how to play guitar walk the line
How to Play I WALK THE LINE Intro by JOHNNY CASH ( Guitar Lesson ) WITH TABS
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Walking bass lines on Bass?
I’m relatively new to bass guitar, and after joining the jazz band at my high school, I am expected to know how to play bass pretty well (mostly because I’ve played stand-up bass for a couple of years). But the one thing I can’t get is walking bass lines. All I know is you should play the root of the chord on each chord change, and that’s all I can tell you. I don’t follow music theory very well as I only know the (very) basics. As a classical stand-up bassist, I am not used to the inprovising or coming up with something on the spot.
What I am asking is, can anyone simplily explain how to write them and/or give me the exact notes you would play?
(I specifically need E flat and A flat lines if possible, and just in the 12- bar blues forms)
thanks
The rhythm of walking bass should be mostly quarter notes with an occasional eighth note (swung) anticipation added for flavor.
Did your classical training include execution and recognition of modes? If so, these scales and their inherent triads (1-3-5 of the scale) are a good point of departure. If you know a few commonly used patterns I’m sure your band director will appreciate these as a good start.
All 7th chords (e.g., G7) are in Mixolydian mode, which occurs off the fifth tone of any major scale. In a typical blues (for example, an Eb blues), you would play Eb7 (the notes of Ab major starting from its fifth tone; chord tones Eb G Bb Db), Ab7 (the notes of Db major starting from its fifth tone; chord tones Ab C Eb Gb), or Bb7 (the notes of Db major starting from its fifth tone; chord tones Bb D F Ab). As you play through the above patterns, you want to emphasize the chord tones; it’s okay to use non-scale tones if using neighboring scale tones from two different chords: in Eb blues, if you play one bar of Eb7 followed by Ab7, then Eb7 for two bars, you might play:
Eb G Bb A| Ab C Db D| Eb G Bb Eb| Db Bb G Eb
If there is no 7 after the letter, the plain major scale and its triad are fair game; if “Maj 7” follows the letter, its usually Ionian mode (major scale) but sometimes Lydian mode (starts on the fourth tone of the major scale; in Eb major, Ab Lydian would be Ab Bb C D Eb F G- note that D is natural rather than flat).
What to play over minor (there’s an F minor, for example, in three major keys- Ab major, Eb major, and Db major) is probably the most confusing if you’re relying on modes. Here’s where knowing about cadence (chordal sequence- melody scale choices can be helpful here) would be most useful.
There are three ways to approach this:
Imitate what you hear other bassists do.
Write out (or read) what other bassists play.
Study theory to understand why some notes are better choices than others.
I recommend you try all three; use the strongest of the three you possess to teach the weaker elements. Best wishes for your pursuits.
how to play guitar walk the line