You’ve got an F blues in front of you and four beats to fill in every bar. If you’re starting walking bass from zero, the first step is quite simply understanding the chords you’re playing. You’d think everybody does this. Most people don’t, and it’s the reason most people can’t play a good bass line.
Quick answer
Start with the 1-3-5-7 of every chord on an F blues: F, A, C and E-flat on the F7. Then change the order of notes, like 1, 3, 7, 5, so each bar leads into the next. Then add wrong notes on beats two and four, where the ear hears them as passing notes.
We’ll use an F blues, the most common chord progression in jazz, because jazz, of course, came from the blues. We’ll take it in three steps: the 1-3-5-7, a better order of notes, and wrong notes in the right places.
What notes should you start a walking line with?
The concept of playing over chord changes came from figured bass in 17th century Baroque music. In jazz, an F7 can start on any note, but we just call it F7, with the assumption that the order of notes is 1, 3, 5, 7: F, A, C and E-flat.
So the first thing I play is the 1-3-5-7 of the F7. That’s it. Then the 1-3-5-7 of a B-flat 7: B-flat, D, F and A-flat. The greatest bass players in New York or LA or wherever can play every chord to every single tune they know. That’s what makes them great bass players.
Now look at how those two chords relate. They both contain an F. The F is the 1 of the F7 and the 5 of the B-flat 7, so already there’s some continuity between the changes. There’s no A in a B-flat 7, though. The A is the third of the F7, and if you play it over the B-flat 7, it creates a dissonance. For now, we’re going to make the most out of the least information.
And take the tune four bars at a time. If you don’t know the full tune yet, how are you going to play a full bass line over it? The only reason I can play a full bass line over “Autumn Leaves” is that I took it four bars at a time and explored the possibilities over each four bars. I walk through that tune in the Autumn Leaves walking bass line.
Change the order of notes
The first four bars of an F blues are F7, B-flat 7 and two more bars of F7. Play 1, 3, 5, 7 in every bar and your bandmates would be wondering why the bass player is only playing 1, 3, 5, 7. So you change the order of notes. That’s actually the thing that makes it a good bass line.
If you have an F7, chances are Ron Carter played an F, an A, a C and an E-flat. Those aren’t the only notes he played, but they’d be the primary notes that Ron Carter or Ray Brown or Paul Chambers or any great bass player would play over an F7. What makes those bass lines special is the order of notes.
Take the first bar. Root position, 1, 3, 5, 7, going to the B-flat sounds kind of clunky, because you’re on the E-flat and then you go down a fourth. Play 1, 3, 7, 5 instead, and you’ve taken an elementary bass line to the level of a professional grade bass line, just by changing the last two notes. You’re not even changing the notes themselves.
The B-flat 7 in root position is kind of clunky too. You play an F, then the 7, and then you come back to the F, so it doesn’t have the rhythm and flow you want. Change it to 1, 5, 7, 3, and the D leads you naturally to the F. It has a melodic feeling to it. It has movement.
The goal with bass lines is to always find a better order of notes.
Cole Davis
For bar four, try 1, 7, 5, 3. That leads you right to the B-flat in bar five, because it’s a half step resolution, and there’s nothing better than the resolution from the third of one chord to the root of the next chord. That’s a professional grade bass line, even though I’m just playing the 1-3-5-7. Part of what makes it work is that the third is always in a different place in the bar, and so is the fifth.
The next four bars are B-flat 7, B-flat 7, F7 and D7. Remember that you have octaves. If you return to the same B-flat every time, it can get boring. On the F7 going to the D7, you can play 1, 3, 7, 5 and enclose the D, which means you play the note above it and then the note below it. Those notes can be whole steps or half steps.
And don’t play a 1-3-5-7 one bar after you just played one. People might not realize what you’re playing, but they know when it’s good and they know when it’s boring.
Where do wrong notes go in a walking bass line?
Once the order of notes is working, add some dissonance. It doesn’t have to be this deep, scary thing that you must avoid, and you don’t have to be Schoenberg to get the most out of it. Anybody can learn to play wrong notes. It’s a matter of when and how you use them.
Wrong notes are simply notes that aren’t in the scale. On an F7, they include an F-sharp or G-flat, an A-flat, an E, and a B, the tritone. Your ear already knows what they are. Play one against the chord and there’s a grimace on your face. What you don’t know yet is how to use them.
I’ll keep it very simple. Wrong notes can be played on beat two and beat four. The ear hears one and three way more than it hears two and four. It’s dividing the bar in half and waiting for the next note: you played that on beat two, so what are you going to play on beat three? So a wrong note on two or four doesn’t sound like a wrong note. The ear hears it as a passing note. Put the same note on beat three and it’s going to sound like garbage.
As a general rule, stay away from wrong notes on beats one and three. Yes, Paul Chambers did it from time to time. So did Israel Crosby, and so did Ron Carter. But right now you’re learning how to play bass lines, not becoming a grandmaster of bass lines. And don’t avoid wrong notes in general. They’re the secret sauce that makes your bass lines great.
Here’s a lick that does the work for you: F, F-sharp, G, F-sharp, F. It starts on the F, goes up a half step, another half step, and then back down. You can start it on the root or on the fifth, and the inverse, going down, is a good lick too. That one phrase has so much movement because it’s chromatic and it ends up in the right place. Clarity, interest and movement, all in one lick.
Try this today: four bars, one wrong note each
Here’s the whole method on the first four bars of an F blues. Take it four bars at a time.
- Play the chords. Play the 1-3-5-7 of F7, B-flat 7, F7 and F7, in root position. That’s all.
- Change the order. Try 1, 3, 7, 5 on the first F7 and 1, 5, 7, 3 on the B-flat 7.
- Aim at bar five. Play 1, 7, 5, 3 in bar four so the third resolves by a half step to the B-flat.
- Add one wrong note per bar. That’s my rule in the lesson. Put it on beat two or beat four.
- Drop in the chromatic lick. Put the F, F-sharp, G, F-sharp, F lick in bar three, the way I do in the lesson, and end up on the B-flat 7 that starts the next four bars.
If you want the lines written out, they’re in the PDFs for Walking Basslines on Upright Bass: From the Beginning, which takes the same method from the F blues to “Autumn Leaves.” When you’re ready for what comes after the basics, read my guide to walking bass lines.
Get those four bars sounding good tonight, then do the next four. When you put all of it together, you’re golden.
Go deeper
Walking Basslines on Upright Bass: From the Beginning
Five lessons take this 1-3-5-7 method from the F blues to Autumn Leaves, with PDFs of every bass line and backing tracks.
FAQ
What’s the first step in learning walking bass?
Understanding the chords you’re playing. Most people actually don’t do this, and it’s the reason most people can’t play a good bass line. Start with the 1-3-5-7 of every chord on an F blues: F, A, C and E-flat on the F7, and B-flat, D, F and A-flat on the B-flat 7.
How do you make a 1-3-5-7 walking line sound professional?
Change the order of notes. On the first bar of an F blues, 1, 3, 5, 7 going to the B-flat sounds clunky, because you land on the E-flat and go down a fourth. Play 1, 3, 7, 5 instead and you’ve taken an elementary bass line to a professional grade one, just by changing the last two notes.
Can you play wrong notes on beats one and three?
As a general rule, stay away from wrong notes on beats one and three. The ear hears one and three way more than two and four, so a wrong note on beat three is going to sound like garbage. Paul Chambers did it from time to time, and so did Israel Crosby and Ron Carter. But when you’re learning how to play bass lines, put them on beats two and four.
What are the wrong notes on an F7?
Wrong notes are simply notes that aren’t in the scale. On an F7, they include an F-sharp or G-flat, an A-flat, an E, and a B, the tritone. Your ear already knows them. What you need to learn is when and how to use them.
Should I learn a walking bass line over a whole tune at once?
No. Take it four bars at a time. If you don’t know the full tune yet, how are you going to play a full bass line over it? I can play a full bass line over Autumn Leaves only because I took it four bars at a time and explored the possibilities over each four bars.
