Description of the book building walking bass lines. The majority of the presentation will focus on walking bass lines in a 44 meter. Bassist wilbur ware was a master at creating swinging lines utilizing these intervals. Walking the ii v i in combo, youll learn that the ii v i is one of the most important chord progressions in jazz. Its made up of the root, 3rd, 5th and 6th degrees of an e major scale for all of you music theory buffs out there. Also, dont forget to write out your lines at first and really practice these. Once again thank you for your clear, easy to understand lessons. 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.
Make your bass lines more creative, unique, and memorable. Music educational books and sheet music downloads for blues, jazz, funk, latin, gospel, rock, celtic styles for instruments including piano, keyboards, sax, flute. The book will show the musician how to connect familiar chord shapes with the appropriate bass notes. Students and readers of constructing walking jazz bass lines.
R 3 5 6 7 walking bass line theory basics chris fitzgerald. In this lesson well take a look at scale style and intervalic bass lines, and even mix them up a bit. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line on which f pitch is written. Given a piece of music, it is interesting to count how many times each of the individual twelve musical notes is played, and understand their relative weight, or importance, in the piece. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. A bassline also known as a bass line or bass part is the term used in many styles of music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic, traditional music, or classical music for the lowpitched instrumental part or line played in jazz and some forms of popular music by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass.
I have searched for an understanding of how to create walking bass lines online for a long time. These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can rely on to always sound good when you play it. Take two different chords and you want to move as stepwise as. To support practising of this material i created pdf files containing tab and notation to illustrate. The hystogmam below is the result of such an analysis perfoemed on walking bass guitar. The collection of material of this book is, in our opinion, the basics to playing bass guitar for some event. Here is the bass lines for autumn leaves that everyone contributed to last week. Playing a walking jazz guitar bass line is a captivating method of comping for other musicians, and yourself. Better includes all basic features plus 2 coaching sessions and graded homework assignments.
Exercise 1 demonstrates this with several examples. In this lesson i share some essential walking bass patterns. 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. Just like walking with your feet, tyjwalking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere. Playing jazz guitar bass lines and chords terence wright. The bass also has a rich history as a solo instrument in jazz. Rather than arm you with a few examples of walking bass lines, this book will show. Especially since im assuming here most of them will just have quarter notes or eight notes. This book by berklee bass prof anthony vitti will help you make your bass lines more creative, unique and memorable.
This is the first step in developing walking bass lines. The bass has been called the most important instrument in any band. 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. The bass player must create interesting lines under the chord changes, keep the time flow or pulse steady, and keep the form of the song together. 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. Pay attention, burn through this as fast as you can, and you. To get started with walking bass lines it is important to be aware of the root notes in each of the chords you are playing. 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. This book starts from simple yet essential ideas and moves into complex material.
A guitar in standard tuning will never reach the lower bass notes of a real bass, but. If we analyse the walking bass lines from a good bassist in a band, we quickly come to realise that there are bass lines that appear over and over, because they sound so good and have proved themselves successful. A great tip for practicing walking bass lines is to open your real book or fake book and practice reading tunes just the chord changes, not the melody. The process works and i am now on the way to playing walking bass lines with a jazz band. In this example, the bass line consists of simple arpeggiations of each chord, giving the overall effect of a simple blues bass line. Check out these free online bass guitar lessons from teymur phells 30 groove master bass lines you must know, in which teymur guides you through a wide range of bass grooves, in a variety of styles, over a wide variety of harmonic situations. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz. The term walking is used lescribe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. The use of different rhythmic variation is a good touch as well. Bass lessons beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tab standard string tuning g,d,a,e recommended 1.
Bundle of 48 backing tracks and 12 pdf files with chord changes. Oct 12, 2005 walking bass lines for jazz guitar by stephan badreau is a step by step guide to harmonizing bass lines on the guitar. Jun 18, 2019 paul mccartney will be remembered best for his songwriting and singing as a beatle, but these bass lines show his influence on that instrument constructing walking jazz bass lines, book 1. Now its time to learn how to create a complete bass line from scratch. Which goes a long way when writing out your own lines or using chord charts. Apr 26, 2017 in my previous post, how to keep your bass lines interesting, we defined what a bass line is and what its functions are, and looked at a few ways in which we can creatively negotiate chord changes. Backing tracks are very useful tools in the process of learning bass guitar for a few. This package contains 120 jazz guitar lines based on diatonic modes as mixolydian, dorian and ionian. This book is designed to help bassists create walking patterns that can be used in a range of styles. 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.
A good starting point when constructing walking bass lines is to use the intervals of the root, 5th and octave. 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. It is obvious that we should have a command of these bass lines like a musical vocabulary, so to speak. This is the second lesson in the series devoted to walking bass lines. I also appreciate that the first section is centred around one key. A good blend of both styles of walking bass lines is what you would normally play in jazz. The term walking is used to describe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part.
Until i happened upon your youtube videos i found nothing of any value on the subject. Paypal will automatically convert from us dollars to your. This lesson is the first look into how we construct the actual lines and starts with a primer on arpeggios or chord tones. While some knowledge of music theory is necessary, excellent bass lines can be. So what walking bass line the complete bass player. How to play walking bass lines at the piano cocktail. Walking bass on the piano can be one of the coolest things ever.
How to write a walking bass line learn jazz standards. Walking bass lines for jazz guitar by stephan badreau is a step by step guide to harmonizing bass lines on the guitar. In part 2 of this lesson we continue our study of walking bass lines. Use these lines to get you going the right direction when you start playing a blues. I am introducing to you a complete course on how to create walking bass lines from scratch. In part 1 we created waling bass lines over major and minor 251s using the tones of the triad in combination with chromatic or stepwise approach patterns. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation. There are two choruses in the midi file for this one. Wallace stelzer is a professional jazz bass player and content creator from houston, texas. Backing tracks of jazz blues chord progression in 12 keys. The fundamentals of music are pitch and rhythm which are placed in a grid of five lines and four spaces called staff. Simply put, the term walking refers to the steady quarternote basslines. For when you have to learn to play the bass right now.
If you are looking to begin playing the bass then this how to video is the place to start. Walking bass lines the blues in 12 keys upright bass and electric bass method pdf created date 10272016 9. Practicing in all keys is going to consolidate your knowledge of the patterns as well as help you to freely move around the entire fret board. To walk bass lines on the ii v i, all we have to do is learn three different walking patterns. Another one for ed friedlands building walking bass lines. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing, but it is also used in rock music. This is a short demonstration lesson detailing the basic principles of walking bass lines.
Walking bass line theory basics pdf file chris fitzgerald. Another helpful tip is to practice playing rhythmic comping figures. Chord tones root, 3rd, 5th, 7th are the most powerful choice you can make when creating your walking lines. Therefore being in control of them and becoming fluent is crucial. Fundamental concepts for walking bass a systematic method ebook by george urbaszek. Walking bass for jazz and blues is a complete method to help beginners master each element of blues and jazz walking bass. Essential walking bass line patterns discover double bass. Building walking bass lines bass instruction pdf free download. 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. Below is the bass tablature for the basic blues in e bass line. If you like these ideas and want more information, my books walking bass lines for jazz guitar and walking bass lines for bass guitar are available at. Chord tones should be the first stop on the road to learning how to play walking bass lines. You will also have learned a system for analyzing a bass line that will help you to understand why some bass lines work and others dont.
The student is taken through the exercises methodically and everything is explained in great detail. In previous lessons, we have looked at creating a solid walking bass line to fulfill our supporting role in a jazz ensemble. Tap into the groove, and evolve your bass lines by using fills. It is designed to develop strong harmonic skills, rhythm, phrasing and note choice. Heres what you get a complete guide to walking bass lines so you learn how to play on the most common chord changes in blues and. Good course includes video lessons, audio instructions and downloadable lesson pdf files. Bb jazzblues walking bass line for guitar documents and ebooks. These riffs work over almost any chord which then moves up by an interval of a 4th to the next chord. The bassline construction method explored here uses chord tones, approach notes and basic reharmonization. Learn several essential walking bass line patterns over the jazz standard fly me to the moon. For beginning bass lines, the root of the chord is the most common target note to play because it is the fundamental note of the chord.
Looking forward to hearing your walking bass lines over autumn leaves. Beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tabs bass. How to create bass lines 2 3 play in four quarters. Walking bass lines supplement this is a supplement for the lesson on walking bass. As an active member of the new york city jazz scene, wallace has participated in jazz festivals, spoken and performed live on radio, and played at many prestigious jazz clubs and concert halls around the country. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of.
I really liked all of the lines that you guys wrote and hope you enjoy playing through this line as well. Youll be able to easily drag and drop the chord progressions, lead melodies, bass lines, drum patterns and other midi data into your daw of choice. Even just pencilling in the notes on the notation would get you through a walking bass book. It is found most commonly in blues and jazz, but as you learn bass guitar, you. How to play basic walking bass lines bass wonderhowto. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f. With your left hand practice walking bass lines through the chord changes and with your right hand practice comping. You will learn some easy scales and how to play a walking bass line for whatever song you are playing. The samples are in pdf format and do require adobe acrobat reader to be installed.
Once you have some basic rules down, youll be able to make bass lines over any chord progression. Walking bass lines on guitar actually sound very complex. The second chorus is not printed out, but you can listen to it and hear some of the principles of walking a bass line. A bassline also known as a bass line or bass part is the term used in many styles of music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic, traditional music, or classical music for the lowpitched instrumental part or line played in jazz and some forms of popular music by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, cello, tuba or keyboard piano, hammond. We explore how to walk that bass in your left hand up basic triad shapes and scale fragments. The free source of walking bass lessons complete, free course on how to create walking bass lines.
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. There are many ways to create walking bass lines on guitar there isnt 1 right way. It is the most accessible, and it will help you play walking bass lines quicker. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing. One very important and widely used jazz guitar technique is playing bass lines in combination with chords. Walking bass lines for jazz guitar bookaudio files. Having fully written lines, youre able to see and analysis how and why the lines work. Chords and walking bass part 1 in this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. This jazz guitar method about walking bass lines and chords is available as a pdf files containing 35 exercises with tabs, analysis and audio. I have included your bass lines in here so see if you can find your line as you play through these. This set of playalongs and chord charts is a great addition to the walking bass lines course.
Playing jazz guitar bass lines with chords the guitar is an extremely versatile instrument, with seemingly endless techniques and tones around every corner. The first level will be to develop bass lines using triad chord tones only and resolve to the next chord root in the most economical way i. Here is the basic bass pattern you will play over the e7 chord. The description below is for the pdf and audio files.
Download theory supplements, midi files, chord changes and full notefornote transcriptions of every lesson. Best includes better plus graded assignments on all lessons and 4 coaching sessions. If you are wishing to order the pdfmp3 files please go to the correct page as this product is for the pdf file only. Walking bass for jazz and blues fundamental changes. The function of the bass is to provide the foundation. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. Walking bass lines the blues in 12 keys upright bass and electric bass method.
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