Good jazz bass lines pdf

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. Constructing walking jazz bass lines daily warm up exercises for bass all books are available in either standard notation or bass tab. Comping with bass lines guide jamie holroyd guitar. Use these lines to get you going the right direction when you start playing a blues. 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. In order to be a part of the jazz movement one must accept change. By the time it was sold to cbs in 1965, fender had grown from a fledgling california guitar maker to an industry leader with a stable of acclaimed instruments and amplifiers that revolutionized and profoundly transformed music worldwide.

Here is an example with the chord progression c7 f7. Jazz has changed greatly over the past 70 years and is presently in transition. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon. Mike downes the jazz bass lines book free ebook download as. Bassists can learn to read music notation, chord lyrics charts, or bass tablature. The first lesson will be building walking bass lines in the 44 meter swing style.

A compendium of techniques for great jazz bass lines including playalong cd featuring ron carter bass builders 0073999215519. Forget your guitar solos and your vocal gymnastics. The basic principle for playing latin tunes is the same as playing twobeat bass lines. This book teaches everything you need to know to create great bass lines. So here are the top 11 coolest bass guitar solos where the bassists really helped to surpass and rule over the other instruments. Best includes better plus graded assignments on all lessons and 4 coaching sessions. Good course includes video lessons, audio instructions and downloadable lesson pdf files. Try to play the phrase on as many sets of strings as possible. If you ever get confused or feel insecure, you can always return to this. 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. A good bass line will shake your core and help you to really feel the music. Adding walking bass lines to chords is great fun and will make you a good accompanist.

For example, when you do steps 1, 2, or 3 above, you are creating the most basic kinds of ostinato. In celebration of bass week, we rounded up a list of alltime classic lines, along with your suggestions and the input of the musicradar team, with the aim of crowning one overall. 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. If we analyse the walking bass lines from a good bassist in a band, we quickly come to realise that there are bass lines that appear over and over, because they sound so good and have proved themselves successful. In general, it is a good strategy to play the root of the chord on the downbeat of. Walking bass lines always sound cool in any style of music, but are essential to jazz blues and.

Walking bass line theory basics pdf file chris fitzgerald. At this point, for the level of bass line construction we are discussing, the root of each chord is usually the best choice. The bassline construction method explored here uses chord tones, approach notes and basic reharmonization. And walking bass lines are a continuous sequence of quarter notes, generally played on the beat 4 notes per bar in 44 time. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of. Creating jazz bass lines is the first in a series of lessons to be presented on walking bass. Each example includes not only written basslines, but also a series of exercises. To play jazz requires discipline, and discipline is good for all of us. The goal of a walking bassline is to outline the chord progression but with an. How to keep your bass lines interesting learn jazz standards. I recommend practicing these ideas with blues backing tracks made for the bass. From the funkiest bass grooves to the most lyrical bass solos, from the 50s up until 2020.

Having the bass tab option is for the bass guitar player and will hopefully inspire them to read standard notation. 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 two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line on which f pitch is written. 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. This style heavily utilizes the roots and 5ths of chords. The term walking is used lescribe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners talkingbass. More than a players manual, this book portrays jazz bass as a vital element of 20th century american music. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f. Hey i am beginning to learn to play jazz bass but i dont know where to start, what are some songs i can learn to get into the genre. 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. Take a one or two bar phrase and transpose it to all 12 keys. The bass line descends the scale and lands on the root of the next chord. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz.

Better includes all basic features plus 2 coaching sessions and graded homework assignments. Dorian pentatonic blues bass line ideas guitar pro zip file mp3 jam track. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing. 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. Just like walking with your feet, tyjwalking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere. This page features over 180 free bass transcriptions in standard notation. The language of jazz or the jazz idiom is in a constant state of flux. Playing a walking jazz guitar bass line is a captivating method of comping for other musicians, and yourself. Students and readers of constructing walking jazz bass lines. Get a hold of the fundamentals before tackling this. From jazz bassist to popular music icon by joshua andrew zarbo, b. Our collection of tabs, guitar chords, and video lessons is constantly growing, so check back often to find your favorite songs.

More than 470 free transcriptions for bass and other instruments on basslessons. The other thing is that jazz is essentially a live music all about improvisation and it is very different on recordings. It is obvious that we should have a command of these bass lines like a musical vocabulary, so to speak. Having fully written lines, youre able to see and analysis how and why the lines work.

In the example of iivivi in the key of c, you will play notes from the c major scale. Chords and walking bass part 1 in this lesson ill demonstrate how i approach playing walking bass lines and chords at the same time. 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. In this first lesson, i will cover some basic material that all. Dedicate at least 3060 minutes each day to playing the bass. As far as songs heres what ive learned and what ive taught to beginners. If you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing. Its just a triangle, some percussion and the orchestra so ive written a basic drum beat that should. The next approach involves the diatonic scale notes in the key of the progression or tune you are playing. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation. But if youre really looking for a walking jazz bass line book, then in alphabetical order ed friedland, ed fuqua, jay hungerford, and bob magnusson all have good books, each with a little different approach. All of our bass tab pdf is printable and downloadable so you can enjoy it for years to come. The use of different rhythmic variation is a good touch as well.

The concepts in the approach note soloing series can be easily applied to bass lines as well. What are some good bass lines to learn for beginners. Music notation is a great system, but it isnt the most modern, or best system for learn modern bass guitar songs. Jazz guitar makes full use of many theoretical concepts, and also tends to use a lot of the more difficult concepts in music, such as improvisation and proper usage and implementation of the chromatic scale. The fundamentals of music are pitch and rhythm which are placed in a grid of five lines and four spaces called staff. Covers scales, arpeggios, rhythm, walking bass lines and music theory as it applies to the bass, along with many lines and grooves played over a variety of progressions in all keys. Which goes a long way when writing out your own lines or using chord charts. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. Apr 26, 2017 wallace stelzer is a professional jazz bass player and content creator from houston, texas. The rbbi is 6 week or 6 module intensive course that teaches everything a bass player needs to get up and perform at a blues jam session. After browsing our selection of free bass tab pdf, view our video lessons to help you get started learning your favorite songs from start to finish. The following is an example of a common bass line construction when the harmonic rhythm is moving at the rate of two chords per bar target notes are designated with t, and approach notes are designated with a. A bassline is a melody line played in the bass by a lowpitched instrument such as the piano, double bass, electric bass, tuba, etc.

One that can be opened with guitar pro 6, and one with guitar pro 5. T 1 2 a t 3 by chris fitzgerald a 4 t 1 a 2 t 3 a 4 walking bass line theory basics. In this weeks lesson were looking at a very simple walking bass line through the chord changes of the jazz standard. Walking bass lines always sound cool in any style of music, but are essential to jazz blues and great american songbook jazz standards. As im sure you have heard before, practice makes perfect. Playing jazz guitar bass lines and chords terence wright. Heres a blues in a jam track you can use to practice. Bass tablature for a cool little jazz line by bass lessons. Here are some tips to aid you in mastering these bass blues licks. Building walking bass lines pdf free download epdf. This simplification is known as a twobeat bassline. Chapter 2 of this thesis begins with a description of jamersons early recording. To walk bass lines on the ii v i, all we have to do is learn three different walking patterns.

These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can rely on to always sound good when you play it. White stripes 7 nation army its easy and can be played on one string weezer beverly. How to write a walking bass line learn jazz standards. How to play amazingly easy 1625 jazz walking bass guitar. Wallace stelzer is a professional jazz bass player and content creator from houston, texas.

How to create bass lines 5 ostinato or riff bass an ostinato is a repeated rhythmicmelodic. Citing examples from key recordings in the jazz canon, the book defines the essence of the musical contributions made by more than 70 important jazz bassists, including ray brown, eddie gomez, charles mingus, milt hinton and many others. Top 11 coolest bass guitar solos youve got to learn. Ive been a guitar player for many years and just started learning bass. 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. King is a great riff to learn because it just repeats all the way through and its a great example of how some riffs will weave a line through a chord progression. The difficulty in walking bass on the guitar lies in the combination of playing chords and bass at the same time.

In this first lesson, i will cover some basic material that all players should know regardless of style preference. If youre looking for bass tabs, then click here these free bass transcriptions are provided for educational use only click on the transcription title to view and download the pdf. An easytouse, stepbystep approach to basic theory is given as a foundation, and then the essential stylesand many styles within each styleare explored from the bass point of view. Practice applying these walking bass comping techniques to jazz standards that you know.

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. The lessons for the bass is very good and interesting. Introduces the beginner to the fundamentals of jazz bass guitar. Written by stephen richter in both standard notation and tab. 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. Simple walking bass line for jazz beginners autumn leaves. Latin or straight8th note bass lines can be embellished by adding an 8th note on the offbeat of beats two and four.

For example, a short pattern that is played on two strings could be played on strings 12, 23, 34, 45. Free bass tabs printable, downloadable pdf bass tabs. First off, before we begin, it is important that you take a look at your skillset. Especially on compilations you are going to get short snippets. An easytouse, stepbystep approach to basic theory is given as a foundation, and then the essential stylesand many styles within each. Its a system that takes weeks or even months to learn the basics, while guitar tab can be learned in a matter. How to create a walking bass line if you know how to create a walking bass line, you can be more creative in your jazz playing.