion means moving the chords forward. And melodicism means having your lines be a musical response to your immediate aural environment.
If all you do is arpeggiate the chords, you don't get much forward motion. Even using voice leading/guide tones/common tones can sound "static" if overused. If you use scale tones alone, you get forward motion, but you lose the sound of the chords. Not just thinkingbut hearing your walking line as a melodic response can help get you using chord tones, scalar passages, chromatic leading tones, interval jumps etc. in the same way melodies do to get your line to be a MUSICAL response, not an intellectual one.

BigEgoHead would like to recommend hs book as well as a thread he started here called REALLY learning a Tune as these are all exercises and approaches he has found helpful on his journey.

 

[lunarpollen]

There are any number of note choices that one can make, but what the "walking" part refers to is playing a quarter note on every beat of the bar, and, again very generally, a different pitch per note. They call this "walking" because that's what it emulates, your gait when you put one foot in front of the other in a regular, walking, getting from here to there motion.

I have always been under the impression that what you've described is what a walking bassline is. Common in jazz, blues, etc.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

eSmith --- I understand your concern. I too felt that there were bass lines and then there are walking bass lines - walking bass lines were those that had the chromatic runs connecting the chords. But after reading Ed Friedland's Building Walking Bass Lines -- I now see that the words " walking bass line" is not only used to describe a bass line that connects two chords with a transitional run. This transition can be carried out many different ways, i.e. choppy or smooth.

Page 13 of Ed's BWBL. The bass line is shown as:
F7...........Bb7..........F7..............F7...........Bb7..............Bb7..............F7..............F7
R-R-8-8 ..R-R-8-8....8-8-8-8......R-R-R-R...R-R-R-R.......8-8-8-8..........8-8-8-8......R-R-R-R
I understand it's page 13, however, no attempt to transition with runs etc. Still called walking bass lines - that holds true from page 1 to page 64.

Some one else jump in.

 

[Sam Evans]

I'm with those that would including just roots under walking - a very simple, boring walking bass line, but still walking.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Walking bassline - you'll know it when you hear it.

 

[KingRazor]

Ok Malcolm, you have me confused (not always hard to do)

You said:


But to me, this isn't "Walking" at all. hammering the root, or playing a static pattern REGARDLESS of the chord is not walking is it?

A C chord is CEGB, so just playing C isn't playing the chord at all. Either is any of the ther descriptions you gave. I think where you state "Really just about any note, within the key/scale" You should really say "Really just about any note, within the CHORD"

I am aware I could be the one who is wrong here. Can anyone clear this up for me....?

-eSmith.

Quick correction. CEGB is a C7 chord, not a C major chord.

Also, it is perfectly acceptable to play notes outside of the chord but within the scale.

So from what I hear, a walking bass line isn't really going to fit in a song where the bass is playing mostly 8th notes, which is most of what I play.

 

[eSmith]

Ok, I think I'm hearing you Malcolm, I'm going to check out that book you suggest, no such thing as too much information.

I only picked up the Bass in November and although I'm taking lessons I still have a lot to learn so thanks for your patience.

This is my first time trying to get my head around it so all your help is really appreatiated.

-eSmith.

 

[Sam Evans]

Quick correction. CEGB is a C7 chord, not a C major chord.

.

It's a CMajor7 chord ...

 

[ugly_bassplayer]

Why do some people who know nothing about theory post in these type of threads.