BASS LINES by Jaime David Vazquez – “The Walking Bass Line” – Part 2…

Welcome to “The Walking Bass Line” – Part II!

Now that we know and understand how to create a walking bass line by using the chord tones, let’s add some flavor to it! A very practical approach for the walking bass are the chromatic movements and they are generally done with passing notes.

According to the definition of Dictionary.com, a passing note is a note that is foreign to a harmony and is introduced between two successive chord tones in order to produce a melodic transition.

There are two basic chromatic approach notes, the upper and the lower.

Fig. 1 Example of the upper chromatic approach note.

Fig. 2 Example of the lower chromatic approach note.

Stay tuned for Part III in the next issue and keep in touch with #fullbassattack and #bassmusicianmag. Thank you for all your support and feel free to comment.