Walking bass patterns/licks

[AndyBass]

I quite often find myself making my way through sets of bluesy stuff with bands I've not rehearsed with. I've got a fair few different 12-bar patterns in the bag, stuff that fits the chords and mixes up the bass lines a bit, but I could definitely use more. Anyone know any good book/online resource/other place I could get some ideas from? Please don't say listen and transcribe as I would dearly love to do that but work and family leaves me no time, that's why I end up guessing my way through gigs half the time!

[Coilte]

I found "Walking Jazz Lines for Bass" book to be very good.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Jazz-Lines-Bass-Hungerford/dp/0786659963/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414880268&sr=1-11&keywords=jazz+bass+lines

[ambient]

Just use chord tones and play variations of them, e.g. 1, 3 , 5 , 7 or 3, 5, 7, 1, or 7, 5, 3, 1 etc put in chromatic passing notes where you feel they're needed.

[EssentialTension]

Ed Friedland's books, Blues Bass and Building Walking Bass Lines, are both very useful.

[AndyBass]

Thanks. Yeah I've got Ed's Building Walking Basslines and that's definitely good. I'll try and check the other recommendations out. As for chord tones and passing notes - agree but some combinations sound a lot better than others! I know the theory I'm just looking for shortcuts to get a few different patterns down quickly. Thanks!

[Grangur]

Jon Leiberman's book of Bass Blues is also very good.

[Bilbo]

Try post 32 and 33 of this thread.

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/215336-learning-to-read-the-dots-sheet-music-to-learn-with/page__st__30

[matejj53]

Actually I am studying a "jazz bass" and real walking lines use a mix of things rather just a arpeggios, chromatic aproach and scale notes (listen to all the things you are and you will see that sometimes bass plays b3 on actually dom 7 hord just because he is actually thinking ahead going chromtially up towards Eb if you transcribe you have to analise and when I do sometimes Im amazed on why the hell does bass play this notes it does atually not mae sence in time but later I can see that he is thinking on bar next where to release that tension I know you said you cant transcribe but you can just have look once and for 5 minutes and you will hear what I mean)

My teacher said at conservatoire said to use rather them if you want to sound more real as using just arpeggios do sound diatonic and you can make a band sound fuller like that. I also have book by Rufus reid and there are some examples of blues and chord progressions and tht really helps. Rufus reid Evolving Upward Bass Book II.
Like this you can create real walking bass lines think ehead if you have /A-7/D7/ you can play: /A in a first beat and from this moment(which is going to be second beat of 1st bar) you are not thinking of A minor any more but Eb and how would it be ok to sound good) so this notes:
/A-B-Csharp-Dsharp/Eb (and from second beat of this bar you are allready thinking on how to get to first bar of bar 3)etc and this is how this guys that walk really think and longer you think like this easier it is. Some of this people can think whole lots of bars in advance like this you really sound like you know what you are doing. Anothe way is to use chromatic aproach try to have chromatic note on beat 4 before the beat one which would be Ab/A-B-C-Db/D even on b7

It is good to start on just arpeggios just to make sure you know what to play. I learn songs with just arpeggios at the bggining and later with the technique above and like this you create your own lines


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