CHAPTER 01-1 CHORDAL BASS LINES Playing the primary notes of a chord (root, thitd, fifth, seventh) is a great way to begin. learning how to construct walking bass lines, Even the most “modem” bassists outline triads and seventh chords in their walking lines, Chordal bass lines provide the foun- dation for harmony, which, besides time feel, is one of the fundamental functions of a bassist ‘This is a basic blues progression in F: Fr Bu . oF F7 Bs? Bi 7 D7 oot position: 7 7 7 F7 Bh 87 7 D7 1Chordal Bass Lines ‘Triads in 1nversion ‘7 Bi? 7 7 a7 Bi f7 br ‘Triads in 2°4 Inversion Fr Bb7 Fr F7 'STEPWISE CONNECTION Having four quarter notes per measure creates the sound of a “walking line. On beat 4 of each bar, add a note which resolves up or down by half step or whole step to smoothly connect the chords. This example uses triads in various inversions with dia- tonic stepwise connection. Notice that most chords have a root on beat 1, which is the strongest way for the bass to outline the harmony. F? 87 F7 F7 Bb? Bi? 7 bv 2‘These stepwise connecting notes are referred to as “approach tones’, and they can be diatonic or chromatic. Here is an example using chromatic approach tones: Fr Bh 7 7 ‘SEVENTH CHORDS. Play through the chord progression using seventh chords in all inversions. At this point the concer is not smooth voice leading, but just to become familiar with the chords. . 7 87 Fr 7 7 BB F7 07 “V¢ Inversion (Also Practice 2"4 and 34 Inversion) 7 Bi7 7 F7 Br 7 7 o7 3MOTION DOWN A FIFTH ‘When chord roots resolve down a perfect fifth (or up a perfect fourth), the V to! motion | in the bass is very strong, Here is an example of a bass line using seventh chords and | ‘motion down a fifth on beat 4: i Fr Bh 7 7 BA? 87 Fr bp? | | VOICE LEADING ‘To avoid “choppy” bass lines, and to construct lines with logical motion, itis helpful 10 view harmony horizontally rather than vertically. For example, instead of thinking of the first two chords this way, 7 Bb? think of them this way: FT BA? Notice especially the 7 to 38 motion (Es of F7 resolving to D of B7). Here is a bass ling using 7 to 3% motion on chords which move down a fifth: 7 BT F7 F7 Bb? Bb? 7 o7 | “Here is a bass line using other voice leading resolutions. Even though many of the chords do not have roots on beat one, the line still sounds logical. F7 Br 7 #7 By 87 7 o7 15