Walking bass technique pdf

The notes above are all natural however any of this notes can be raised or lowered a half. Walking bass lines always sound cool in any style of music, but are essential to jazz blues and great american songbook jazz standards. Therefore being in control and becoming fluent is crucial. Playing jazz guitar bass lines and chords terence wright. The possible noterange of a walking bass can reach from subcontra a to middle c.

There are a couple of exceptions as youll see but for the most part were looking at one line for ascending and one line for descending. Therefore being in control of them and becoming fluent is crucial. When you use our free bass tabs pdf youll be able to download and save them to your computer for future use. If you cant keep a steady rhythm using a walking bass line, the rest of the band will be thrown into chaos. Walking bass lines can be an absolute mystery especially for beginners. Chord tones are the foundation that we are going to build our walking bass constructions on. Build your slap thumb stamina with this nasty riff. My only regret is that there is quite a limited number of keys tackled and that there apparently never was a volume ii. Hallo, i have the volume 1 of this book modern walking bass technique of mike richmond, but i dont kwow if there are a second part. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f. A great book on walking bass technique for the upright as well as electric bass player alike. The purpose of this lesson block is to show you what makes up good technique and to give you some beginning exercises for developing good habits and coordination. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation. It is called a walking bass line because of the way it rises and falls using scale notes and passing notes.

In a jump blues tune in which the bassline consists of lowpitched quarter notes played on the double bass in a scalar walking bass style, a bass run may consist of a bar of swung eighth notes played using a percussive slap bass style, in which the right hand strikes the strings against the fingerboard. Beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tabs bass. A walking bass line is a more creative form of bass playing than the other swing styles because you choose new notes each time you play the same song. Je cherche des morceaux dapplication, plutot faciles. It is found most commonly in blues and jazz, but as you learn bass guitar, you will hear its influence in almost any style of music. Aug 14, 2017 in the last lesson, we covered adding burps into walking bass lines and how to practice them systematically. Playing jazz guitar bass lines with chords the guitar is an extremely versatile instrument, with seemingly endless techniques and tones around every corner.

Two jazz guitarists who are known for this technique are joe pass and martin taylor. For when you have to learn to play the bass right now. Chord tones root, 3rd, 5th, 7th are the most powerful choice you can make when creating your walking lines. This is an important concept to remember, the walking bass line is. R 3 5 6 7 walking bass line theory basics chris fitzgerald. It is designed to develop strong harmonic skills, rhythm, phrasing and note choice. David ellefson has been a mainstay in the rock and metal communities for over 25 years. In this example, the bass line consists of simple arpeggiations of each chord, giving the overall effect of a simple blues bass line. This is the first step in developing walking bass lines. This lesson covers walking bass, a technique for improvising bass lines thats used by musicians in many different genres, from classical to jazz. The electric bass has both an accompaniment and a soloing role in jazz. Just like walking with your feet, tyjwalking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere.

The bass lab plus is a complete program for the beginner to intermediate bass player join free today with a 14 day trial. If you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing. Parts of the bass a bass is made up of three main sections. A walking bass line provides a strong rhythmic and harmonic foundation by smoothly moving from each chord to the next using four quarter notes per. Walking bass line piano tutorial walking bass jazz piano. If this kind of work is new to you, it may take several weeks or a month to get comfortable with walking lines between chords. Someone shoves a chord chart in your face and expects you to know exactly how to get through it. Incorporating the 3rd of the chord will also give your bass line a stronger harmonic foundation. The bass lines are good and one simple addition to know is that just about any chordwalking bass line, you can always use a leading tone that is, 12 step below to whatever is the next chord. The purpose of this lesson block is to show you what makes up good technique and to give you some beginning exercises for. Free bass tabs printable, downloadable pdf bass tabs. The bridge is the assembly that anchors the strings to the body. We offer a broad selection free bass tabs pdf sheets to help you learn songs. It is possible to add rhythmic variations, but in general, a walking bassline drives the song forward step by step.

In the last lesson, we covered adding burps into walking bass lines and how to practice them systematically. Walking bass noterange usually the bass lies in the lower sound range of the music. These etudes demonstrate one way which the progressions can be played using the walking bass technique. The term walking is used lescribe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. One very important and widely used jazz guitar technique is playing bass lines in combination with chords.

Most often the bass lines are played by an acoustic or upright bass. The jazz walking bass has its roots in boogiewoogie, a predecessor of swing, doowop, and other mid20thcentury genres. How to create bass lines 6 often youll use an ostinato for the head when the whole group plays the melody at the beginning and the end and use a walking bass for the changes when people take turns improvising over the chord progression of the song. The bass lines are good and one simple addition to know is that just about any chord walking bass line, you can always use a leading tone that is, 12 step below to whatever is the next chord. Im looking to develop my bass playing skills and am looking into jazz walking bass. Walking bass for jazz and blues is a complete method to help beginners master each element of blues and jazz walking bass. Jazz walking bass line etudes for guitar jamie holroyd. All of the other parts of the bass are mounted on these three sections. There are any number of possibilities for moving from one chord to. For inspiration, listen to jazz guitarists use this technique to accompany musicians or in solo playing. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line on which f pitch is written. Nov 21, 2016 walking bass for jazz and blues is a complete method to help beginners master each element of blues and jazz walking bass. A great lesser known bass line player is billy bean.

Basic bass technique studybass fundamentals one studybass. Dec 25, 2014 this video is the ninth in a series of jazz instructional videos featuring chris fitzgerald, assistant professor of music theory and jazz bass at the university of louisville school of music. The function of a bass player in the jazz combo is to work with the piano player and drummer to provide both a harmonic and rhythmic stability for the tune. A very basic primer for walking bass lines connecting the dots part 1 david hodge guitar lessons guitar columns by david hodge, guitar lessons for beginners weve mentioned this before, but it certainly bears repeating. When creating walking bass lines, its important to outline the root and 5th of the chord. Pickups are also mounted to the body and work like little microphones that pick up the sound from the strings.

It is used in country, bluegrass and jazz very often, but you can use it in other genres as well. Nothing too difficult, just make sure you are stamping your foot two times per second and that you are counting from 1 to 4 in time with your foot beat. In the end, practice is key, and as with any technique, constructing a walking bass line takes practice. The technique would be no different for saxophone than it is for bass, so i doubt there is any thing for walking bass on saxophone. In accompaniment, the bassist may perform walking basslines for traditional tunes and jazz standards, playing smooth quarter note lines that imitate the double bass. This video is the ninth in a series of jazz instructional videos featuring chris fitzgerald, assistant professor of music theory and jazz bass at the university of louisville school of music. These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz. This walking bass tutorial should get you started nicely.

Therefore, the bass is played by the left hand on the lower part of the keyboard of the piano. This time were spicing up your walking with triplets. Oct 26, 2019 walking up or down into a chord is a really nice way of making a transition from one chord to another. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing. For ascending lines im using the scale degrees 1 2 3 5. Try outlining the tonic triad, or maybe even using a bass arpeggio. Walking up or down into a chord is a really nice way of making a transition from one chord to another. Modern walking bass technique by mike richmond, 1983, ped xing music edition, in english. After the talking technique episode on killer dead notes, i got a question from lionel who wanted to know about the best technique and timing to get those really nice burps in walking bass lines. If you ever get confused or feel insecure, you can always return to this. This funky bass riff will improve your rhythm and technique. This is a a way of playing that i use really a lot in situations where theres no bass player, so mostly duo settings with a guitar player, singer or horn player. All bass lab plus courses are easy to understand and simplify complex ideas so bass players in the early phases of learning can make rapid progress and achieve results that impress their friends and family fast. For this walking bass line im going to use only two scale patterns as the foundation for the whole thing.

Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz online jazz handbook welcome to the bass chapter of the thelonious monk institute of jazzs online jazz handbook. You can also resize the bass tabs which makes them perfect for viewing on an ipad, smartphone or other tablet. Bass lessons beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tab standard string tuning g,d,a,e recommended 1. The 5 easy arpeggios for beginner bass guitar players yt123. When the harmonic rhythm of a progression of a song is two chords per bar, the bass player will often play a target note on beats 1 and 3, and an approach note on beats 2 and 4. A walking bass line provides a strong rhythmic and harmonic foundation by smoothly moving from each chord to the next using four quarter notes per bar, or three quarter notes per bar in 34 time.

The performer usually plucks the strings with his or her fingers instead of using a bow. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. Pay attention, burn through this as fast as you can, and you. It is common for the harmonic rhythm to vary within most chord progressions. The collection of material of this book is, in our opinion, the basics to playing bass guitar for some event. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of. A slightly embellished version of this kind of line would also be typical of a basic boogie woogie type bass line, as in the following example. A walking bass line generally consists of notes of equal duration and intensity typically 14 notes that create a feeling of forward motion. When starting out with walking bass lines, i would recommend that you always target the root when changing chords.