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Walking Bass-Lines
Introduction

A bass-line is a melody line played in the bass (by a low-pitched instrument such as the piano,
double bass, electric bass, tuba, etc.). And walking bass-lines are a continuous sequence of quarter
notes, generally played on the beat (4 notes per bar in 4/4 time).

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Walking Bass-lines

The goal of a walking bass-line is to outline the chord progression but with an interesting melodic
line that provides a counter-melody (as above). In Jazz, bass-lines should generally not be too
repetitive (unless you’re intentionally playing a vamp – like in Blues or Boogie-woogie).

Walking bass-lines make wide use of:

Stepwise movement
Walking up or down a diatonic scale
Walking up or down the chromatic scale
Arpeggios
Chromatic approach notes (notes one semitone above or below your target note) & other
passing notes
Octave jumps
 5th jumps

Repeated notes (playing the same note twice)
Interval skips generally following some kind of pattern

Walking bass-lines must outline and support the chord progression by targeting the root or 5th (and
occasionally 3rd) of the chord. In a sense, this is the opposite of improvisation, where the 3rd and
7th (Guide Tones (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-improvisation/guide-
tones/)) are the most important notes. In walking bass-lines, the root and 5th are the most important
notes as these really emphasise the tonality of each chord.

And the most harmonically important beats for the bass-line are beats 1 and 3 (in 4/4 time) as this is
when the chords generally change. You want to target the root or the 5th of the chord on beats 1 or
3 of the bar, especially when the chord changes. This is interesting because Jazz generally has a
backbeat (i.e. accenting beats 2 & 4).

Some general walking bass-line tips are:

The most important notes for a bass-line are the root & 5th, while the chord above the
bass note (Upper Structure (http://www.thejazzpianosite.com/jazz-piano-lessons/jazz-
chord-voicings/upper-structures/)) emphasises the 3rd & 7th (Guide Tones).
Target the root note on beat 1 of each bar (at least to begin with, as this will create a
strong sounding bass-line which clearly outlines the chord progression. The bass-line
implies the chords when you do this. You can then get more adventurous.)
Use leading-notes on beat 4 before moving to the next chord. Say we wanted to target
the root note of CMaj7, then we could use the following leading-notes:
Chromatic (D♭ to C)
Diatonic (D to C)
5th/Dominant (G to C)
Encircle the note (D♭ to B to C)
Keep it movin’ and mix it up. Make sure you change directions (up and down), change
patterns (steps and skips – so it doesn’t just sound like a scale or an arpeggio), diatonic
and chromatic – all the while keeping a strong ‘four feel’.

To add some interest and variety, you can also:

Play staccato or legato

Play in swung eighth notes (rather than quarter notes)
 Add ornamentals like lls and grace notes

Play multiple notes at once (double stops)
Use Pedal Point (see below)

For example, let’s take a II-V-I in C and create a walking bass-line:

Chords Dm7 G7 CMaj7

Pedal Point D, D, D, D G, G, G, G C, C, C, C

Arpeggio (hopping) D, F, A, C G, B, D, F C, E, G, B

Arpeggio (walking) D, F, A, F G, B, D, B C, E, G, B

Diatonic D, E, F, A G, A, B, D C, E, G, E

Chromatic D, F, A♭, F# G, A♭, A, D C, E, G, D♭

Double with chromatic approach D, D, A♭, A♭ G, G, D♭, D♭ C, G, A, D♭

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Part I

Jazz Piano Tutorial - Walking Basslines (Part I)

 
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Part II

Jazz Piano Tutorial - Walking Basslines (Part II)

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