In this 5 minute masterclass, were going create a bass line over a blues in f. A jazz bassist must learn how to walk a line based on the chords of a tune. Playing with a walking bass line is a style of piano playing that is used most often in solo jazz performance. A bass line is a melody line played in the bass by a lowpitched instrument such as the piano, double bass, electric bass, tuba, etc.
Walking bass lines are a fascinating part of jazz, as they support and mark the harmony underneath the chords and melody. Walking bass for piano tutorial no 1 by michael gundlach. Learn walking bass from the master of walking bass himself. How to create bass lines 6 often youll use an ostinato for the head when the whole group plays the melody at the beginning and the end and use a walking bass for the changes when people take turns improvising over the chord progression of the song.
Instead of having a few different things to try in this lesson, we are going to learn a written bass. Oct 26, 2018 in this 5 minute masterclass, were going create a bass line over a blues in f. 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. Aug 19, 2014 in this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. A few extra chord changes and, in particular, minor chords distinguish this jazzier take on the 12bar blues from the basic form. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f. In this example, the bass line consists of simple arpeggiations of each chord, giving the overall effect of a simple blues bass line. One very important and widely used jazz guitar technique is playing bass lines in combination with chords. Playing a walking jazz guitar bass line is a captivating method of comping for other musicians, and yourself. Walking bass lines for guitar the blues in 12 keys. Playalong download for walking bass lines for guitar the blues in 12 keys book i mp3. Once you have some basic rules down, youll be able to make bass lines over any chord progression.
Popularized by piano greats lennie tristano and dave mckenna, among others, the walking lh bass line can effectively subtitute for a rhythm section, if desired, and provides a rhythmic and melodic foundation for rh improvisations. How to play walking bass lines at the piano cocktail piano lessons. And walking basslines are a continuous sequence of quarter notes, generally played on the beat. Jazz piano lessons online the jazz piano stepbystep course. Walking bass for jazz and blues is a complete method to help beginners master each element of blues and jazz walking bass. This configuration will allow you to turn the bass track off and play with the piano and drums, as well as giving you clear access to the bass track for learning the lines by ear, and by. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation.
How to play walking bass lines at the piano cocktail. 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. Just like walking with your feet, tyjwalking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere. 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. Walking bass lines are used in blues gospel, country, rock, ska, rockabilly, rhythm and blues, latin, and many other musical genres. In this lesson we are going to apply a simple but effective walking bass. Improvise jazz piano with walking bass line piano with jonny. The term walking is used lescribe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. How to play walking bass lines jazz piano lesson left hand lines. Walking bass lines always sound cool in any style of music, but are essential to jazz blues and. Sheet music plus, amazon ray brown legendary jazz bassist. In this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. These jazz piano lessons cover everything you need to know to appreciate and play jazz. Free jazz piano lessons everything you need to know about jazz.
Playing jazz guitar bass lines with chords the guitar is an extremely versatile instrument, with seemingly endless techniques and tones around every corner. Walking bass lines part 2 learn jazz piano online with. The purpose of a good walking bassline or any bassline for that matter is twofold. Unlike classical piano lessons, quality jazz piano lessons consist of learning.
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. In this weeks lesson were looking at a very simple walking bass line through the chord changes of the jazz standard autumn leaves. How to write a walking bass line learn jazz standards. In this lesson well take a look at scale style and intervalic bass lines, and even mix them up a bit. For over 10 years now ive taught jazz piano lessons to students worldwide, in the comfort of their home, over the telephone and or skype, how to be crea. Walking bass lines for guitar jazz guitar workshop series. 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. 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. Jazz guitar lessons, musical, piano, sheet music, learning, exercises, pianos, music score. Build a walking bass line from scales the jazz piano left hand. We explore how to walk that bass in your left hand up basic triad shapes and scale fragments. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of.
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. Jazz piano lesson left hand lines for any chord progressions piano courses online loading. Therefore being in control of them and becoming fluent is crucial. Walking bass lines are a fascinating part of jazz, as they support and mark the harmony underneath the chords and. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line on which f pitch is written. Gjermunds jazz piano course is well structured and is motivational with the step by step approach.
In this article were going to focus on a few specific things that you can practice to help you play walking bass lines at the piano. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing. For beginning bass lines, the root of the chord is the most common target note to play because it is the fundamental note of the chord. Walking bass lines are really useful in jazz piano they give you a cool, pro sound and a. Here the bass moves from root to the 3rd and 5th, before walking chromatically into the change. Get a hold of the fundamentals before tackling this. Here is the bass lines for autumn leaves that everyone contributed to last week.
Looking forward to hearing your walking bass lines over autumn leaves. And walking bass lines are a continuous sequence of quarter notes, generally played on the beat 4 notes per bar in 44 time. Youll learn the turnaround progression, the blues scale, and 3 exercises to practice improvisation. As such, they start from a beginner level and gradually build up towards more advanced topics. 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. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. How to create bass lines 6 often youll use an ostinato for the head when the whole group plays the melody at the beginning and the end and use a walking bass for the changes when people take turns. A walking bass is a bass accompaniment consisting of notes of equal value, usually quarter notes. A walking bass line is simply a melodic bass line found mainly in jazz and blues styles in which you walk around in quarter notes connecting the chords. Jazz piano lessons from anywhere in the world from the originator of distance jazz piano. If you want to learn how to fish, then jazz piano lessons are for you. 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.
Building bass lines 5 it is common practice by jazz bassists to simplify a walking bass line by playing only on beats one and three, usually during the beginning of the tune when the melody is being played. Summertime walking bass line tutorial learn jazz piano. Now its time to learn how to create a complete bass line from scratch. This style heavily utilizes the roots and 5ths of chords. Walking bass lines are a very specific and classic jazz piano sound and generally considered an advanced concept. How to play walking bass lines at the piano cocktail piano. Jazz piano lessons stepbystep lessons to master jazz theory. I have this book and no only is it a great way to get some very nice walking bass lines down, its a nice book for piano technique as well play the bass lines in both hands, together.
R 3 5 6 7 walking bass line theory basics chris fitzgerald. Use these lines to get you going the right direction when you start playing a blues. 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. By the end of these tutorials you should have a solid understanding of jazz, and with enough practice be able to competently improvise and comp over any jazz song. Walking bass on the piano can be one of the coolest things ever. The fundamentals of music are pitch and rhythm which are placed in a grid of five lines and four spaces called staff. Elgar salut d amour sheet music for piano solo pdf piano sheet. When starting out with walking bass lines, i would recommend that you always target the root when changing chords.
Walking bass for jazz and blues fundamental changes. When creating walking bass lines, its important to outline the root and 5th of the chord. Playing jazz guitar bass lines and chords terence wright. In part 1 we created waling bass lines over major and minor 251s using the tones of the triad in combination with chromatic or stepwise approach patterns. 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. Walking bass line theory basics pdf file chris fitzgerald. The pianomethod walking bass for piano can be downloaded at. Incorporating the 3rd of the chord will also give your bass line a stronger harmonic foundation. Jazz piano lessons, mark miller jazz piano lessons, online. First, to outline the chord you are playing over, and second, to smoothly approach the next chord. A bassline is a melody line played in the bass by a lowpitched instrument such as the piano, double bass, electric bass, tuba, etc. This simplification is known as a twobeat bassline. Walking bass lines piano tutorial 5 minute masterclass. While some knowledge of music theory is necessary, excellent bass lines can be.
Improvisation, scalar fills, reharmonization, walking bass lines, chord substitution and many other arranging techniques. These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can rely on to always sound good when you play it. Walking bass line piano tutorial walking bass jazz piano. 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. We can create a walking bass line over the following twelvebar blues chord progression. How to play walking bass lines jazz piano lesson download the exercises for this lesson here. Were going to use basic chord tones and repetitive lines that will act as a springboard in developing your own lines. This paper describes a contourbased algorithm for the realtime automatic generation of jazz walking bass lines, following a given harmonic progression.
Free jazz piano lessons everything you need to know. 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. If you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing. A guitar in standard tuning will never reach the lower bass notes of a real bass, but. Trying to find a way in to playing jazz bass looking for a structured way to increase your current skill level looking. In part 2 of this lesson we continue our study of walking bass lines. This is interesting because jazz generally has a backbeat i. Dave frank school of jazz, new york city music videos. But the truth is that walking bass lines are fairly easy to practice and, like everything in music and life, the more you practice the more comfortable you will become when playing in this style. Below you can find a selection of downloadable pdf files containing the most common chords and voicings in all 12 keys. First off, before we begin, it is important that you take a look at your skillset.
For a complete guide to walking bass lines be sure to check out the full course here. It is designed to develop strong harmonic skills, rhythm, phrasing and note choice. And walking basslines are a continuous sequence of quarter notes, generally played on the beat 4 notes per bar in 44 time. This is a supplement for the lesson on walking bass. The majority of the presentation will focus on walking bass lines in a 44 meter. Even though i have completed one year of a jazz degree, i am finding his course is consolidating my understanding as some topics are approached from a different angle to what i encountered at university. Walking bass lines supplement this is a supplement for the lesson on walking bass.
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