Connor: How to Walk Bass Lines: Part IV (#35)

https://youtu.be/XlwYDjhgVpE Transcript: R.Glover 06-Sep-2017

105

Hi Everyone.

So, again we're continuing with our walking bass lines masterclass, if you want to think
about it that way.

So, in this video we're finally going to delve into starting to walk four quarter notes. So in
other words, "four to the four".

So this is beginning to actually walk bass lines without any longer note durations, or
spaces, or interruptions.

[0:26] So, I would just say after you've practiced the initial steps of mastering ...

2 ... playing just whole notes... [0:34]

F7

3 ... then playing half notes ... [0:42]

F7 D7 C7
 [0:43] and then practicing with... what was the next step? ... two quarter notes and one 2
half note.... [0:48]

6
F7 D7 C7 F7 B 7

[0:59] So now, only after you've mastered those steps and you feel really, really
comfortable with them can you start moving on to four quarter notes.

[1:10] So, I would personally advise you to pick a really, really, really, really snail's
marathon pace, tempo. Because the goal with this is, you should be the most concerned
with always putting something on beat 1, 2, 3, and 4 for this step.

[1:30] And if it means that you forget where you are in the form, or you pick a note that
you don't really like-- don't worry about it for this stage. At least, that's for the beginning
of it.

[1:41] Just worry about putting something on every one of the four beats.

[1:48] So, I'll show you some examples of how I walk, just to give you a feel for it.

[1:55] And, I'll try to include most of the elements we've talked about. Like including:
chord tones, 5th's, 7th's, 3rd's, all that... approaching from a half step below, and above...

[2:07] And I'm going to use some elements of my bass line walking that I've developed
over time, that just have become really natural to me.

[2:18] So, I'm not going to really hold back and try to keep things elementary.
I'm going to walk like I would walk if I was playing, or performing, or something.

So, here we go. Here's "F" blues walking four to the four.

1, 2, ... 1, 2, 3, 4 .... [2:35]

11 [Connor precedes first chorus of F Blues with this "pickup" partial measure....
1 F7 B 7 F7 3
[Measure 1 of blues]

B 7 F7 D7
5

9 G7 C7 F7 C7

[Above is first chorus of 12 bar blues. Below is second chorus...]

1 F7 B 7 F7
 4

[Connor outlines
B 7 C7 but usually F7 D7
5
would be here

9 G7 C7 F7 C7

[Above is second chorus of 12 bar blues; below is place hold for an ending or perhaps start
of third chors]

13

[3:26] So there is quite a lot of stuff in there that I have talked about in the previous
videos, and some stuff that I haven't really talked about yet.

[3:37] One other tool that you can add to your tool bag of this, is something that I've
heard one bassist use in particular. And I'm sure there are others that use it. But, the
great bassist Ray Brown I hear a lot use a concept that I've primarily associated with horn
players and vocalists and improvisers.

[4:01] In one of the previous videos I talked about taking the Barry Harris concept of
"pivoting" to where, if you're playing a chord... [4:09]
14 5

[4:11] ... and for some reason the upper part of the chord is too high for your range or
whatever reasons may be-- you can pivot.... let's use a different chord ... [4:23]

16 So, for this chord.... [4:27]

19 I can play it like this... [4:29]

21 [4:30] Or, I can displace the other three notes down an octave... [4:33]
 6
23 If that makes sense...
[4:39]

[4:39] And, one thing I hear Ray Brown use a lot is, he uses that concept of pivoting.

But instead of more intervallic relationships, in terms of intervals that are at least a third
or larger--- he uses it in terms of step-wise motion a lot.
[5:00] But he displaces the step to where it's not just a second apart but rather a seventh apart.

[5:06] And, I'll show you some examples of what I mean by that.

A lot of times what Ray Brown will do is... let's say he's descending.

Something like this..... [5:16]

26 In the bass line...

[5:21]

[5:21] What he will do, in order to move to a different range of his instrument, or in order
to avoid going to low or too high, whatever. He will take the note that he's targeting or
heading towards.

[5:36] But, instead of moving down towards it, he goes up.

[5:41] So essentially, he does do this concept of pivoting, but he does it in a way towards step-wise.

[5:49] So, let's say my bass line is something like this..... [5:52]
29 7

[5:57] So, if I use that pivoting concept, it would look something like this... a 1, 2, 3,
4 ..... [6:03]

31

Or something like this.... [6:08]

33

[6:15] So, pivoting is another tool that you can use for bass lines in order to get back to
the, like, money range, I guess you could say, of your instrument.

So that would be example of using pivoting to go "up".

[6:30] What would be an example of using pivoting to go "down"?

Let's see... [6:34]

36 8

[6:37] Let's say I'm walking that particular figure at some point..... [6:41]

38 That would be the pivot,

right? [6:46]

40 [6:49] Normal... Here's the pivot... [6:54]

[6:55] That's something that through listening to Ray Brown I've heard him use a lot. And 9
you can get a lot of mileage out of that, especially when you're playing it at faster tempos.

[7:05] So, for this step, again, you shouldn't necessarily concern yourself with how you're
getting from one place to another, or how successfully you're outlining the chord
changes....

[7:17] Now don't get me wrong, that's absolutely important for bass players, the people
walking bass lines. But for this step it's just getting as comfortable as you can with "1, 2, 3,
4" "1, 2, 3, 4". Okay?

[7:33] And, don't feel like you have to limit yourself to the tools that I've talked about in
this video.

[7:39] You might figure out your own ways of doing things:

[7:42] Like arpeggiating chords in certain ways or outlining chords in certain ways that I
haven't demonstrated or haven't talked about, and that's fine.

I'm just trying to give you some tools to get you started.

[7:55] In the next video I'm going to talk about how you can add rhythmic interest to your
bass lines that helps a group cohesiveness, and helps a group to swing even more.

[8:07] So, stay tuned for the next video, for that.

And thanks for watching. [8:11]