Jazz Bass: WALKING

WALKING 

Walking a bass line is the most typical approach a bass player takes to playing jazz. While other types of rhythmic activity are available, in swing-oriented jazz, we play quarter notes most of the time. The material presented here is a condensation of my book Building Walking Bass Lines. You can get the basic idea from what is shown here, but for a more in-depth understanding, I recommend working through that book and its follow up, Expanding Walking Bass Lines. 

START WITH THE ROOTS 

The primary objective of a walking line is to outline the chord structure of the song and keep the rhythmic flow of the performance moving. Our note choices must contain pertinent information about the harmonic structure of the tune. We will first use the "target/approach" technique to build our bass lines. By choosing a target note, our lines will have a feeling of destination. We will then use approach notes to precede the target note in order to create a sense of movement. 

The first order of business is the root motion. Playing the root of each new chord is the first step toward developing a bass line. Here is an example of using the root motion of a progression to create a walking line. As a jazz bassist, you will rarely have to read written walking lines. 

As a jazz bassist, you will rarely have to read written walking lines. The idea is to make up your own from a chord chart or lead sheet. Now, practice finding the roots of this progression.

ADDING THE FIFTH 

The next note we will target is the fifth. To locate the fifth, start on the root and count up the major scale to the fifth note. The fifth is an important structural element of any chord type. The root, fifth, and octave of a chord, are the infrastructure, while the thirds and sevenths create the characteristic quality of a chord. Because all chords have a root, fifth, and octave, they are good all purpose notes to have at your beck and call. They will enable you to at least function in a song until you learn more about the specifics, such as which chords are major or minor, and which chords have major sevenths or minor sevenths. 

Here is an example of using roots and fifths to create a walking line through a blues progression.  

Now practice playing roots and fifths through this short turn-around progression. Look for several different ways to play this. Use different octaves and different fingerboard locations for the same note to find your options. 

APPROACH NOTES 

With the root and fifth as our primary targets, we will now add approach notes to give movement to the line. Approach notes precede their target note and create a resolution pattern. This draws on the classic "tension/release" phenomenon that is a significant aspect of all types of music. The approach note creates tension that is released into the target note. An important concept to keep in mind when creating bass lines is gravity. Bass players work with the gravitational pull of the approach/target relationship. Each type of approach discussed has its own type of gravity. Pay attention to how these approaches feel when they connect with their intended target. 

CHROMATIC APPROACH The first approach method we will use is the chromatic approach. A chromatic approach is one-half step above or below the target. In this example, we will use upper and lower chromatic approach notes to target the roots and fifths of the chord progression. Roots will be marked with an "R," fifths with a "5," and chromatic approaches with "chr." 

Now practice using the chromatic approach on this short turn-around progression. Again, look for as many options as you can.