Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz online jazz handbook welcome to the bass chapter of the thelonious monk institute of jazz s online jazz handbook. A bassline also known as a bass line or bass part is the term used in many styles of music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic, traditional music, or classical music for the lowpitched instrumental part or line played in jazz and some forms of popular music by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, cello, tuba or keyboard piano, hammond organ. The way i play this type of accompaniment is to use my right hand fingers and use my thumb for the bass line and the rest for the chords. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. Learn jazz bass soloing with essential arpeggios and scales. Incorporating the 3rd of the chord will also give your bass line a stronger harmonic foundation. First off, before we begin, it is important that you take a look at your skillset. If you are looking for a specific solo that you cant find here or in these other sites,please do not ask me if i know where you can find it,because i obviously dont. A thesis submitted to the graduate council of texas state university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of music with a major in music may 2014 committee members. Gypsy jazz is different from straightahead jazz, because the rhythm is provided by a rhythm guitar instead of drums. In this chapter we want to look at more typical bass lines with chromatic passing notes. I thonk learning the basic theory behind everything you do in jazz is important, as it helps you through providing a solid foundation for the more.
Trying to find a way in to playing jazz bass looking for a structured way to increase your current skill level looking. Try to play the phrase on as many sets of strings as possible. Here are some tips to aid you in mastering these bass blues licks. Walking bass line piano tutorial walking bass jazz piano. When creating walking bass lines, its important to outline the root and 5th of the chord. R 3 5 6 7 walking bass line theory basics chris fitzgerald. Simple jazz blues walking bass line breakdown youtube. Jazz bass soloing fundamental changes music book publishing.
Bands like the brian setzer orchestra bring swing to todays music scene. For a complete guide to walking bass lines be sure to check out the full course here. Jazz has changed greatly over the past 70 years and is presently in transition. Apr 26, 2017 in my previous post, how to keep your bass lines interesting, we defined what a bass line is and what its functions are, and looked at a few ways in which we can creatively negotiate chord changes. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f. Chords, soloing, theory, vocabulary, and more in each book. Click here to download the free 3 scale concepts that create killer walking bass lines pdf. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line on which f pitch is written. Complete lesson for ii v i major soloing with notation, tab and audio for bass guitar. Discover the 3m system for walking bass 3 simple methods to create walking bass lines module 2. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation. More double bass inspiration can be found on my youtube channel.
Rhythmically most swing bass lines sound best with quarter notes but are no means limited to that one rhythm. From jazz bassist to popular music icon by joshua andrew zarbo, b. The first lesson will be building walking bass lines in the 44 meter swing style. In this lesson we are going to apply a simple but effective walking bass. Comping with bass lines guide jamie holroyd guitar jazz. Thats ok for modern nashville music, i guess, but that is way too heavy for dancing.
Well there is a huge number of jazz albums with great walking basslines probably my favourite for walking lines is paul chambers and of course if there is one album that everybody has or likes even if they arent a jazz fan is miles davis kind of blue. Adding walking bass lines to chords is great fun and will make you a good accompanist. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon. In jazz, bass lines should generally not be too repetitive unless youre intentionally playing a vamp like in blues or boogiewoogie. When playing jazz bass lines, accurate rhythm is always more important than. The language of jazz or the jazz idiom is in a constant state of flux. Transcriptions more information home about fji departments linear jazz improvisation. If you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing. Swing is hard to define, but crucial to the sound and rhythm of boogiewoogie and all jazz and other improvised musical styles. How to play an easy walking bass line with root fifth passing note.
A bassline is the term used in many styles of music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and. Walking bass lines for jazz guitarists video jazz guitar lessons. Walking bass is going to be your main focus as a jazz bassist, though. Looking forward to hearing your walking bass lines over autumn leaves. Bass lesson easy walking bass line with tab youtube. The difficulty in walking bass on the guitar lies in the combination of playing chords and bass at. In this lesson we will be creating a simple walking bass line over a basic jazz blues progression. Jazz guitar licks are short musical phrases used to outline popular chord progressions. Click here for the transcription pdf of paul chambers bass line on airegin a bass player who makes grown men tremble in fear at the mere mention of his name. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing. Dedicate at least 3060 minutes each day to playing the bass. Any written bass lines should be player as is, even though there are chord changes. Practice applying these walking bass comping techniques to jazz standards that you know.
Were going to use basic chord tones and repetitive lines that will act as a springboard in developing your own lines. Aug 19, 2014 in this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. Jazz backing tracks including jam tracks for 251 practice, jazz blues and famous jazz standards. I recommend buying ed friedlands building walking bass lines, it provides all the essential tools you need for walking. And walking basslines are a continuous sequence of quarter notes, generally played on the beat. The fundamentals of music are pitch and rhythm which are placed in a grid of five lines and four spaces called staff. How to play swing style grooves on the bass guitar dummies. I like swing because they make all their guitars in korea, unlike cort and dame, who have factories in indonesia and china. This page lists 117 bass solo transcriptions that are available somewhere on the internet here you can find more about the best web sites that offer free and paid solo transcriptions. In this video course, arnoud shows you how to play upright bass in the style of gypsy jazz the acoustic swing music of django reinhardt. A walking bass line is a more creative form of bass playing than the other swing styles because you choose new notes each time you play the same song. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. Bass transcriptions jazz classical pop rubenheimans. Jan 30, 2019 learn 141 jazz guitar licks over common chords and chord progressions, including major and minor 251.
For educational and personal use only not to be sold but please share. The function of a bass player in the jazz combo is to work with the piano player and drummer to provide both a harmonic and rhythmic stability for the tune. All transcriptions are available in pdf format for free download. When you can cleanly and smoothly play the bass line, add the chords. Jul 21, 2016 walking bass line jazz standards swing tune misc unsigned bands. In this example, the bass line consists of simple arpeggiations of each chord, giving the overall effect of a simple blues bass line. Walking bass line jazz standards swing tune bass tab by misc unsigned bands. The bass should, when possiblepractical, walk it all the way up, i. Misc beginner jazz bass tab a lot of new and old jazz is built on r, 3, 5, 3. In swing jazz and jump blues, basslines are often created from a continuous sequence of quarter notes in a. In this lesson, we will show you a couple of jazz bass lines that will help to open your eyes to the use of chords and chromatics within jazz bass guitar playing. The video contains the performance and the slow version with tab on screen. Jazz blues backing track medium up swing c by quist.
Jazz walking bass line etudes for guitar jamie holroyd. Summertime walking bass line tutorial simple walking. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line. Jazz bass backing track medium swing 251 c youtube. These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can rely on to always sound good when you play it.
Swing style grooves can be accomplished easily with the bass guitar. A nice place to start out with walking bass lines is to create lines using just the root and 5th in combination with either chromatic or whole step approach tones. While giant steps can be daunting to improvise over, you can create a walking bass line with only a few notes. Bass line 1 the first bass line that we want to learn, has a downward movement and is composed of the root, the minor. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz online jazz handbook welcome to the bass chapter of the thelonious monk institute of jazzs online jazz handbook. Swing style originated in the late 1920s and early 30s. Walking bass line jazz standards swing tune misc unsigned bands.
As im sure you have heard before, practice makes perfect. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz. The first jazz walking bass line etude we are going to learn is over the first eight bars of giant steps. For example, a short pattern that is played on two strings could be played on strings 12, 23, 34, 45. Boogie woogie bass line patterns sheet music, pdf, walking. If you find it useful why not give a small donation to a charity of your choice. Here is the bass lines for autumn leaves that everyone contributed to last week.
In order to be a part of the jazz movement one must accept change. The term walking is used lescribe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. Nov 15, 2018 how to play an easy walking bass line with root fifth passing note. The goal of a walking bass line is to outline the chord progression but with an interesting melodic line that provides a countermelody as above. No matter what theyre called, their function remains the same.
Now its time to learn how to create a complete bass line from scratch. With these jazz standard study guides you learn how to master your favorite jazz tunes on guitar. When starting out with walking bass lines, i would recommend that you always target the root when changing chords. Jazz bass backing track medium swing 2516 c by quist. Misc unsigned bands walking bass line jazz standards. Take a one or two bar phrase and transpose it to all 12 keys. The blues in 12 keys, book i in the constructing walking jazz bass lines series is designed to give the aspiring bassist of all levels the tools and devices required to construct professional level jazz bass lines and to build a strong functional awareness of how to function as a professional bassist in any musical setting. While some knowledge of music theory is necessary, excellent bass lines can be. How to play amazingly easy 1625 jazz walking bass guitar. In my previous post, how to keep your bass lines interesting, we defined what a bass line is and what its functions are, and looked at a few ways in which we can creatively negotiate chord changes. The current implementation allows for the use of eighth.
Comping with bass lines guide jazz guitar instruction. Use these lines to get you going the right direction when you start playing a blues. The style of the glenn miller and benny goodman bands typifies the music of the early swing era. This paper describes a contourbased algorithm for the realtime automatic generation of jazz walking bass lines, following a given harmonic progression. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of. From jazz to pop and classical to some of my own compositions. 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. S7 e7 all of me example bass line john marley 3 3 3 5 2 2 4. Walking bass lines for guitar jazz guitar workshop series. That lifted style of line extends the phrase, lets it breathe, and lightens it up, as dance music jazz swing should never be heavyladen and laborious.
Just like walking with your feet, tyjwalking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere. They can be called riffs, licks, lines, phrases, motives, and motifs, just to name a few. Lines in the style of wes, metheny, benson, and more. 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. Get a hold of the fundamentals before tackling this.
Nov 25, 2012 constructing walking jazz bass lines book iv building a 12 key facility for the jazz bassist. How to create bass lines 5 ostinato or riff bass an ostinato is a repeated rhythmicmelodic. For example, when you do steps 1, 2, or 3 above, you are creating the most basic kinds of ostinato. In this weeks lesson were looking at a very simple walking bass line through the chord changes of the jazz standard autumn leaves. Misc unsigned bands walking bass line jazz standards swing. Dire straits sultans of swing bass transcription pdf. 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. S7 e7 bass bass a7 10fr d7 5 a7 d7 bass bass e7 a7 9 e7 a7 bass bass 10fr d7 10fr d7 g7 d7 d7 g7 bass bass 8fr c. Walking bass lines for jazz guitarists video jazz guitar. Pdf a contourbased jazz walking bass generator researchgate. Given that sultans of swing takes its lyrical inspiration from mark knopflers experience of watching a jazz band playing their hearts out to a rather indifferent crowd in a rather grim pub in deptford now one of south east londons trendier suburbs it seems fitting that the. This uptempo standard is one of the prime examples of modern jazz, and its propulsive feel is lead by chambers fierce consistency. Learn how to build and play walking bass lines on guitar and combine these with chords video, guitar tabs, and backing track.
Learn your bass fretboard notes easy starter method. The majority of the presentation will focus on walking bass lines in a 44 meter. 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. How to write a walking bass line learn jazz standards. Each generation of jazz musicians contribute their own unique ideas, feelings, and sound to the music and this is what. This bass transcription is paul chambers full bass line from miles davis famous 1957 album, round midnight. The chords that i am using in this lesson are the shell voicings that i covered in this lesson.
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