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

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

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

Can I play a walking bass line by using only the scales and the modes?

Of course, this is known as “The Scale/Mode Approach Method.”

It is very easy, all you have to do is to walk thru the chord changes by using the notes of the scale or mode, depending on the color that you are looking for in your bass line.

*Remember! All the scales and the modes are colors.

Let’s study the next examples:

Fig. 1 – An example of a walking bass line based on the A Natural Minor Scale, also known as the Aeolian Mode (A-B-C-D-E-F-G-A).  The measure consists of the quarter notes A-B-C-E over the Am7 chord.

Fig. 2 – This is a modal approach example using the Mixolydian Mode (D-E-F#-G-A-B-C-D) over the D7 chord.  Here we have a good example of a descending walking bass line, let’s see the movement of the notes D-C-B-A.

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