When we play a two-feel on an F blues, we’re always pressured to play the root on beat one of every bar. We feel like we have to, or we’re not being clear. Percy Heath’s two-feel on “Bags’ Groove,” from the Miles Davis album of the same name, starts on the root and then leaves it off beat one in bars 3 and 4. I think it’s the greatest two-feel of all time.
Quick answer
Percy Heath starts with a simple one-three on F, then leaves the root off beat one in bars 3 and 4, because everyone already knows it’s an F blues. His four-bar phrases rhyme like lyrics, and each one sets up a cadence on the next beat one. Try a 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2 rhythm in bar four.
The sound alone is amazing. Anything recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio, especially in that period, has a unique and special sound. But this is about the actual bass line, so you can play something like it at your next jam session or gig. Here’s what Heath does on the Bags’ Groove bass line and how to use it.
When does Percy Heath leave the root off beat one in Bags’ Groove?
He starts off with a classic one-three. It’s an F7, and he just plays F. Simple as that. The B-flat 7 bar is super simple too.
Then, for the next two bars, he doesn’t play the root on beat one. If he went back to the F, it would be less interesting. He already did that in bar one, so he doesn’t need to do it again.
He also knows he’s playing with Miles Davis, Milt Jackson and Kenny Clarke. He doesn’t need to let everybody know it’s an F blues. They know it’s an F blues. Chances are the people you’re playing with know it too, even if they’re not as great as Miles Davis was in the 50s. You don’t need to beat them over the head with it. We all know what the chords are.
You can hear the same thing in his line on Miles’s “Blue Haze.” You’d think the simpler the bass line, the more beat-one roots there’d be. It’s actually quite the opposite. He plays a variety of notes on beat one, the three, the five, the seven, and that’s what gives a very simple line its depth and freedom.
Make your four-bar phrases rhyme
Listen to the first four bars, and then the next four. They rhyme. It’s like a poem or a song lyric that rhymes perfectly, where one phrase flows into the next. Often there’s a rhyme involved, or something phonetic that’s close to a rhyme. In this chorus, all three sets of four bars rhyme.
Percy Heath does this all the time, and before him, Israel Crosby did it all the time. Crosby’s kind of the master of rhyming bass lines. I get into his lines in Israel Crosby’s bass lines.
This bass line is mostly just half notes, and it’s extremely lyrical anyway, because the sets of four bars all echo each other. There’s nothing necessarily pretty about it. Playing lyrically isn’t just about sounding pretty or melodic, although it certainly can be.
Playing lyrically and melodically is about actually sounding like you are playing lyrics, and you can do that in a bass line by rhyming your bass lines.
Cole Davis
How do you set up a cadence in a two-feel?
The phrases rhyme, and each one sets up a cadence. At the end of every four bars, the beat one of the new phrase is always a cadence. He creates it with the notes and with the rhythm too. Do what he does on beat four every time, and you’re setting the band up. You’re letting them know there’s going to be a cadence, and that inspires the way everyone else is playing.
There’s a rhythm in his fourth bar that I love and use all the time in my own bass lines. It’s really underused in a lot of jazz bass lines, which can get kind of boring, so it’s a good way to spice them up. It’s literally just 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2. You don’t want to play it in every bar, but in the fourth bar, the way Percy Heath does, it works beautifully.
Then check out the first four bars of his second chorus. He gets a little fancier, still keeping the groove and still being funky, and brings in a rhythm that’s pretty swingy. Listen to the relationship between his two-feel and Kenny Clarke’s ride cymbal there. They’re playing off each other. His rhythm is a simplified version of that ride cymbal pattern.
Practice it today
- One, then not. Play an F blues two-feel. Start bar one on the root, then put the third, fifth or seventh on beat one of the next bars.
- Rhyme it. Make bars 5 to 8 echo bars 1 to 4, then make bars 9 to 12 echo them too.
- The fourth bar. Try the 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2 rhythm there, and use beat four to tell the band a cadence is coming.
- Listen to the ride. In the second chorus, hear how Heath’s rhythm plays off Kenny Clarke’s ride cymbal.
If you want to see which note of each chord is landing on beat one, the free Walking Bass Line Builder lets you switch beat one between roots only and roots and thirds, and shows each note. It builds walking lines rather than a two-feel, but it’s a quick way to see the idea. My guide to walking bass lines covers the bigger picture, and for another two-feel, look at Paul Chambers on Bye Bye Blackbird.
My lesson on Percy Heath: 2-Feel on Bags’ Groove goes deeper into the rhymes, the cadences and the rhythms. Put the record on tonight, then play one chorus of F blues where the second four bars answer the first.
Go deeper
Percy Heath: 2-Feel on Bags’ Groove
The full lesson on Percy Heath’s two-feel: where he leaves the root off beat one, how his four-bar phrases rhyme and what he plays on beat four.
FAQ
What key is Bags’ Groove in?
It’s an F blues. Percy Heath’s two-feel on it, from the Miles Davis album Bags’ Groove, is what I think is the greatest two-feel of all time. He starts with a classic one-three on the F7, just the F, and keeps the B-flat 7 super simple.
What’s a rhyming bass line?
One where the phrases echo each other, like a poem or a song lyric that rhymes. On Bags’ Groove, Percy Heath’s sets of four bars all rhyme, so a line that’s mostly half notes still sounds extremely lyrical. Israel Crosby did this all the time before him. He’s kind of the master of rhyming bass lines.
What rhythm does Percy Heath play in bar four of Bags’ Groove?
It’s literally just 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2. It’s underused in a lot of jazz bass lines, and I love it and use it all the time in my own bass lines. You don’t want to play it in every bar, but in the fourth bar, the way he plays it, it works beautifully.
How does Percy Heath’s two-feel relate to the drums on Bags’ Groove?
In the second chorus, listen to his two-feel against Kenny Clarke’s ride cymbal. They’re playing off each other, and Heath’s swingy rhythm there is a simplified version of the ride cymbal pattern.
