Walking Bass Lines

[JeffN]

How are walking bass lines constructed? What notes make a walking bass lines?

[MondoMarcus]

Originally Posted by JeffN

How are walking bass lines constructed? What notes make a walking bass lines?

My brother is a bass player, and he says something about passing tones, wich are notes not actually in a scale, but can be used to pass from one note within a scale to another.
Also... I believe it has something to do with going from one root note to another using other notes within the key.
Sorry if this sounds confusing, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

[Malcolm]

I thought a bass player would have answered this before now. On 6 string and I'm sure it's really the same on a 4 string, perhaps with notes and not chords.........

One simple way of doing it is to walk up or back down using the alphabet.

Key of G with a G C D chord progression. Say you are in D chord and want to go to G ---- sound the E note, F note then the G note on the 6th string --and then if 6 string strum the G chord till it's time for another chord change. With the 4 string I would assume you would then revert to what you were doing -- R-5 or R-3-5, whatever.

In G want to go to C -- A note then B note then C note - on the 5th string -and strum the C chord.

C to D -- I don't bother walking.

This walk can also be done with chord forms - just move them back up or down instead of using individual notes. I'll use the three middle strings as a barre and move chromatically from D back to a cheat G (1st string @ 3rd fret) then grab a normal G chord and strum till its time for the next chord change.

I'm sure there are other ways of doing this; I just keep it simple and advance notes till I get to the next chord. If I'm going back I use the middle 3 string barre to work back down to the chord I need. I try and keep it simple, advancing notes and using the barre if I'm going back down the alphabet. As on the fly, I have trouble saying my alphabet backwards.....

Simple moves alphabetically get the job done.

[mattblack850]

Check the scale diagrams for your minor pents and the blues scale, the differences are the 'passing' notes. Also try some chromatic scale choices as these then provide much more scope for the 'walking' type sound. Take all of this and then mix in the notes from a pretty standard rock 'n' roll bassline and you should be well on your way!!! In an A, D, E. This below for the A, then just follow it up the neck for the D and E, once you get to know this you'll be able to start adding your own things and moving it around up and down and across the neck for a more fluid sound, hope you have fun!!



g----------------5-7-----------------------------
d----------------567------------------------------
a----------------567-----------------------------
e----------------5-78---------------------------

[theox]

In straight 4/4, you play the chords root on 1, and the root, 3rd, 5th or 7th (not on maj7 chords though) on 3. This applies at least to dominant and minor 7th chords. On beats 2 and 4 you play a chromatic passing tone a half step above or below the next note.

I'm not a bass player so if anyone likes to comment on this, please do. I could check this with my brother who plays bass. If he has anything to add I'll post it here.

[gersdal]

Originally Posted by theox

In straight 4/4, you play the chords root on 1, and the root, 3rd, 5th or 7th (not on maj7 chords though) on 3. This applies at least to dominant and minor 7th chords. On beats 2 and 4 you play a chromatic passing tone a half step above or below the next note.

In jazz you would normally also add a passing tone to the next chord. E.g. for a |G7|C7| i may play |g-h-d-c# | c-etc |

[Spino]

Hey Theox
I'd say it's up to you, how you approach the notes in the
framework of the chords you want to join together
( that becomes your Style) ,
as long as you don't interfere with the melody too much ,
you can do half note/whole note or bigger steps from above or below
the chords, sideways,frontways ,backways to the target
note as long as the dissonance, if your using it does'nt
get in the way of the harmony.

[Poparad]

Originally Posted by theox

In straight 4/4, you play the chords root on 1, and the root, 3rd, 5th or 7th (not on maj7 chords though) on 3. This applies at least to dominant and minor 7th chords. On beats 2 and 4 you play a chromatic passing tone a half step above or below the next note.

I'm not a bass player so if anyone likes to comment on this, please do. I could check this with my brother who plays bass. If he has anything to add I'll post it here.

You're right about the chord tones on beats 1 and 3. However, on 2 and 4 it can be any note, not just a chromatic neighbor. You can use a scale tone or even another chord tone on those beats. On beat 4 though, it often does sound nice to use a chromatic neighbor to the downbeat of the next measure, but it's not necessary.