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Fingerstyle
- Walking Basslines
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| Published
March 30th, 2005. © Chris Juergensen/chrisjuergensen.com.
All Rights Reserved. |
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What
to do when you can't find a bassist (or don't
want to pay one)? You can pretty much do the
job yourself and it is not as difficult as you
might think. It is a great technique to know
if you are playing in a duo or if you just want
to practice some standards with one of your
guitar buddies. It will also impress your friends
and family. But you are going to have to lose
the pick, that's right, put it away and start
enjoying the polyphony of the guitar.
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Walking
Basslines for two Chord per Measure Progressions
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| Before
we go on to the actual walking basslines, you
are going to have to get used to playing chords
with your fingers rather than a pick. Use your
thumb on your right hand for the bass notes on
the sixth and fifth strings and let your index,
middle and ring fingers take care of the other
three chord tones. Let's start by plying a blues
turnaround in Bb: |
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| Approaching
the Root Chromatically |
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Above
and Below - Now lets get you playing a bassline
with the same changes. The approach to walking
basslines on the guitar is a little different
than how a bass player would approach it. It
is more about feel than playing arpeggiated
chord tones. We are simply going to approach
the root of each chord by a note directly above
or below.
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| First
from below: |
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| Now
from above: |
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| Mixing
it up - Any combination is fine. Although
not a necessity, I generally approach the chord
by the closest note. In the example below we approach
the G7 chord from the Bb7 chord below, so our
closest note would be the F# note directly below
the root of the G7 chord. The closest path to
the Cmin7 chord would be from above. Either way
works fine for the F9 chord since it is directly
next to the Cmin7. As the Bb7 chord is below the
F9 chord on the neck, the closest note is a B
natural directly above it: |
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Rhythmic
Variations
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| So
far we have been playing the bass note and chord
together on the strong beat but we can play the
chord on the up-beat also: |
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would suggest that you mix up playing the chord
on the beat and on the up-beat in various combinations. |
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Voicing
your Chords
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| When
I play with a bassist present I tend to play intricate
voicings but when I am in the situation where
I need to take care of the bassline myself, simple
is much better. The basic rule to remember is:
3rd, 7th and highest extension indicated by your
chord symbol. Here is the same Jazz blues turnaround
using chords with the upper extensions added: |
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One
Chord per Measure Chord Progressions
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| Okay,
I can hear you asking; "that's fine and dandy
but what happens when you have to play one chord
per measure rather than two?" It is a similar
approach, you play: |
- The
root and chord (together or with the
chord played on the up-beat) on the
first beat of the measure.
- On
the next beat, you play the note directly
below or above the root.
- Root
and chord again on the third beat (or
with the chord on the up-beat).
- And
finally, you should play the note directly
below or above the root of the next
chord.
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| Let's
try it with the same chord progression, this time,
one chord per measure rather than two. Notice
that I mix up playing the chords on and off the
beat. Experiment placing the chords on different
beats yourself, it's best to not stick to any
one pattern: |
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| Try
making walking basslines using some Jazz standards.
You'll find that the simple techniques I've described
in this lesson will work with most any of them.
Good luck and keep practicing. 'Till next time.... |
