Understanding Walking Bass Lines

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A major part of the Bass player's job is to (generally) "tell the truth". That i
s to say to "let the other musicians know what the chord is by playing the root
on the 1 beat". (At least in a straight progression [eg. one that doesn't involv
e a downward line]).
The other part of the Bass player's job is to let the rest of the band know what
the next chord is going to be.
A Bass player doesn't think: | 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 |.
A Bass player thinks: 2 - 3 - 4 - | 1 .
In other words beat 1 of bar 2 is the target note and the 2 - 3 - 4 before it ar
e the notes leading the band into bar 2 beat 1.
To oversimplify the Bass player's job:
* Hit the root on the 1.
* Use a leading tone on the 4 (it can be either an upper leading tone or a lower
leading tone. Example: you can approach a "target D" from either the C# [lower
leading tone] or from an Eb [upper leading tone]).
* Beats 2 & 3 can pretty much be whatever you like, but most Bass players will p
refer to use tones that are in the current chord.
* * * * * * *
Typical bass patterns over chords that last 4 beats:
- The 1->4 walk up (A -> D) [the quality of the chords doesn't matter]
Bar 1 Beat 1: A
Bar 1 Beat 2: B
Bar 1 Beat 3: C
Bar 1 Beat 4: C#
Bar 2 Beat 1: D (target note)
- The 1->5 walk up (A -> E) [the quality of the chords doesn't matter]
Bar 1 Beat 1: A
Bar 1 Beat 2: C#
Bar 1 Beat 3: D
Bar 1 Beat 4: D#
Bar 2 Beat 1: E (target note)
Notice that in both the above examples the "target note" is preceded by 3 ascend
ing chromatics.
- The 1->4 walk down (A -> D) [the quality of the chords doesn't matter]
Bar 1 Beat 1: A
Bar 1 Beat 2: G
Bar 1 Beat 3: F#
Bar 1 Beat 4: E
Bar 2 Beat 1: D (target note)
- The 1->5 walk down (A -> E) [the quality of the chords doesn't matter]
Bar 1 Beat 1: A
Bar 1 Beat 2: G
Bar 1 Beat 3: F#
Bar 1 Beat 4: F
Bar 2 Beat 1: E (target note)
* * * * * * *
Typical bass patterns over chords that last 2 beats:
- The 1->4 diatonic lower leading tone principle (A -> D) [the quality of the ch
ords doesn't matter]
Bar 1 Beat 1: A
Bar 1 Beat 2: C#
Bar 1 Beat 3: D (target note)
- The 1->4 tritone upper leading tone principle (A -> D) [the quality of the cho
rds doesn't matter]
Bar 1 Beat 1: A
Bar 1 Beat 2: Eb
Bar 1 Beat 3: D (target note)
* * * * * * *
The "upper leading tone" example above is the "jazzier" of the two. Try this bas
s line over a typical turnaround in G:
Bar 1 Beat 1: G (G Maj)
Bar 1 Beat 2: B
Bar 1 Beat 3: Bb (Bbdim7 - subsitute for Em)
Bar 1 Beat 4: E
Bar 2 Beat 1: Eb (Am)
Bar 2 Beat 2: A
Bar 2 Beat 3: Ab (Ab7 - substitute for D7)
Bar 2 Beat 4: D
Bar 3 Beat 1: G (G Maj)
Play the RH chords on the off-beat.
* * * * * * *
I have stayed with quarter note examples above and have not addressed the "hiccu
p" (two eighth notes on the 4th beat) or the "stumble" (triplet on the 4th beat)
, however the same principles apply. That is to say, in general, the target note
will be preceded by a chromatic line - whether ascending or descending.