the

secrets

of

walking

bass

In

by adam levy

a beginners guide
to jazzy comping
the world of jazz, its often flamboyant

chords-to-the-bar, la Freddie Green. But to get things

soloists who garner the most attention.

seriously cooking, youll need to lay down bass lines

But its the rhythm sectionthe bass

yourself, and add rhythmic punctuation with well-placed

and drumswho make things really

chordal and melodic counterpoint. How can one

swing. On gigs where there are no bass and drums, the

player do the physical and creative work of two? With

guitarist is expected to be the virtual rhythm section. One

practice and persistence, it is possible to simulate a mini-

cool way to make the groove happen is to strum four-

ensemble. In this lesson, well work through the basic

basic steps of building a hardy bassand-chords groove. First, well isolate the essential skills, and then
well merge these elements to create
a solid, swinging accompaniment.

Baby Steps
Lets start with a simple, twomeasure chord progressionG7C7and the most elementary bass
line that will get us from the root
of the first chord (G) to the root of
the second (C) using scalewise motion. Jazz bass lines are typically
rendered in steady quarter-notes,
so if we walk an upward line from
one root to the other (beat one, bar
1 to beat one, bar 2), well have to
account for five notes: G, x, x, x, C.
Stepping up through the appropriate scale for G7G Mixolydian
we only have four notes (G, A, B,
C). This means well either have to
repeat a note (Examples 1a and
1b) or add a chromatic passing
tone (Examples 1c and 1d). Any of
these solutions is fair play.

Walking downward from G is

simpler, because there are just
enough scale tones to fitG, F, E,
D, C. But you can still add chromaticism if you like, as shown in
Examples 2a and 2b.

Adding Harmony
and Rhythm
The next step is to add harmony. Here, the job is to outline a progressions essential harmonic content. Of course, on any given beat,
one fretting-hand finger will be
tied up with a bass note, so your
chord palette will be limited to
two- and three-note voicings. Given such restrictions, the best bet
is to play a chords 3 and 7, which
are its definitive tones. On G7, for
example, laying down F and B (the
b7 and 3) above the G bass gives
our ears enough information to
infer G7 (Ex. 3). For other chord
types, use the appropriate 3 and 7
(see table, Definitive Chord Tones).
Now, we could simply let the

chords 3 and 7 ring out as wholenotes, but half the fun lies in
adding syncopated chordal punches to create a swinging feel. The
simplest way to do that is to include one eighth-note punch per
measure. To practice this, repeat
a one-measure phrase using G7,
and place a chord punch on the
first eighth-note of the measure
(Ex. 4a). Note: Treat all eighth-note
rhythms in this lesson as swing
eighth-notes.
Next, shift the punch to the
second eighth-note of the measure
(Ex. 4b), then the third eighth-note
of the measure (Ex. 4c), and so on,
until the punch is on the eighth
eighth-note (the and of beat four).
Make sure to work on this punchover-bass concept at a variety of
tempos, from 72 bpm to 200 bpm.
You can make this exercise even
more interesting by repeating a
two-measure phrase, which gives
you eight more possibilities for the
eighth-note punch.

Ex. 1a

= 72-120

C7

T
A
B

Ex. 1c

G7

C7

#4
=============
& 4
=
w
2

T
A
B

T
A
B

G7

C7

#4
=============
& 4
=
# w
4

Ex. 2a

C7

#4
=============
& 4
=
# w
2

T
A
B

Ex. 2b

G7

C7

#4
=============
& 4 n w
=
3

T
A
B

Once youve made nice with

the previous examples, its time to
move on to the final stepputting
it all together. The bluesy, eightmeasure etude (Ex. 6) combines
all the points weve discussed, and
offers a few extra goodies. Pay
close attention to the left-hand fingerings, as some of the chords
particularly C9 in bars 5 and 6are
nearly impossible to sustain for
their full value without using the
suggested fingerings.
Notice how the rhythmic
chordal phrasing in bars 3 and 4
mimics the phrase in bars 1 and
2. Such symmetry makes comping musical, and not just a series
of random eighth-note punches.

Ex. 1d

G7

= 72-120

Use Your Illusion

Ex. 1b

G7

#4
=============
& 4
=
w

Once the basic one-punchper-bar groove starts feeling good,

its time to tackle more complex
rhythms. Examples 5a and 5b put
two common jazz-comping
rhythms to work.

G7

C7

#4
=============
& 4 n b w
=
3

T
A
B

Use this concept as you develop

your own bass-and-chord moves.
Work the etude up to speed
gradually, keeping time with a
metronome or beat box. If you cant
make your bass line and chords
swing at a slow, sultry pace, you
wont be able to make them swing
at medium or fast tempos. You may
find it helpful to practice the bass
line (downstemmed notes) and the
chord punches (upstemmed notes)
separately before attempting to
play them all together.
To really get into the swing of
things, try setting your time keeper
at half the actual tempo, using its
clicks as beats two and four. As
awkward as this may feel at first,
its a tried-and-true method for

improving swing feel by de-emphasizing beats one and three,

which are more favorably accented in rock than in jazz. Make sure
that your two parts (bass and
chords) are balanced musically. To
get the clearest perspective, record
yourself and listen to the results.
Remember, youre trying to create
an aural illusion, so the bass line
should have the timbre of an upright, and the chord punches
should sound like guitar. Whichever instrument you try to emulate,
keep your chords timbrally distinct
from the bass.

what? For walking practice, work

on 12-bar blues progressions at
various tempos in several different
keysincluding keys that could
easily make use of open-string
bass notes (such as E, A, D, G, and
C), as well as those that are less
likely to include open strings (such
as Bb, Eb, and Ab). When youre
comfortable walking and comping
through blues progressions, take
a stab at a few simple jazz standards, such as Take the A Train
or All of Me. With a little effort,
youll soon be able to walk and
chew gum at the same time.
g

Homework
Okay, so youve got the basic
moves under your fingers. Now

bass tone
heres more to walking bass than learning a few hip bass
lines. As youre trying to create an aural illusion, the trick is to

get a timbre that suggests acoustic bass. And to really make

the magic work, youve got to pay attention to details. Rule

number one: Do not use a pickthe resulting sound is often pointed and plucky. For optimum bass-like attack, use the flesh on your
picking-hand thumb. (Thats not how bassists do it, but its the best

way to approximate their timbre on the guitar.) Your attack should

be quick and sure, but not heavy handed. The last thing you want
is the un-bass-like sound of your strings slapping the frets. (After

definitive chord tones

all, upright basses dont have frets.) Its also a good idea to experiment with where you locate your picking hand, as different points
along the string create subtle timbral changes. In general, you
want to have your hand a little closer to the nut than usual, with

chord type

example

your thumb hovering near the end of your fretboard.

maj7

Cmaj7 = E (3), B (7)

tone, with little or no reverb. A guitar with a wooden bridge will

dom7

b7

C7 = E (3), Bb (b7)

give you the most authentic attack and decay, and for a bona fide

m7 (or m7b5)

b3

b7

Cm7 = Eb (b3), Bb (b7)

dim7

b3

bb7

Cdim7 = Eb (b3), A (bb7)

If youre an electric player, youll want to dial in a clean, clear

bass vibe, use a set of flatwound strings.

Ex. 4a

Ex. 3

G7

#4 w
======
& 4 nw
=
w
2
1

T
A
B

AL

4
3
3

Ex. 4b

# 4 j
========
& 4 {n
{

2
1

T
A
B

Ex. 4c

G7

= 72-120
Swing feel

..

4
3
3

..
3

G7

Swing feel

Swing feel

# 4 j
========
& 4 { n
{

2
1

T
A
B

..

..

4
3
3

G7

#4 j
========
& 4 { n
{

2
1

T
A
B

..
3

4
3
3

..
3

the sound of walking

oe Pass is likely the best known and most extensively recorded

guitarist to feature walking bass lines in his music. His solo
discs on Pablo (including the Virtuoso series and Montreux

75 ) contain numerous examples of high-caliber walking, and

his duets with vocalist Ella Fitzgerald offer further inspiration.

Lenny Breau was another fine walker. Found on Five Oclock Bells

[Genes], Little Blues illustrates his prowess. Tuck Andressthe

fretboard titan in the guitar-and-vocal duo Tuck and Pattiis yet
another master. Tears of Joy [Windham Hill Jazz] evinces the outer limits of walking guitar lines, and Reckless Precision, his solo
outing on Windham Hill Jazz, is packed with sauntering bass and
rich counterpoint. Of course, nearly any record by 7-string pioneer George Van Eps will motivate wannabe walkers. The new kid
on the block is 8-stringer Charlie Hunter, whose approach has
roots in R&B and straight-ahead jazz. You can hear Hunter in full
swing on his mid-90s Blue Note discs Bing! Bing! Bing! and

Ready. . . Set. . . Shango!

If you want to go to the low-end source, check out the undisEx. 5a

puted kings of jazz bassRay Brown and Paul Chambers. Brown

Ex. 5b

Davis Quintet and Relaxin with the Miles Davis Quintet.

1
1

..

4
3

can be heard on the 1956 recordings Cookin with the Miles

1
1

4
3
3

the Oscar Peterson Trio, and some of Chambers finest walking

#4 . j
========
& 4 { n .
{

..

G7

= 72-120
Swing feel

#4 . j
========
& 4 { n .
{

T
A
B

made many great records in the 50s and 60s as a member of

G7

= 72-120
Swing feel

..

T
A
B

4
3
3

..

4
3
3

Ex. 6

= 72-120

G7

Swing feel

C9

C dim7

G7

F7

E7

j
j
#4
j
b
j j .

#

n
================================
& 4

#
n
#
1

3
4
3

T
A
B

1
3
1

1
2
1

4
1
3

5
7
5
6

1
3
1

8
7
8
8

8
9
8

10

10

7
9

3
1

1
2

1
3

1
2

7
8
7
8

9 12
9
10
10
12

7
7
6
7

U
j

.
# # j .
n

b n
.. (n)
b b

================================
&
J b
bb nn
#

A7

C9

4
1
3

5
6
5

C7

3
5
5
5

A 7 G7

3
5
4
3

6
2

G13

5
3
3

3
3
3

5
2
5
2

G13

1
4
2

1
4
3

T
A
B

1
1

1
2

D7sus

4
5
4

2
4

3
5

5
4
4

4
3
3

0
0
2
3
3

AL