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