[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1393152225' post='2376632']
The important thing about walking lines is to relate what you are doing when you are walking to what is happening elsewhere across the piece being performed. I learned early on that learning lines from a book or even from transcriptions by the Greats often does not work because these set pieces, whilst technically correct, are not working 'in context'. It is about recognising what lines in your arsenal fit a given passage; this is something that you need to learn to do in real time, on the bandstand, and can only really be achieved by doing it. Also, a lot of the swing you get from a walking line is in your tone and not just in the notes. Some great lines can fail to work because of a thin sound whilst some massive cliches work astonishingly well because the sound is soaked in swing. A lot of subtle problems exist because lines use the wrong passing notes or start/end clumsily and the only way to get better at this is to keep trying, listening hard to what is going on around you and working on what you are trying to do in that endless quest for the perfect line. What I find interesting is how many times I go back to listen to the Greats and find the lines aren't 'all that' but the intention and swing are so intense, the details matter less than we think.
Walking bass takes a minute to learn (what could be easier than straight quarter notes on the beat) and a lifetime to master.
[/quote]
Bilbo's coments are spot on. The greatest swing rhythm section ever was the Basie rhythm section--sounds so easy--4 in the bar--but it takes a lifetime to master.