The Greatest Walking Bassline Approach (You've Probably Never Heard Of) 

This is also the key to a lot of classic R&B and rock bass. Great to know!

This is such good info. As a drummer... I'll say... I appreciate MOTION in a bass line. It makes the cymbal beat pop and dance. Of course there's a way to play pedal tones that pop, but I think pedalling is an approach for very specific musical situation. Generally, the line needs to keep moving, and a bassist has to stay congnizant of the range they're playing in as they approach the end of sections and choruses. Maximizing the effect of drops of octave and skips is important... I want to hear those effects in a subtle way at crucial points in the harmony (generally), and then in a more emphatic way when energy starts to build and release. So a person could think about walking up from the lowest register to the highest, and have a plan for a drop in a really emphatic point in the music... Look ahead to the spot where landing on a really good note will have its greatest effect. It goes without saying that the voice leading needs to be clear; walkups are an easy way to get there.

Great vídeo. Thank you!

really nice, love this video!

Appreciate the shorter no-filler format. There's too many RU-vid videos now that are ten minutes long, regardless of the actual content

Oh man. This was pure gold and yes... you've just laid out my practice for the weekend. I gotta get a lesson with you in 2022 Paul! Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Comments Before Viewing: I Don't Think That We Will EVER Get To The Point That We Comprehend All The Things Charles Mingus Was Telling Us On That Bass ...... 2022 And We're STILL Trying To Catch Up!!!

Fly Me to the Moon is a really good example of this too! Amazing tutorial and channel

So glad to have encountered your channel, it's given me new inspiration to practice and my mind is expanding

I've never seen your videos before, but you're great! You're teaching is wonderful and you seem like a humble, decent guy.

man , i have been doing these background gigs for over 30 years,,,and never heard that so on point expression! Wallpaper gigs..

Man, I got hyped by the thumb nail and thought you was to do a Mingus review. You got to do a Mingus Review this year !

Overdressed? I prefer watching musicians play, whether at a gig or giving virtual tutorials, dressed. It suggests that you put forth some effort to present or to perform for an audience; as opposed to everything being so lackadaisical that you see nowadays. People attired in shredded jeans and T-shirts, looking as if they just walked in from doing yard work, picked up their instruments, and started recording or entertaining at a set, is now the norm...a rather ignominious one, I might add. I left a church praise and worship team because of their pretty much anything goes, lack of attention to any kind of dress code. Or, at the very least, something that shows a modicum of respect for what you do, and who you do it for. When you are up in front of people you project a message as well as execute a performance. It is a message of effort, care, and respect. Look at Ron Carter. Even when he does tutorials he is dressed appropriately. Not necessarily in a shirt and tie but sometimes, even as you are now, with the jacket. To paraphrase a political statement made popular over the past few years: "Dress Codes Matter". Whether imposed by a bandleader, conductor, or other person in charge, or as a personal decision one ascribes to being a serious musician. In my opinion, they are just as important in sending the right message as playing the right notes.

Bro! I've watched so many of your videos. I just watched your video on Anthony Jackson and subscribed to your channel. OMG!!! You are freaking Awesome!! I don't read music and I don't know music theory but listening to you. I need to get over myself. You rock man!!

New fave jazz channel?

Great information Paul! Everyone should learn these not just bass players!

This video was i.mensely helpful. I just got a bass sax and am trying to go from being a lead instrument to a bass line player and had no idea where to begin. I've always found theory more useful than transcribing. It's much easier for me to apply a concept than just copy others.

You're a brilliant communicator. Pure joy to listen and learn!

Thank you so much. I am currently in my schools chamber orchestra but I personally want to get better at jazz for my senior year I will continue to watch ur videos and u seem like a decent guy

Great stuff. I'm a trumpet player but learning to walk bass lines really helps me learn and negotiate the harmony.

I loved playing "wallpaper gigs" with my bluegrass band; nobody was really listening so we felt free to experiment and mess around with arrangements while getting handsomely paid. I'm just getting back into upright bass and love your channel. Thanks!

I love your videos, you are an amazing teacher✨🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽‼️

This is quite good. Thanks.

I came across your channel about a month ago and it has been so helpful. I really appreciate the straight forward explanations and demonstrations. Jazz can be so daunting and to be able to pull back the curtain and show it isn't so scary is such a relief. I look forward to more of these little lessons from your channel.

Nice! How about walking down the fifth, all scale tones? E.g., Fmin7, Bbmin7, Eb7, Abmaj7: F-G-Ab-A | Bb-Ab-G-F | Eb-F-Gb-G | Ab-G-F-Eb | Db etc.

Great talk, thank you! Is it a descending pattern like this walkup ? A walkdown ?

Real talk, wall paper gigs are the best sometimes. Just a punch-in-punch out and sometimes you can be more adventurous. Sometimes. …and sometimes you’re just thinking “why the f*** am I here?”

This is gold that you are teaching to people are just getting started on walking bass lines. Kudos to you sir!

Love your straight forward, methodical and focused approach to something very simple but abundantly applicable.

Love it Thank you!

Thank you so much! I used to play classical, but never joined jazz. I keep my old upright in my classroom for a unit that we do on sound. The other day I played pink panther on it while they were working, and they loved it. I think it might be fun to learn how to walk properly so I can do more wallpaper gigs for my students when they want me to.

one of the most concise and clear instructional videos on youtube geared towards bassists. subscribed and excited for more!

Wow, God is in the air!

What a beautiful timbre

Great stuff dude. Perfect video lesson that anyone can use. Bravo!

"I've got some practicing to do" was my thought exactly just before you said it. I need to run through all the keys more often.

really excited to try this on the guitar!! 😌thank you so much (edit) this won't work on modal tunes tho.. like So What

Wallpaper gig… lol

This mixed in with some arpeggios and octaves or drops and a whole lot of good bass lines are right there. It's like knowing your Scrabble words.

Digression...I joined my first pro band at 17 and we did a wallpaper gig at a local doctor's mansion. During a break I ran to the bathroom and accidentally walked in on my orthodontist snorting coke. I was only two years out of braces at that point. Good thing we were wallpaper because I was catatonic the rest of the night.

Ron Carter sent me here. Great video, and thanks for the "Wallpaper gig" definition. Not gunna lie; for a second, I was impressed your nice clothes weren't covered in wallpaper paste ;)

It's moving in 5ths. 5ths. It is the cycle of 5ths. You are a great educator thank you for your great work.

I was expecting a mention of Leroy Vinnegar, nicknamed "The Walker".

I am practicing with a big smile on my face. Thank you so much.

Would you please take a look at Buckshot Lefonque's Breakfast at Dennies.

I really gotta get one of those keyboard faucets

Dr. Dopenstein's Dopesauce Delivery👍🏾🤓 The beauty/effectiveness of simplicity, eh?🙌🤗💣😉

LoL my actual family name is Walkup. Clearly, I should only use walk ups.

Wow. This is great info that I never thought about. Thanks so much.

Very helpful 👍👍 what about going back to

actually used this in autumn leaves..without knowing it

Heading upstairs to practice right now! Great video

Great video. These walkups are the connective tissue to chord movement and resolution.

Hi, Paul. Just discovered your work, and I have a question about this technique versus advice provided in Jazz Lesson #2 (Walking Bass Part I). There, you emphasize chord tones. "Play chord tones on 1 and 3." This works for the minor/dom7 and half-dim patterns provided here (since the chord tone on 3 is going to be minor, and that fits in the walkup and leaves two half-steps to complete the fourth), but it doesn't for the pattern supplied for major/dom7: from tonic half-half-whole-half puts the second on 3. It really isn't possible to put a major third on three and still have space for another note (well, barring microtones) on four before reaching the fourth. I realize that the advice for chord tones in walking lines includes room for exceptions, but should one only use this pattern for a major chord when sus2 can substitute for the third without sounding too sour? Or is this a case in which one needs to be aware (well, maybe simply a little more aware than usual) of the melody note(s) on 3 to avoid killing the groove? More simply, if the line is in a major chord without the dominant 7th, is it better to switch to an alternate technique rather than risk going sour here?

Totally agree there’s are a must know pattern - I like to add the octave displacement to make to give some variety- so fog down a seventh where appropriate - but again, Janis is core must know.

RU-vid did it again. Pure Gold content

I think it was Red Mitchell who referred to it as the “million dollar bass line”

I've never seen your videos before, but you're great! You're teaching is wonderful and you seem like a humble, decent guy.

Thanks for speaking slowly and congratulations for your accent. For a non native speaker it makes all the difference. Great lesson! 👍🏻🙏🏻

Thanks , more like this please! Excelent, short and straight

I’d already noticed this occurring in my own lines as I listen to the masters; nice to see it pointed out this way. In fact it’s so entrenched in my playing that I’m trying to get away from it and do something else! But if I’m lazy, it’s the first many bars of, say, How High The Moon.

i'm sure the theme from the tv comedy 'Frasier' uses the same technique.

Excellent tutorial. Thank you very much

PT!!!! You are a master teacher. Thank you for sharing.

This bass teacher is genius. Circle of fourths= brilliant lesson.

Thanks!

I'm a trumpet player but this helps me in listening

30 seconds in and it's already a sub from me

Would it work also as a descending walking bass

Respect! I watch your classes everyday, mentor. Congratulations

Watched > Saved > Liked > Subscribed.

Beautifully simple! Subbed👍 Thank you for the content.

Hello! Can somebody help me? what is skips? It's on 0:33 , but I don't undestrsatnd

Thank you, thank you. Thank you!

Awesome thanks👍🎶

We call it “Biscuit Music”.

Great lesson. Thanks.

Thank you!

very informative, thank you good sir. What about a video about how you approach solo-ing over changes? I WOULD love to see how you approach jazz solo-ing on upright. Great content as always!

yes

Nice...

Superb Videos. My first vid, was the ten doublebass lines in hip hop. Thumbs up and greetings from germany. Thanks, a lot, for your work.

Love the timbre of your bass!

This is so great, Paul! Such a great lesson!

Thanks for the video! An simple approach taught in a usable formate. Have a happy holiday!

Ha.. I refer to them as the "Hey Joe" climbs. That song moves in 5ths, so you go from the root to the 3rd and chromatic from there. It's also in Stevie Wonder's "I wish" going from the Ab back to the Eb-7. Yep, it's everywhere man.

Thank you for making Morgantown cool!

Thanks for sharing this bass instructions

Great lesson, Paul, and what a beautiful bass you are playing.

Just commenting to help the algorithm spread the coolness. Bravo!!!

Great! Love your tone...

I owned the great Ben Tucker's upright. I was so stupid I tried to play it like an electric. No go. That's ok I'm a killer electric player. I learned to walk from the monster Larry Taylor on John Mayall's " Jazz Blues Fusion " album. I highly recommend it to all players it's a kick ass record!

I always automatically hit “like” as soon as you I open one of your videos.

Yes,thank you …..great info…..must have…..☮️🎶🔛🌎

Great lesson! Thx

Never heard of, but played it a million times. Nice to have a term for it. I like it thanks.

Seeing this video made me realise that maybe I am not as bad of a bass player as I think I am sometimes because I know this technique very well.

Subscribed. Giving this to my students ASAP. You’re the man.

Very nice! So much info in a short video. Thank you so much for sharing.

Hey same weird face tension thing