[ethic]

A friend of mine plays the bass. Just curious as
to what is meant by "Walking Bass." I know there's
a lesson here, but I'm not quite sure what the official
definition is.

THANKS!

[Kirk Lorange]

Hi, ethic. Strangely enough, I'm just about to upload a lesson with a 'walking bass'. It means that the bass line sort of walks its way through a series of notes (most often chord tones) rather than sit on one note like the root, or alternate between two, usually the root and fifth. The bass becomes more of a melodic instrument. It's most often heard in jazz.

I should have that lesson up by tomorrow. It shows one example of a 'walking bass'. I think I did one a while back too ... yes, I did. Here.

Here's wikipedia's definition: In music, a walking bass is a bass accompaniment generally consisting of unsyncopated notes of equal value, usually quarter notes (known in jazz as a "four feel").

[solidwalnut]

Originally Posted by ethic

A friend of mine plays the bass. Just curious as
to what is meant by "Walking Bass." I know there's
a lesson here, but I'm not quite sure what the official
definition is.

THANKS!

In the meantime, take a listen to this backtrack. Many parts of this bass guitar line I created as a walking bass. As Kirk says, listen for when the bass is playing a melody and changing notes on every beat rather than just playing the same note on every beat.

Your basic blues/jazz BT.

[Rockerbob]

Walking bass frequently walks up and/or down scales that work with the chords, or lead from one chord to the next. Here a fingerstyle piece where the bass does a lot of walking up and down: I Like To Sleep Late in the Morning

Here's my cover of the Beatles "I'm a Loser". It uses a very open bass (root and 5th) in the verses, then a walking bass in the chorus: I'm a Loser