If you’re not cadencing every two bars or every four bars, your walking line sounds like it’s missing something. Your bandmates might not know why, but they know it. Israel Crosby’s line on But Not for Me is full of cadences.
Quick answer
Israel Crosby’s line on But Not for Me has all six steps of walking bass in it: the 1-3-5-7 (here often 1-3-5-6), a new order of notes, wrong notes, spacing, register, and all of them together. As sophisticated as it is, it deals almost exclusively with cadence. He cadences on beat four in bar two, then leaves beat four open like a question.
That’s Crosby on Ahmad Jamal’s But Not for Me, from At the Pershing. I actually consider it the greatest jazz bass line ever, and that’s why it’s number ten, the last one in my series of ten classic bass lines you should know.
The six steps of walking bass, in one line
I got the idea for my MAPS method, the way I teach walking bass from square one, from this bass line. It embodies all of the things that make jazz bass playing special. Here are the six steps:
- The 1-3-5-7. You’re acknowledging the chord and addressing the harmony. On this tune it’s often 1-3-5-6, because Ahmad Jamal was old school and played six chords as often as he did seven chords.
- Change the order of notes. You don’t always have to start on the one, which frees up all the other notes, so you can move freely through the chord.
- Add wrong notes. Throw some in and get used to the idea of dissonance.
- Spacing. Combine chromatic lines and intervallic lines, where the intervals are spread out.
- Register. Play a phrase in the lower register and answer it in the higher register, or vice versa, the same way a melody changes register in the bridge of a song. It keeps everything fresh and interesting.
- Put them all together.
There’s no better example of all of those steps than Israel Crosby. And as sophisticated as this line is, it deals almost exclusively with one idea: cadence.
What does it mean to leave beat four open?
In the first two bars, Crosby creates a cadence on beat four. That’s something you get from classical music. The resolution lands on beat four to prepare for the next phrase, and the next phrase is an answer in the higher register. That’s how you create distinct two-bar phrases.
You can cadence on beat four or on beat one, and beat one is much more common. Ray Brown, the master of clear, concise, beautiful, organized bass playing, almost always cadences on beat one. Two-bar phrase, cadence on beat one. That’s why all the records he’s on have that organized, polished sound, the same way Mozart’s string quartets and symphonies do.
Crosby, who ironically came before Ray Brown, was more advanced. Not more advanced as in better, but more advanced as in more adventurous. You’re not expecting a cadence on beat four, and then all of a sudden, in bar three, it sounds like you’re in a different place. You can clearly hear how the bass lines rhyme.
Then he continues the theme. After that first cadence on beat four in bar two, a lot of the time he leaves beat four open, like a question. By open, I mean he’s either playing a five or a half step that’s waiting to resolve. Along the way he plays the nine on beat one, which I love.
When you don’t have a cadence in your bass lines, then you’re missing something. And even if the bandmates don’t know why you’re missing something, they know that you are.
Cole Davis
Crosby was a harmonic genius who reinvented the way bass lines were played. Most of us aren’t, myself included. But you can still play with a sense of form, a sense of structure and a sense of cadence, and that’s exactly what he’s doing. I go deeper on the beat four cadence, and how to write it into a blues, in Israel Crosby bass lines: steal his beat four cadence.
How do you practice cadences in a walking bass line?
Here are the moves from the lesson to work into your own walking:
- Learn the line. It’s a small sample size, so it won’t take you very long, and you’ll learn something new from it.
- Cadence every two bars. Walk a tune and end each two-bar phrase with a cadence. Put it on beat one, the way Ray Brown does.
- Move one cadence to beat four. Resolve on beat four, the way Crosby does in the first two bars, and answer it with a phrase in the higher register.
- Leave a beat four open. Play a five or a half step on beat four, waiting to resolve, like a question.
One thing I find really interesting about Crosby: he loved crossword puzzles. His bass lines fit together perfectly, and each bar justifies the previous bar, which is kind of essential to a crossword puzzle. Maybe he saw bass lines through that lens. I’m not great at math. I try to hear my way through everything. But sometimes something this beautiful can be explained logically.
If you want the beat one side of the story, my Ray Brown bass lines page covers how he lands a cadence every two bars.
What’s in the transcription
The full transcription is Crosby’s But Not for Me walking line as a PDF score, with a nine-and-a-half-minute video lesson where I go through the six steps, the beat four cadences and the spots where he leaves beat four open.
Walk one chorus tonight with a cadence every two bars, and leave one beat four hanging like a question.
Go deeper
Israel Crosby: But Not for Me
I consider this the greatest jazz bass line ever played. The whole way I teach walking bass came out of it.
FAQ
Who played bass on Ahmad Jamal’s But Not for Me?
Israel Crosby, on Ahmad Jamal’s At the Pershing. I actually consider it the greatest jazz bass line ever, and that’s why it’s number ten in my series of ten classic bass lines you should know.
Can you play a 6 instead of a 7 in a walking bass line?
When it’s a six chord, yes. On But Not for Me, Crosby’s 1-3-5-7 is often a 1-3-5-6, because Ahmad Jamal was old school and played six chords as often as he did seven chords. Either way, you’re acknowledging the chord and addressing the harmony.
Should a walking bass line cadence on beat one or beat four?
You can cadence on beat four or on beat one. Beat one is much more common. Ray Brown almost always cadences on beat one, and that’s why his records have that organized, polished sound. Israel Crosby’s beat four cadences are interesting because you’re not expecting them, and all of a sudden it sounds like you’re in a different place.
Did Israel Crosby come before Ray Brown?
Yes. Ironically, Crosby was before Ray Brown chronologically, and he was more advanced. Not more advanced as in better, but more advanced as in more adventurous. Ray Brown was the master of clear, concise, beautiful, organized bass playing.
Where did the MAPS method for walking bass come from?
I got the idea for the MAPS method, which I use to help bass players go from square one to playing walking bass lines at a professional level, from this bass line. It embodies all of the things that make jazz bass playing special.
