Bass Edu
BASS LINES by Jaime David Vazquez – “The Walking Bass Line” – Part I
BASS LINES by Jaime David Vazquez – “The Walking Bass Line” – Part I…
According to the definition of Dictionary.com, in jazz, the walking bass is a simple accompaniment played by the double bass at medium tempo, usually consisting of ascending and descending tones or semitones, one to each beat.
Can I play a walking bass line by using only the chord tones? Of course, but you have to choose the appropriate arpeggio pattern for each chord change. Using the chord tones will help you to understand how to connect the chords correctly.
Below I have some good examples…
Fig. 1 – Notice how the last quarter note of every bar moves directly to the next chord. In this kind of application you can ascend or descend to the root of the next chord.
Fig. 2 – In this example, the last quarter note of every bar is the perfect fifth of the root of the next chord and plays a role of a dominant resolution.
Stay tuned for Part II in the next issue and keep in touch with #fullbassattack and #bassmusicianmag. Thank you for all your support and feel free to comment.