Every bass player needs to know how to play walking bass lines. It’s THE foundation of jazz bass playing and dates back to the 1800’s when the sound was used by classical composers. Jazz greats like Paul Chambers, Ray Brown, and Ron Carter refined the walking concept and you’ll hear it all over contemporary pop, blues and even popular rock tunes.
Learning to play walking bass lines is essential in many ways. First, it’s a great way to navigate chord changes, the sound really propels a song forward, and ultimately understanding the foundations of walking bass lines is definitely gonna help you get and keep more gigs.
This lesson’s walking bass line is based on Leroy Vinnegars performance on the song, “Sunny Side of the Street.” Leroy’s nickname was “The Walker” so I thought it was appropriate to include his style of walking in this collection. Also, he was self-taught, less technical, and really all about the feel. In this first, one we will check out some 2-5 and 2-5-1 patterns and examine how simple and sometimes repetitive note choices and patterns can still make solid, great sounding bass lines. Let’s dig into this one.
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