What NOT To Do On Walking Bass

[mrcbass]

Let's take the most trivial progression - Dmin7 - G7 and C maj7.
Can I play the chord note! - B - from the C maj7 chord on Beat 1?

Of course you "CAN", but unless it's a very specific situation, it probably won't feel right. In case, normally the B would be a passing note on the 4 beat coming from the G7, or on a 2 beat walking down from the root C. Anchoring on the 7th on a downbeat would be very uncomfortable.

Not saying it should never be done or hasn't, just expect some evil eyes from your soloist.

 

[Quinn Roberts]

We had an interesting thread/s at TB.
Walking bass "licks" - some help for those new to walking bass lines

Key or Chords in walking bass

Some more examples from the vast ocean of the Internet.
View attachment 2828135 View attachment 2828136

I've got the first link bookmarked actually! I figure the second one will end up on there too.

And I'm about as afraid of an seventh (flat or not) on beat one as a tritone, lol. The fifth too, I basically stick to roots or thirds on one, and thirds have to be well thought out ahead of time! I'd imagine someone with more knowledge than me could make a 7th work though. Especially in a blues progression, all those mixo scales combined together may leave room for it.

 

[Mushroo]

DON'T
feel the pulse: 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4...
example: Those falling, leaves drift by my, window those falling, leaves...

DO
feel the pulse: 1, 2 3 4 1, 2 3 4 1, 2 3 4 1, 2 3 4 1...
example: Those falling leaves, drift by my window, those falling leaves...

 

[Quinn Roberts]

With the exception of the downward, cascading, arpeggio plinks (Octave I, V iii I not really sure what they are called), triplets are not part of a walk. A "walk" is normally a very rhythmic (1/4 notes, sometimes 1/8 notes). You'll hear an occasional ghost "skip" here and there, but walks by definition are a steady droning beat.

Listen to the bass after it gets out of the head in this tune (Sugar). The bass player employs both ghost skips and cascading "plinks" as an example of what I'm talking about.



I just picked this song because I knew it had the "plinks" in it. Oddly this example has a lot of lessons in it. I'd never heard this version before but here's what I'm hearing:

IMO, he overuses all the tricks. The ghost skips, the plinks and a lot of triplets. Everything I've heard or read says to minimize anything that varies from the steady. Cascades and skips can be distracting to the listener - while good walks are cool to listen to, you want to avoid doing anything that takes attention away from the lead artists. This example may have delivered a biased lesson because I wanted to listen to the bass, but I found myself not even hearing the solo artist at all - the bass line grabbed the attention because it was "too cool". So as a lesson in bad: avoid overusing this stuff - grab the listener for a beat and then let them get back to the soloist.

But there is a really good example of how to properly vary rhythm by using half and whole notes in conjunction with the steady walk and it even demonstrates some really good use of chromatic passing tones.

So one would want to stick to ghost notes or repeat the same note when playing with triplets normally (aside from the "plink")? Say something like a; beat one D, beat two E, beat three, F, beat four F# x F# (The x is supposed to be a ghost note). Sorry if I'm asking any redundant sounding questions, I thank you all for contributing such great posts. This threads just rolling so well I figure I'd milk the knowledge while I can!

 

[Quinn Roberts]

DON'T
feel the pulse: 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4...
example: Those falling, leaves drift by my, window those falling, leaves...

DO
feel the pulse: 1, 2 3 4 1, 2 3 4 1, 2 3 4 1, 2 3 4 1...
example: Those falling leaves, drift by my window, those falling leaves...

This is something I've been trying to do mentally just to make myself keep up with sight reading. Not to mention it would probably help one to feel the beat better

 

[Two-Spirit]

I have not reached that state of "knowledge" where my ears would be able to separate #9 from b3rd.

I envy you who can easily discern between D# and Eb in C7.

It's just a music theory thing, If you have a Major 3rd, you can't have a Minor 3rd. So, you call it a #9. It's only an issue if you want to understand how music works in detail, musicology. The music theory Classical-Jazz musicians use is insane.

 

[mrcbass]

So one would want to stick to ghost notes or repeat the same note when playing with triplets normally (aside from the "plink")? Say something like a; beat one D, beat two E, beat three, F, beat four F# x F# (The x is supposed to be a ghost note).

Milk away....

My point was, while these little tricks are fun and sound cool, they need to be used very sparingly or else they can become distracting.

 

[matthewbrown]

A lot of time is spent on note choices, but a few general rules suffice, IME, and you'll find them in this thread. On EB, it really helps to listen to EB players whose walking lines really swing, because it's the feel that matters most. Steve Swallow knows how to swing on EB (with a pick, no less), so I've borrowed a lot from him. (One thing he does that is not very characteristic of DB (again, IME), is hammer-ons from open strings as pickups).

Since it's the articulation of the notes that contributes so much to the swing feel, I would suggest spending some time listening closely to how EB players who can really swing articulate their lines, starting with Swallow and Pattitucci, and moving from there to Jeff Berlin, Tom Kennedy, Jimmy Johnson, Jaco and Jimmy Haslip among others.

 

[Quinn Roberts]

Milk away....

My point was, while these little tricks are fun and sound cool, they need to be used very sparingly or else they can become distracting.

That point came well across in the video, lol. Very interesting line, but I see what you meant when you say you forgot about the soloist! I figure such a technique would come across well when there needs to be certain sense of a lift in energy of a tune or when switching in between sections.

 

[Quinn Roberts]

A lot of time is spent on note choices, but a few general rules suffice, IME, and you'll find them in this thread. On EB, it really helps to listen to EB players whose walking lines really swing, because it's the feel that matters most. Steve Swallow knows how to swing on EB (with a pick, no less), so I've borrowed a lot from him. (One thing he does that is not very characteristic of DB (again, IME), is hammer-ons from open strings as pickups).

Since it's the articulation of the notes that contributes so much to the swing feel, I would suggest spending some time listening closely to how EB players who can really swing articulate their lines, starting with Swallow and Pattitucci, and moving from there to Jeff Berlin, Tom Kennedy, Jimmy Johnson, Jaco and Jimmy Haslip among others.

Thanks for the player recommendations! I'll forever be a fan of Berlin and Haslip. I actually recently just discovered Steve Swallows, I'll be sure to give him my ear now!

 

[sears]

beat two and beat four should get a little (and I mean only a little) extra weight to keep things rolling along

damn you, I thought that was my secret thing

 

[Quinn Roberts]

damn you, I thought that was my secret thing

Lol, there's no secrets in music!... I hope..

 

[micguy]

On fretless, when I want to have two grace notes leading to the next stable note (up a full step) I've been known to use "third steps" in passing to get from one stable note to the next. If guitarists can bend notes, then by definition it's OK to be out of tune for brief periods to get the "right" rhythm.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Whenever I work on lines, I think of the note I am leaving, and the target note on the beat of the chord change. Then work out in both directions.

 

[Lesgo]

There aren't too many DON'T's, well, except don't do the things that get you the evil eye from soloists or BL."

We live and die by this one, don't we.

Great discussion here. This thread doesn't even make me feel like I need to buy a new cab or upgrade my bridge!

 

[Quinn Roberts]

On fretless, when I want to have two grace notes leading to the next stable note (up a full step) I've been known to use "third steps" in passing to get from one stable not to the next. If guitarists can bend notes, then by definition it's OK to be out of tune for brief periods to get the "right" rhythm.

I was bored and sorta thought, "Wonder if I can make line going from one step above a root on beat three, and then bend up microtonally in between the two on beat four?" It sounded neat, but I didn't want to start getting too fancy still trying too learn the basics like I am.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Now, we all know Chris Fitzgerald.

From his excellent articles/tutorials.
http://www.chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com...-Bass-Line-Examples-and-Analysis-PDF-File.pdf

Now.
Who is going to confront our forum Administrator?

 

[ole Jason]

Here's a secret tip: If you play with a good feel and time no one on a job will ever care if you play the b3 on the beat. If you study the lines by PC, Pettiford, or any of the greats you'll see that kind of stuff. Jazz isn't paint by numbers, make it sound good and it sounds good even when it's wrong.

 

[Quinn Roberts]

Now, we all know Chris Fitzgerald.
View attachment 2828250

From his excellent articles/tutorials.
http://www.chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com...-Bass-Line-Examples-and-Analysis-PDF-File.pdf

View attachment 2828253

Now.
Who is going to confront our forum Administrator?

I'm confused... What don't I do in a walking bass line now?

 

[Dogbertday]

These are still dominant chords!

Dominant chords imply a ii/V relationship. The ii and the V are really part of the rame sound. Nothing wrong with mix and matching as long as it goes with what else is happening in the music. IMO obvs.

Also IMO, the line is more important than anything else as long as you dont eff up the overall hamonic structure (ie. Hitting the IV early on a blues when you dont mean to). Jazz really is polyphonic with separate melody lines happening at once so thinking melodicly will take you far.