Walking bass lines for jazz guitar pdf

Getting started with walking bass lines on bass guitar. In this lesson i am going to go over a walking bass comp on a. How to comp walking bass guitar lines like joe pass. A walking bass line simply walks through the appropriate scale of each chord, one note per beat, hitting every beat of each measure. Simple jazz blues walking line breakdown talkingbass. The book will show the musician how to connect familiar chord shapes with the appropriate bass notes. Here, you will learn to play a jazz guitar chordmelody arrangement of this classic hymn. This set of playalongs and chord charts is a great addition to the walking bass lines course.

Constructing walking jazz bass lines jazz online bass. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners autumn leaves. The process works and i am now on the way to playing walking bass lines with a jazz band. Looking for a structured way to increase your current skill level. One of the most effective ways of comping is using walking bass lines. Playing a walking jazz guitar bass line is a captivating method of comping for other musicians, and yourself.

There are a couple of exceptions as youll see but for the most part were looking at one line for ascending and one line for descending. In this weeks lesson were looking at a very simple walking bass line through the chord changes of the jazz. As an active member of the new york city jazz scene, wallace has participated in jazz festivals, spoken and performed live on radio, and played at many prestigious jazz clubs and concert halls around the. The walking bass line was developed by upright bassists like ray brown, milt hinton, paul chambers, and ron carter, but now its also commonly played on the bass guitar. By working with the three etudes in this article you will learn how to. While some knowledge of music theory is necessary, excellent bass lines can be.

A big part of being a jazz guitarist is accompanying other musicians. Demonstration with instruction on iviiiv walking bass and chords. The bass lines are good and one simple addition to know is that just about any chordwalking bass line, you can always use a leading tone that is, 12 step below to whatever is the next chord. Adhere to this basic rule and you can even tackle the approach notes in a similar fashion, creating the effect of walking to the new chord in onefret steps. Practicing in all keys is going to consolidate your knowledge of the patterns as well as help you to freely move around the entire fret board. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of. 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. Jazz guitar walking bass lines chord music bass guitar scribd. Take two different chords and you want to move as stepwise as possible between the roots of the two chords. The key to playing great walking bass and chords together is to start with a solid bass line. 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.

The majority of the presentation will focus on walking bass lines in a 44 meter. Walking bass guitar is an important comping style for any jazz guitarist to study when learning how to play jazz guitar chords if you are new to playing walking bass guitar lines and want to learn an easy method for learning them, i highly recommend checking out this guide that i published before working through the material in this lesson this article is aimed at the guitarist who already. While walking bass in a band is generally played by the bass guitar or double bass player, being able to play walking bass lines is an essential skill for jazz guitarists when playing without a bass player. How to create bass lines 2 3 play in four quarters. Walking bass lines with chords jazz guitar lesson ever wanted to play chords and walking. It is full of ideas, examples, chord voicings and substitutions, as well as short chord progressions for you to try your new. Walking the ii v i in combo, youll learn that the ii v i is one of the most important chord progressions in jazz. It is full of ideas, examples, chord voicings and substitutions, as well as short chord progressions for you to try your new learned skills. To walk bass lines on the ii v i, all we have to do is learn three different walking patterns. Studying the bass and becoming a great bass player takes years, perhaps decades of practice, but there are a few guidelines that you can follow to get started. This exercise is nothing more than a i vim iim v bass line playing two quarter notes on the root of. 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.

Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. Walking bass lines for jazz guitar by stephan badreau is a step by step guide to harmonizing bass lines on the guitar. For ascending lines im using the scale degrees 1 2 3 5. 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. This chord melody is suitable for beginner jazz guitarists up to intermediate level. In this example, the bass line consists of simple arpeggiations of each chord, giving the overall effect of a simple blues bass line. This is a printable pdf method for guitar with audio files, tabs, standard notation and analysis containing 28 exercices, 6 jazz blues studies f, g and bb and 1 rhythm changes study. Walking bass lines for jazz guitar digital sheet music. Bass lessons beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tab standard string tuning g,d,a,e recommended 1. When learning how to play jazz guitar, many of us are drawn to the cool sounding style of playing walking basslines on guitar while comping rhythm. Walking bass jazz guitar lesson all the things we are. Learn bass guitar with this comprehensive guide to understanding walking bass lines. The difficulty in walking bass on the guitar lies in the combination of playing chords and bass at the same time.

As an active member of the new york city jazz scene, wallace has participated in jazz festivals, spoken and performed live on radio, and played at many prestigious jazz clubs and concert halls around the country. Learn how to build and play walking bass lines on guitar and combine these with chords video, guitar tabs, and backing track. You will find that tunes with more changes in them such as all the things you are will be easier to do because they already contain so much motion. Walking bass for jazz and blues fundamental changes. Chord tones root, 3rd, 5th, 7th are the most powerful choice you can make when creating your walking lines. For this walking bass line im going to use only two scale patterns as the foundation for the whole thing. A guitar in standard tuning will never reach the lower bass notes of a real bass, but between the sixth and. Walking bass and chords bb blues jazz guitar lesson. Practice applying these walking bass comping techniques to jazz standards that you know. The purpose of a good walking bassline or any bassline for that matter is twofold. Comping with bass lines guide jamie holroyd guitar.

Bundle of 48 backing tracks and 12 pdf files with chord changes. It is designed to develop strong harmonic skills, rhythm, phrasing and note choice. 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 player. Constructing walking jazz bass lines daily warm up exercises for bass all books are available in either standard notation or bass tab. Adding walking bass lines to chords is great fun and will make you a good accompanist. First eight measures of rhythm changes in the key of bb. Walking bass line jazz standards swing tune bass tab by misc unsigned bands.

Wallace stelzer is a professional jazz bass player and content creator from houston, texas. Walking bass lines and chords for guitar pdf method with. First, to outline the chord you are playing over, and second, to smoothly approach the next chord. In this lesson i share some essential walking bass patterns. Walking bass for jazz and blues is a complete method to help beginners master each element of blues and jazz walking bass. In this bass guitar lesson, im going to take you through the 3 core concepts you can use to create walking bass lines. Heres what you get a complete guide to walking bass lines so you learn how to play on the most common chord changes in blues and. This is the most common 12bar blues form aka iivv progression. Play walking bass line over common jazz chord progressions.

Five steps to walking basslines on guitar guitar world. Also, dont forget to write out your lines at first and really practice these. In this lesson, well discuss walking bass with chords. The student is taken through the exercises methodically and everything is explained in great detail. Jazz guitar walking bass lines free download as pdf file. This ebook will help you learn how to create, play and mix walking bass lines with common chords found in jazz. Chords and walking bass part 1 in this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. Back to walking bass if you are looking to learn walking bass from day one you are in the right place. R 3 5 6 7 walking bass line theory basics chris fitzgerald.

How to write a walking bass line learn jazz standards. 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. Therefore being in control of them and becoming fluent is crucial. If you are wishing to order the pdfmp3 files please go to the correct page as this product is for the pdf file only. Well play through it so you can get it under your fingers and then well have a look at what is going on in there so you can integrate parts of it into your own vocabulary and develop your own walking style. A leading tone is a note that makes the link between the previous bass line and the next chord. The description below is for the pdf and audio files. Playing jazz guitar bass lines and chords terence wright. Walking bass lines for jazz guitar pdf file adg productions. In this bass guitar lesson im going show you 3 scale concepts that create killer walking bass lines.

Walking bass lines for jazz guitar bookaudio files. In this lesson we will be creating a simple walking bass line over a basic jazz blues progression. Having the bass tab option is for the bass guitar player and will hopefully inspire them to read standard notation. The function of the bass is to provide the foundation for the. Are you trying to find a way in to playing jazz bass. A slightly embellished version of this kind of line would also be typical of a basic boogie woogie type bass line, as in the following example. Essential walking bass line patterns discover double bass. Walking bass line jazz standards swing tune bass by. Walking bass and chords is one of the greatest ways to comp if you are the only one playing behind a soloist like a horn or a singer. These riffs work over almost any chord which then moves up by an interval of a. In this lesson, you will learn an easy satin doll chord melody arrangement for guitar. Easy walking bass lines pdf constructing walking jazz.

A step by step guide to harmonizing bass lines on the guitar. Walking bass with chords for jazz guitar jazz guitar lessons. Beginners guide to walking bass lines bass tabs bass. When learning how to play jazz guitar, many of us are drawn to the coolsounding style of playing walking basslines on guitar while comping rhythm. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. To get started with walking bass lines it is important to be aware of the root notes in each of the chords you are playing. Creating walking bass using scales can be tricky because its hard to get the notes within the scale to line up perfectly with chord changes. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f.

Play through the progression using only root notes if it is new to you. To demonstrate this we are going to use one of the most important chord sequences youll find in jazz music. The fundamentals of music are pitch and rhythm which are placed in a grid of five lines and four spaces called staff. By the end of the book youll have all the skills in place to create walking bass lines over. Walking bass line jazz standards swing tune misc unsigned bands. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the.