STUDY GROUP: Topics In Jazz Bass Volume 1: Harmony, by Danny Ziemann

[Rob MacKillop]

This group is open to anyone interested in Danny Ziemann's book on harmony and the bass - either upright or bass guitar. Of course, having the book will be pretty much essential. I found my copy on Amazon, but hopefully they are elsewhere too. There is a PDF download on Danny's website: https://dannyziemann.company.site/Topics-in-Jazz-Bass-Vol-1-Harmony-PDF-p115962438 "Supplemental audio" can be found on www.dannyziemann.com - front page, just above the images of the book covers, for which you have to submit your email address.  

 

Note: There is no tab in the book. It is pretty much purely centered on Walking Bass. There is a second volume which discusses soloing, but it's advised we work through volume 1 first. If some of you have already started the second book, you might want to start a Study Group thread for that. 

 

The point of a Study Group is to have a few people focus for a while on one book or topic, to help each other out, no grandstanding, no competition, just a willingness to help each other improve. So, to get the ball rolling, here goes:

 

The Harmony book starts with a harmonically simplified view of a major key. Instead of thinking of seven different chords - I ii iii IV V vi viidim - with all their related arpeggios, we can view it simply as - I V7 I V7 I IV V7 I - So in the key of G that gives G  D7/A  G/B  D7/C  G/D  C/E  D7/F#  G. In Danny's Example 2c (page 9) I think he missed out a slash note. The 5th chord is G, but should be G/D? 

 

Pages 11 and 12 provide two patterns. Pattern 1 starts with first bass note articulating the scale: G in Bar 1, A in Bar 2, B in Bar 3. Pattern 2 has those notes up an octave, but displaced to the third beat of each bar. On page 10 Danny distinguishes them, Pattern 1 having the harmonic movement in the bass, Pattern 2 having the harmonic movement in the melody. This is something I'm not 100% clear on. I understand what he is saying, but I think the awareness of why will come through practicing the arpeggios. 

 

So, right now I haven't gone further in the book. I'm practicing the arpeggios on page 11 and 12, which is just the two Patterns in all twelve keys. Having a 5-string bass, I'm including the 5th string in possible versions. Once you see a couple of shapes for each pattern, it is of course easy to move them up and down the fingerboard. Playing in the open-string positions had me using my brain more - I've only had a 5-string bass for a couple of days. I've also glued the two Patterns together, but Danny doesn't ask us to do this. He might have his reasons not to, but I can't help doing it! 

 

He goes on to doing the same with minor keys, and then discusses some resolution issues with descending versions. But I haven't got that far yet, just getting accustomed to pages 11 and 12. 

 

So, anyone want to join in? Any comments at all? 

 

 

 

[Burns-bass]

Will update when the book arrives. I don’t really play straight ahead jazz but I believe I can apply the concepts to music that I do play. Excited to join in.

[Rob MacKillop]

Agreed! 

[Gareth Hughes]

YES! Thanks for setting this up. I need to get the finger out on this, so I’m more than up for joining.

[Rob MacKillop]

Great, though I have to admit a measure of self interest in this. Without you guys pushing my back, I might abandon ship before we are clear of land 😊

[Rob MacKillop]

What do you think of the mainly V - I harmonization of the scale? It vaguely reminds me of the Barry Harris (BH) Method which everyone is talking about these days, and which I only vaguely looked at before. From what I remember, BH alternated a C6th chord with a diminished 7th chord, throughout the whole C scale (correct me if I'm wrong). Danny mentions in his Preface, "...Barry Harris and his teachings were an influence on much of my conception of harmony". So, not totally a "BH for Bass", but he's in there somewhere. 

[itu]

Is it starting from the basics of two beat, four beat and walking? Or is it about refining harmonic (most probably rhythmic, too) approach to walking? 

 

I learned the basics of walking starting from two beat. Then it was pretty easy to turn to four beat. These and the theory of chords pushed me towards walking in very short time.

 

My rhythmic and melodic abilities are mediocre at best, so following this with great interest. 

[Rob MacKillop]

Itu, it’s not a tutor in walking bass per se, see his first two books for that: Low Down 1&2. 
 

This book is more about developing a more interesting melodic style of walking, so you might be interested in that. In Vol. 2 he discusses soloing, and as far as I can see makes a development on from the melodic walking style in Volume 1. 
 

These early exercises are for playing over a static chord, but are soon inserted in standard repertoire pieces where you might break up some regular walking with these new patterns. 
 

I’m just at the early stage, learning melodic patterns of I-V chords in all keys, major and minor. It’ll take a little while to get my old brain and fingers fluent with them, while I’m trying to incorporate the B 5th string into my playing. 

[Gareth Hughes]

Self interest here too - accountability is a good thing. 

[Gareth Hughes]

So it begins!

 

I started last night, back to page 1. I tried to figure out what my roadblocks were with this before and I think it’s my age old bass player problem - I hear just one note at a time and not the complete chord. 
 

For example, in the example showing the reharmonisation into 1 or V7 - the 1 chord stays the same so I’m fine, but the 2 chord now being a V7 - I’m not hearing a D7 chord, I’m hearing an A root with C as b3 and F# as a 6. I think, for me, I need to practice these patterns against a I-V7 loop to hear how it works.

 

And then I had to go pick my eldest up from a gig he was playing. A small start, but a start nonetheless.

 

Thanks for getting this going.

Edited yesterday at 14:23 by Gareth Hughes

[Rob MacKillop]

Yes, a backing track would definitely help. I assume you have iRealPro? 

 

Good to see you giving it a try again. 

[Gareth Hughes]

Yep, have iReal, will figure out a loop soon. For my ears it define helps having the chords playing to hear the new ideas in context.

[Rob MacKillop]

I suggest also trying the patterns over a tonic-chord vamp. I’m playing the Cm version over a loop of the first four bars (all one Cm chord) of Footprints. Then you really hear the value of the patterns. So What would also be revealing. 

[Gareth Hughes]

I’ve just finally gotten through patterns 1 and 2 in all keys, through to exercise 6. Now begins playing real changes with them.

[Rob MacKillop]

“Gotten through”, or memorised? Different fingerings? 
 

Remember, at this stage Danny is assuming we use them over static harmony. But I’ll admit I’ve tried to use them in a song context as well. 

[Gareth Hughes]

Thankfully memorised. Took a bit to comfortably change keys. Analysing each note in a bar really helped so that, in the new key, I wasn’t relying on the same shape to make it work. 

Different fingerings to a point - playing them in different octaves for now, but I still plan to go through them again starting on a different finger, two strings only, one string only.
 

The different examples of ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’, etc are making much more sense now - I’m hearing the chord against the chord tones, and hearing how the exercise becomes a choice in what to play.

 

So next up are the five sample bass lines starting on page 21. The plan is to play slowly and hear how the line and the examples work against the chord. My goal is to internalise this to the point of seeing/hearing a chord and not defaulting to R-3-5-7 in a panic!

 

What are you working on Rob?

[Rob MacKillop]

You’re making great progress, Gareth! I’m moving at a slower pace, just about to start Exercise 5. 

 

It all sinks into my brain and fingers more easily on my 4-string, but I prefer the sound of the fretless 5-string, and that gives more opportunities for fingering. I haven’t done them on one string only….

 

Keep going! And let me know of any problems that lie ahead 🤔

[Rob MacKillop]

PS I see Exercises 5 and 6 are things I’ve been trying anyway, so I’ll spend a day with them, then move onto pages 18&19. 

[Gareth Hughes]

One problem is I think that exercise 6 on p17 is incorrect, or else I’m really confused!!

 

The key signatures is Bb major - so presumably a G minor exercise. That’s fine for bar 1, but in bar there’s a B natural with no explanation as to why. Same with the 2nd line - a bar with G minor, then a bar with G major. Maybe that’s the exercise - but I found it confusing without that being spelt out. Feels to me like a proof-reading oversight!

[Rob MacKillop]

I see what you mean about Ex.6. Not sure about the proof-reading oversight, as under bar 3 there is an i  for minor, and a capital I under bar 4 for Major. So he seems to mean a mixture of minor and major chords. I agree, it IS confusing! 

 

The G Major in bar 4 lies between two D7 chords, so he might be saying ‘in such instances you could play change to major when in a minor key, and maybe change to minor when in a major key’? But you think he would have addressed that in his comments! 

[Gareth Hughes]

Yep, it’s those little things that make me throw my hands up in confusion because the only thing I’m sure of is ‘I don’t understand this!’.

[Rob MacKillop]

Maybe he covered it in the first text paragraph to Ex. 5a, when he says “The V7 chord…pivots between both major and minor tonalities”? If that’s what he meant, I think a little clarification was called for. 

 

Anyway, I’m playing the examples on pages 18/19. It’s annoying how I can read quite fluently on the 4-string, but occasionally get completely lost with the addition of the 5th string, even though I’m not playing it! Oh well, I’ve only had the 5-string for a week. 

[Gareth Hughes]

Fair play for diving in on a new instrument.

 

I’ve played through two of the full charts, great to hear the exercises work in a real context. I think before I move on I’ll try to come up with my own lines to see if I’ve digested any of this. Time to scour iReal for tunes with static chords.

[Rob MacKillop]

That’s a good approach. Keep up the good work!