Walking Bass Lines

There is room to expand this lesson quite a bit, so be sure to send me a message if there are
walking bass issues you'd like to see addressed.

Walking a bass line with the left hand is a skill every jazz, rock, and pop pianist should
know. The wonderful thing about it is that walking a basic bass line is not all that difficult
once you learn a few simple steps.

Intervalic Bass Lines

The "intervalic" bass line is created from your knowledge of what notes make particular
chords. The rules are very simple:

1. Start the bass line on the root of the chord

2. Play one chord tone per beat until the last beat of the measure or chord
3. On the last beat, play a passing tone to the root of the next chord

Let's begin the examples with a basic 2-5-1 chord that you mastered in Lesson 1.

(midi link)

Next, here is an example of F blues with an intervalic style bass line.

(midi link)

Scales and Bass Lines

The next kind of bass line is a "scale" style bass line. The rules are very similar to the
intervalic style, however it is your knowledge of how scales interact with chords instead of
actual chord notes that build the bass line.

1. Start on the root of the chord

2. Play a note of the scale that is related to the chord or tonality of the chords you are
dealing with until the last beat of the chord
3. On the last beat of the chord, play a passing tone to the root of the next chord

The first example is another 2-5-1 chord.

(midi link)

The next example is F blues with a mix of Scale and Interval style bass lines. A good blend
of both styles of walking bass lines is what you would normally play in jazz. There are two
choruses in the midi file for this one. The second chorus is not printed out, but you can
listen to it and hear some of the principles of walking a bass line.