The bass has been called the most important instrument in any band. Building walking bass lines bass instruction pdf free download. I really liked all of the lines that you guys wrote and hope you enjoy playing through this line as well. The first chapter covers over a dozen ways to approach a walking bass line. This series of lessons focuses on separating chords from bass lines, which is good for a. Written in notation and tablature, walking bass provides a thorough grounding in chord theory as applied to the electric bass. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation.
It would best be appreciated by the intermediate to advanced student already familiar with the fundamentals of electric bass guitar technique. Paul musso dives into jazz guitar with an emphasis on walking bass lines. By explaining the basics of intervals, chords, and scales, the author builds a framework for understanding walking bass line patterns. The specific goal of this book is to familiarize players with the techniques used to build walking bass lines and to make them aware of how the process works.
Bass guitara walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing, but. 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. Start with the basic book and then move to the advanced book. How to create bass lines 5 ostinato or riff bass an ostinato is a repeated rhythmicmelodic. Due to the nature of walking bass lines, the only rhythmic value you will see in this book is a quarter note. A guitar in standard tuning will never reach the lower bass notes of a real bass, but.
This is a nononsense book that gets quickly to the heart of the matter. As the title says, i would like to learn how to play and compose walking bass lines. Here is the basic bass pattern you will play over the e7 chord. Therefore being in control of them and becoming fluent is crucial. To walk bass lines on the ii v i, all we have to do is learn three different walking patterns. Building walking bass lines bookcd alb understand and create walking bass lines, the most common approach to jazz bass playing. It is big help to hand positions and building walking bass lines. Here is an example with the chord progression c7 f7.
For a young musician just beginning to dive into the art form, it can seem a daunting task. Using common jazz progressions such as the jazz blues. Below is the bass tablature for the basic blues in e bass line. In 44 time there are four quarter notes in a bar, in 34, there are three.
Walking bass lines are a style of playing in which the bass player plays quarter notes which clearly outline the chords and chord tones, seamlessly outlining one chord and resolving to the next. The term walking is used to describe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in. For example, when you do steps 1, 2, or 3 above, you are creating the most basic kinds of ostinato. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass p. Constructing walking jazz bass lines, book 1, the blues in 12 keys. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. It then grows in information and examples to help you become a walking bassline monster. Learn several essential walking bass line patterns over the jazz standard fly me to the moon. I have this book and no only is it a great way to get some very nice walking bass lines down, its a nice book for piano technique as well play the bass lines in both hands, together. When learning how to play jazz guitar, one of the things that many players want to explore and get under their fingers is walking basslines. How to create a walking bass line if you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald.
Walking bass by johnny rector book and online audio. How to create an appropriate walking bass line for jazz tunes. There are 24 modules and each lesson, a cd and notationtab of the module material, comes in the mail every 2 weeks. Description of the book building walking bass lines. 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 organ. A followup to building walking bass lines, this book approaches more advanced walking concepts, including modal mapping, the twofeel, several must know changes, and other important jazz bass lessons. Approach notes usually occur on the beat before a target note. In this lesson i share some essential walking bass patterns. This is the first step in developing walking bass lines.
Bassist wilbur ware was a master at creating swinging lines utilizing these intervals. An essential comping technique that every guitarist learns at some point is comping with bass lines. There is a web site, that has an excellent remote learning course for bass. 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. Hal leonard building walking bass lines bookaudio online.
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. The great thing is that james has provided backing tracks for you to get a more in depth knowledge to the lessons. 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. The book starts out very basic so that all bass players can learn.
It is technically demanding, harmonically advanced, and extremely interactive. Building walking bass lines by ed friedland goodreads. Expanding walking bass lines by ed friedland instructional book. Mel bay the bass has been called the most important instrument in any band. Five steps to walking basslines on guitar guitar world. 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. Shop and buy expanding walking bass lines sheet music. Building walking basslines is a complete method book for learning how to improvise walking basslines. Exercise 1 demonstrates this with several examples. 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.
Standard lines jazz and bebop standards book iii in the constructing walking jazz bass lines series for the jazz bassist is a comprehensive guide demonstrating the devices used to construct walking jazz bass lines in the jazz standard tradition. A stepbystep method for developing extraordinary technique on the bass guitar strengthen your overall facility on the instrument with this series of exercises and lessons, presented in an effective themeandvariation format. In general, we make this transition smooth by limiting the interval between these two notes to either a half step semitone, whole step tone or a perfect5th. Paypal will automatically convert from us dollars to your currency using the exchange rate at the. I have included your bass lines in here so see if you can find your line as you play through these. One very important and widely used jazz guitar technique is playing bass lines in combination with chords. To cite just a few representative studies, drumming sioros et al.
Now its time to learn how to create a complete bass line from scratch. These riffs work over almost any chord which then moves up by an interval of a 4th to the next chord. And i really recommend marks study book of bass guitar. If you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing. In this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. Essential walking bass line patterns discover double bass. This book is designed to help bassists create walking patterns that can be used in a range of styles. Learn walking bass from the master of walking bass himself. Walking bass lines are an essential part of blues and jazz piano especially if youre playing solo or without any kind of. A followup to building walking bass lines, this book approaches more advanced walking concepts, including model mapping, the twofeel, several must know changes, and other important jazz bass lessons. Beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tabs bass. Though learning how to walk a bassline and comp at the same time can take a lot of experience and time in the woodshed, there are a few rules and pointers you can follow in order to get you off on the right foot as you begin to explore the world of.
When piano players copy this idea of walking bass lines, they generally do so by using their left hand to play the same role as that of the bass player. Book one of constructing walking bass lines focuses on the blues. As joe pass says a good bass line must be able to stand by itself, meaning that you add the chords where you can. So what walking bass line the complete bass player. Constructing walking jazz bass lines book iii walking bass lines.
The two most important ingredients to this comping style are the feel and the bass line. Jazz is an incredibly difficult music to play in many ways. The paperback of the constructing walking jazz bass lines book iii walking bass lines standard lines by steven mooney at barnes. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of. Book i by steven mooney, 9780982957097, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide.
It is absolutely crucial for the student to learn the material in the correct order and not to go ahead of oneself. Its a great starting place for the beginning jazz bassist. How to write a walking bass line learn jazz standards. Jazz bass books constructing walking jazz bass lines. The term walking is used to describe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. The main point to consider when constructing walking bass lines is how to create a smooth transition between the last note of the current chord, and the first note of the next.
Constructing walking jazz bass lines book i the blues in 12 keys new 2hr mp3 playalong free download featuring all chord progressions in 12 keys from part ii of the book available from website. Playing jazz guitar bass lines with chords the guitar is an extremely versatile instrument, with seemingly endless techniques and tones around every corner. These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can rely on to always sound good when you play it. Fundamental concepts for walking bass a systematic method ebook by george urbaszek. Accompanying audio includes a jazz trio for practicing standard tunes. 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. 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. A good starting point when constructing walking bass lines is to use the intervals of the root, 5th and octave.
Walking bass by johnny rector digital sheet music for e. The bass line descends the scale and lands on the root of the next chord. Its been approx 34 months that i follow the lessons and its really surprising to see progress with my playing on the bass and my music teory knowledge is getting better and better. Through the use of 90minutes worth of recorded rhythm tracks available online using the unique code in the book, players will have the opportunity to put the new learning directly into. Chord tones root, 3rd, 5th, 7th are the most powerful choice you can make when creating your walking lines. There is a big tendency for players to seek for advanced and complicated topics while they still did not master the basics. How to play walking bass lines at the piano cocktail. The cd includes recordings of the lesson materail as well as detailed explanations by mark. Lessons in this segment focus on the fundamentals of bass playing. Bass lessons beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tab standard string tuning g,d,a,e recommended 1. A comprehensive guide to constructing walking jazz bass lines for the double bassist and electric jazz bassist is a complete 12key guide to techniques and devices used to construct walking jazz bass lines in the jazz tradition. 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. For further rhythmic training, i highly recommend the book, modern reading tat. Plus, if you can read the lines in this book youll be able to read pretty much just anything.
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