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Walking On One Chord


BassMan94
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So I've recently Felt handicap due to not being able to walk on one chord. I looked through Scotts tutorials and such, it just dosent "get into me".

What are the ways you guys approach walking over the same chord ?

Any help or just steering in the direction is appreciated

Cheers

Manraj

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The most interesting walking bass lines,are constructed using arpeggios i find which in its most basic form is playing the notes of chords including the inversions,substitutes etc. You can also chuck in chromatic notes,scales etc,at least thats what i do,is it right? I dont know.

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A minute to learn and a lifetime to master.

Step One: Play the relevant scale.

Step Two - Step seven million - Break it into thirds, argpeggios, broken arpeggios, pentatonics, repeated notes, chromatics, passing notes, rhythmic pushing and pullling,,,,, this list is endless and pointless. What you need to do is to listen to a zillion bass players, transcribe a zillion walking lines and experiment. Gradually, over 30 - 60 years, you will see an incremental improvement in the quality of your lines. You need to relate your lines to those of the other musicians around you; if they go up, you can go up or down or stay where you are; it doesn't matter what you choose to do, only that you choose to do it (i.e. it is not random accidents). There is no right way, just [i]your [/i]way.

Don't be afraid of repetition; it is inevitable, You just need to disguise it by changing what comes before and what comes after. Learn which notes sound strong and which sound weak. Don't start every bar, two bars or four bars on the root note. Think across bar lines occasionally. Just enjoy the creative process and make great music.

Simple.

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I found this quite useful: It uses D Dorian as an example. If that sounds like gobbledegook, D dorian is just the same as C Major, only it starts and ends on D. No sharps, no flats.

http://www.enablebass.com/modal.htm

Have a listen to Miles Davis "So What". 16 bars of D dorian, 8 bars of Eb dorian (shift up a semitione, or a fret), then back to D dorian for the last 8 bars. It'll give you loads of practice at playing over the same chord!

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I found the book (see link below) by Jay Hungerford a big help. He covers what you ask, and a lot more. Comes with a CD.


[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mel-Bay-Presents-Walking-Jazz-Lines-Bass-Jay-Hungerford-/120920628430?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item1c276e5cce"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mel-Bay-Presents-Walking-Jazz-Lines-Bass-Jay-Hungerford-/120920628430?pt=Non_Fiction&hash=item1c276e5cce[/url]

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[quote name='sarah thomas' timestamp='1338625212' post='1677259'] I found this quite useful: It uses D Dorian as an example. If that sounds like gobbledegook, D dorian is just the same as C Major, only it starts and ends on D. No sharps, no flats. http://www.enablebass.com/modal.htm Have a listen to Miles Davis "So What". 16 bars of D dorian, 8 bars of Eb dorian (shift up a semitione, or a fret), then back to D dorian for the last 8 bars. It'll give you loads of practice at playing over the same chord! [/quote]

Cheers for that,, great track to walk all over,, just jammed over it for an hour!

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Seriously though, learning other people's lines gives you VERY useful insights early on in your learning but, when you are playing with other people, regurgitating these lines never works, simply because the other people you are playing with aren't playing the same as the people on the recording you copped the lines off. You won't notice at first and will think you are doing ok ripping off those Ron Carter/Paul Chambers/Ray Brown lines but it will only be a mtter of time before you begin to recognise the fact that what you are doing is 'pretending to play' rather than playing.

When I was studying Paul Chambers playing, it was interesting to note the differences in the bass playing and the overall approach of the rhythm section when playing behind different front-line players. If you listen carefully to Kind Of Blue and focus on the rhythm section, you will hear noticeable differences between the accompaniment to the solos of Davis, Coltrane, Adderley and Evans. The aspiration is to find your own ways to make the music great but, firstly and foremostly, to play with the people you are playing with. THAT is where the Jazz is. You won't get it be learning the lines of others by rote. Probably better to absord them than learn them.

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