Jazz bass for beginners

[Jono Bolton]

Apologies if this should be in a different section, but does anyone have any recommendations for learning jazz bass? I listen to it, I understand chord structures, but when it comes to walking baselines and jazz bass in general, to quote the great Danny Dyer, "I just can't get me nut around it". Does anyone have any recommendations for a simpleton like me?

[Burns-bass]

Ed Friedlands walking baselines is a good start!

[fretmeister]

Play the pieces.

Understanding them develops automatically with that.

 

[Coilte]

Walking bass lines are indeed a great way to start playing jazz. Ed Friesland's book has been mentioned, and while it is a great book, personally I think it's best to delve into it as a follow up to the book below.

For a complete beginner to walking bass I much prefer "Walking Jazz Lines for Bass" by Jay Hungerford.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Walking-Jazz-Lines-Bass-Hungerford/dp/0786659963

Also here is a complete set of lessons on WB by Dave Marks.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dave+marks+walking+bass+lesson

Edited June 4, 2018 by Coilte

[Dad3353]

9 hours ago, Jono Bolton said:

...Does anyone have any recommendations for a simpleton like me?

Choose a piece that you like, preferable not too 'far out', from the jazz 'standards'. Something like 'Autumn Leaves', 'Oh Lady Be Good', 'Satin Doll'... The list is long. Using the chord chart for the song, play along to a recording, playing the root note of each principal chord, on the 'One' beat of the bar. Once that's going smoothly, try slipping in a note on the preceding beat, one semitone lower, so as to climb into the root note from below. Not every beat, but now and again. Try the same thing with a semitone above the target root note, too, and mix 'em up.
If you can get that to work (slowly, at first; a 'slow-down' piece of software could be useful...), then add the beats in between the 'One's, playing notes from the chord. Once this notion 'mastered' for the tune chosen, pick another tune and do the same. After about a dozen or so, you'll start to 'fly'; to be able to hear what's coming up and play whatever you feel is good, not necessarily chord tones. That's when it really starts to become fun.
Hope this helps.

[Staggering on]

Geoff at discoverdoublebass was a good start for me.

[tb4sbp]

Here is something I did, not on purpose but it worked out great

When I started playing I was into rock music and the blues

The blues has a bunch of great walking bass line from beginner to expert levels

The beginner stuff is very easy to get your head around if you know your chords 

This led me to understanding Jazz bass lines a whole lot better once I got into Jazz music

Maybe you could do some simple blues three chord tricks to practice walking bass lines and relate chord structures to the notes being played without to much brain work at first

This is just how things worked out for me and passing it along to you or anyone else that it may help out

Best of luck to you

[Dan Dare]

Do you read? It's handy when you need to learn more intricate/sophisticated stuff. It's helpful to get transcriptions of the bass parts to well known pieces. Learning and playing them will help you develop an understanding of how and why various phrases and lines work in context. 

[skywalker]

Learnjazzstandards is a great website resource for anyone starting to learn jazz bass. Tons of good stuff on there.