Walking Basslines?

[bassmonkey]

I need some tips.

I have a gig with a swing band. They do various things. Most of it is okay(standard soul sort of stuff) but I am really struggling with the walking lines. It is all scored in standard music notation, but because there is no "riff" as such, I'm finding it difficult to remember what to play. My reading is not great, I can't sight read, although getting better with this gig. There is nothing to hum in my head if that makes sense.

I guess it is just a case of practice, practice, practice but if anyone has any tips or hints I would be very grateful.

 

[Musicfreak1988]

If you can read chord symbols, a basic start is two-beat: root-5, root-5. For example:

Cmaj7 - Cmin7 F7 - Bbmaj7

C G - C F - Bb F
1 5 - 1 5 - 1 5

For walking in 4, you can make that: root-3-5-3 or root-3-5-chromatic. For example:

Cmaj7 - Cmin7 F7 - Bbmaj7 - Ebmaj7 - Ab7

C E G B - C Eb F A - Bb D F Fb - Eb G Bb G - Ab...
1 3 5 CH - 1 b3 1 3 - 1 3 5 CH - 1 3 5 3 - 1...

If you get the basics, you can get further and further. It depends on with who you're playing, but most people find it comfortable to hear the root on the first beat (or at least a note of the triad) of the chord you're 'in'.

 

[mrpackerguy]

Just very basically, walk on the root, third, fifth and sixth of the chord. I assume most of the chord progressions in the swing band change like a standard blues progression. So if you are in the key of C, the chords are generally going to be C, F and G ( the I, IV and V).

So in the key of C, you'd want to walk when on the I from C to E to G to A. When you change to the IV chord, you'd walk the F, A, C then D and when on the V chord, on the E string, walk the G, B, D and E.

Now that's very basic. Between chord progressions, you can simply walk the C (or I) up to the F ( or IV) by playing C, D, Eflat, E, and F.

When the chord progressions are not the simple I-IV-I-V progression, you'll have to figure out walking bass lines that connect the chords. Many times, just simply walking up or down to connect the chord roots will work. As you get more comfortable, you can find notes other than the chord roots that may connect and sound good. On that basic blues progression of I-IV-I-V, for example, substituting the root of the II chord (in the key of C, that would be D) in place of the root of the V chord and walking up from there sounds good. Good luck.

I hope this helps.

 

[bassmonkey]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I think I didn't explain it well. I have the standard musical notation for the tunes(bass clef, basslines). The MD wants me to play exactly as written. It's not a case of me following a chord chart and making my own lines up.
My problem is, I can't sight read, yet (), and am finding it difficult to remember what to play, as there is no hook.

I guess I'm just going to have to shed some wood to get the lines under my fingers. Tough gig.

 

[bassmonkey]

Oh yeah. Also some of the tunes are at 130-150 bpm and often there are 2 or even 3 chord changes per bar. Even just playing the root is tough.

At least it'll make me a better player.

 

[Musicfreak1988]

You might want to transcribe some other swing stuff. That way, you'll get familiar with the 'language', which, in the end, will make it easier to remember those lines 'cause your ears (brain) gets trained.
I suggest you try to see the bass line as a melody above (under) the chords. Practice in smaller parts (for example 8 bars) and practice back to forth (play the last 8 bars, then the 8 bars before, etc.)... Start slow, raise the tempo and, last but not least: try to figure out various fingering positions and pick out the most comfortable / logical ones.

 

[Grand Wazoo]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I think I didn't explain it well. I have the standard musical notation for the tunes(bass clef, basslines). The MD wants me to play exactly as written. It's not a case of me following a chord chart and making my own lines up.
My problem is, I can't sight read, yet (), and am finding it difficult to remember what to play, as there is no hook.

I guess I'm just going to have to shed some wood to get the lines under my fingers. Tough gig.

Well if the MD wants you to sight read and you can't it's not something you can learn overnight, so you've got a problem.

Start with this here book cheap and most excellent

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Building-Walking-Bass-Lines-Friedland/dp/0793517869#reader]Amazon.com: Building Walking Bass Lines: Ed Friedland: Books[/ame]

Oh you need a metronome, patience and determination. Good luck

 

[five7]

Practice, practice, practice! No pain=no gain!

 

[adouglas]

I'm really bad at walking bass lines also, and my sight reading skills are the equivalent of a hunt-and-peck typist.

But in my so-called mind I think of walking lines as being like stepping stones across a stream. Every chord change is a stepping stone that you land on at the right moment. The walking part gets you from stone to stone.

Maybe that mental image might help you visualize a riff.

Or maybe I'm just completely wrong. Wouldn't be the first time and it certainly won't be the last.

 

[Duarte]

Just guess.

But never take my advice.

 

[RocketRalf]

Pick a few bars at a time, 4 for example, and play them over and over, first slowly then progressively faster. Once you can play it perfectly in a faster tempo than what it's intended to, then you'll have done enough repetitions to know it by memory! Do that with all the groups of 4 bars, then regroup them in 8 bars, then 16, etc until you play the whole song.

 

[sb69coupe]

If it's swing stuff, big band charts with written out basslines, then you'll need to either memorize the lines, or get your sight reading skills up to snuff. Those bass lines are written with the intention of working within the entire arrangement. The composer knew what he/she was doing and the bass line supports the song and the other instrumentation.

Back LONG LONG ago, I played in the jazz ensemble in school. Going in, I thought it was OK to just improvise a bass line over the changes rather than playing what was written. After the director gently corrected my misconception, I started learning the parts as written. It didn't take long to realize that the written part was there for a very valid reason.

I've been thinking about doing some work to get my sight reading skills back in shape. This may be just the kick I need to start working.....

 

[Kirby]

I agree, if you cannot read the lines then the only next step is to memorize the lines as written. Can you get recordings of the pieces? If so, put them into Garage Band or a similar program and loop small segments at a time. After a while you can begin to group these together into whole pieces. Be patient.

After a while, you will begin to recognize patterns. All the greats such as Paul Chambers and Ron Carter etc. have signature riffs that you can recognize. Once you become familiar with the language it is just a matter of putting the words together to form recognizable phrases.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the gig.

 

[SharonG]

I did the jazz band thing all through high school and college, as well as to make $$ on the side in college. Sometimes the lines were written, sometimes it was just a chord chart. I agree with the sage advice above, you'll need to memorize the lines if your reading is sketchy. Until you're at the point where they are fluid, one very important thing my band leader told me was to keep the feel going. Until you've got the written notes locked, just make sure you keep the groove. When in doubt, play the root............

 

[maddog]

I second Sharon.

Keep it going and keep in key. Then work on getting it "right".

Getting new music in was always fun when I played in high school and college. We'd all sit down and make some short runs thru it to start. It took awhile but I figured out not to get bogged down in what was exactly written but just stick in key and follow the general lines.

 

[bassmonkey]

Thanks for the replies.

Some useful tips and also some validation that this stuff is difficult, it's not just my failings as a bass player.

I'll keep plugging away.

 

[N.F.A.]

Thanks for the Ed Friedland tip. I went over to Amazon and bought it. I guess it's out of print. A couple of dealers want upwards of a hundred simoleons for it. Wahnsinn!
Cheers,
Geoff

 

[EdFriedland]

Thanks for the Ed Friedlander tip. I went over to Amazon and bought it. I guess it's out of print. A couple of dealers want upwards of a hundred simoleons for it. Wahnsinn!
Cheers,
Geoff

BTW, no er n the last name. I checked this out for myself... hard to imagine someone charging $125 for an out of print CASSETTE version of this book, but there it was. I'm mystified. Why anyone thinks someone would pay that is beyond me. Insanity. The book is still in print in the CD version.


Anyway, I hope you're spending some time with the material, and remember on the gig - DON'T stop! The pulse is the most important thing, the notes are important too... but if you stop, the ball is out of play. Keep playing. Better to be 50% right than 100% wrong.

 

[N.F.A.]

My apologies for the misspelling and I corrected the mistake. Glad to be getting your work. My walking bass skills are weak. Wish I had known about the cd version. I bought the cassette version. Again, apologies for the spelling mistake.
Thanks,
G.

 

[bassmonkey]

Thanks for the replies, again. Especially from Ed.

However, problem solved as I've just been sacked!

I was originally going to be the rehearsal bassist. They have a pro-musician in the bass seat. He has another band that generates most of his income, so he is a little unreliable and rarely turns in for practices. They got me on-board to fill that gap. I only attended 1 rehearsal and after he found out he started to turn up regularly. I have been working on the stuff diligently since. Today I got an email from the band leader telling me they had a new guy to fill the bass seat, who will be more reliable. I am guessing this guy is pretty good and can sight read. The leader said I would still be needed for the occasional rehearsal, which was kind of him. However, I'm not going to put in the effort to learn 50 or 60 songs for the opportunity to sit in every 3 months or so.

I totally understand why they have done this, but it has left me feeling a little low and deflated.

I need to raise my game as a bassist.