I dont play walking bass lines. Not because I don't think they are cool, its just that the type of tunes I play really don't lend themselves to that type of playing. Also my lack of knowledge and lazy ass lifestyle is a roadblock.

I find Steve Adelson is the master of this type of playing, and to me walking bass is indicative of jazz music which, in my opinion, he gravitates towards. Although he plays many styles, I think he really shines when he takes the role of a stand up bassist and guitarist on the Stick. It boggles my mind really. Two brains in one head.

I really like how Rob Martino mixes the bassline/chordal approach in his playing. I aspire to do this eventually.,,,,,but for me, I don't think I'll ever devote time to learning walking bass......just ain't my bag baby....

cheers,
Not Mingus

And yes Daniel, I agree with you about going past the 12th fret. For me it gets too boomy and the hands crash together. As a matter of fact I don't think I traverse past fret 10 bass side.

It's funny to see, under certain light conditions, that where you play on the Stick actually looks like two crescents on opposite sides of the board due to finger marks....just an observation.

cheers,
k

Ive been enjoying this thread so I book marked it. Im a serious Jazz guy so walking bass lines are in my future but Ill give it a while before I dive into that. Im learning my notes by learning tunes like Donna Lee ( there are a lot of notes to learn) On my last album I had the pleasure of having a friend of mine play on the album. Ive included a video of his approach to walking on the bass. Ive tried to convert him to stick but he keeps joking he has enough trouble playing his own instrument. Anyway his lessons are short but informative and may help to decide what notes to use. You can download pdf s of what he's playing to see how the bass lines work. Check out his other real bass playing. Monster player completely self taught. Awesome dude. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhffuw7A_Ts[/youtube] this is part one of 4 short videos.

Let me know if this was sort of helpful. It helps me as I can use different approaches on creating walking lines

Great thread guys. Keep it coming

since Im building my friend up heres him playing his non walking stuff.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2mc6w1caL4[/youtube]There are a bunch of tunes and he taps alot . Ill keep on trying to convert him to stick.

Your friend sounds great! Thanks for sharing.

I think the chord progression on the first video was

iim7 V7add13 Imaj7 IVmaj7

If I had your friend's chops I wouldn't be shy about hustling up a bass gig.

Thanks,
R

This is a great topic. One thing to keep in mind is that the bass line has to walk between the chord changes. Too often we have a pattern that we simply pick up and move between the chords.

I agree that you should listen to a lot of walking bass lines to get the essence of it. I had a pattern that I added to a song and it pleased me greatly when I heard a version of that tune and the bass player added in the ascending and descending pattern that I had. It convinced me that I was on the right path.

Here is a video of my first attempt at a walking bass line. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNL9EEyqo7M

What a great thread!!! And I agree with Greg, Brett... you walking lines are just amazing, natural and they SWANG!!!!! looking forward to the video. Steve A's compass bass system really got me going as well. Check that out...... Greg really has the left hand groove and 2 handed bass stuff together as well....

Good job Pete. A solid bass line with some good variations. Kudos

Steve A

Alright Mr. Gilbert! I wanna learn that one now!

R

Infinite backwards regression may be the ideal sub plot for this thread.

After watching the bass centric posts this last fortnight, I sat down with one of my bass player friends and he made this simple comment.

"Why would you wan to sound like a bass, especially double bass, when the Stick is such a different beast?" His comment was also directed at the difference in tone that Stick is known for.

I personally make the distinction of learning from bass players while sometimes playing bass centric lines and at other times just playing Stick.

"Good musicians borrow, great musicians steal." Dom Famularo