Walking Bass Lines - Transitions (upright bass)

[ThilosNest]

Thank you for this very clear and understandable lesson and the cool playing. i appreciate it very much. you could have walked some more, in my opinion.

[pickinstone]

I always wonder how professional bassists learn a new tune. I'm sure that Harrison doesn't just memorize lines that work for a particular tune, there's a great amount of ear training involved in memorizing how a tune sounds. That includes hearing bass movement as it corresponds with the melodic frame. So do you bass cats memorize roots? Do you play the progressions on the piano first. The bassist lays the groundwork so he/she has to know that tune like the back of their hand. How do they do it?

[josepharchbold]

@pickinstone You actually hit the nail on the head but you do all of what you suggested and more. Knowing the whole melody of the song and being able to play the melody perfectly is a way to help shape your lines and make your line even more melodic. Playing the roots of the song straight through so you can know how you're going to move between the chords is another. Playing the chords on the piano will help you learn the flavor of the chords and understand how the chord progression is moving.

[pickinstone]

@josepharchbold It helps with playing harmonies as well. It's more exciting to play triadic based movements that work as three part melody lines that happen to be played together than to just play rote voicings on piano or guitar. Ear training is the one element that many young musicians fail to give proper attention to, that's where the meat and potatoes of playing music is. I'm sure that professional bassists can sing lines behind a tune as well, away from their instrument.

[FieryFingers93]

Im looking into getting an upright. preferably electric. do you have any suggestions on a cheap but reliable upright?

[frcwolf]

@FieryFingers93 Buying an EUB is pretty personal. Check your local stores and see what they have - if it feels good to you and sounds they way you want it to sound, get it!

[MrProfessorDonut]

I have a question. I really want to learn bass. But obviously they're quite expensive so what I'm curious about is, would it be hard to move from a fretless electric bass to an upright? What I'm asking is, is it worth doing? Would the transition be smooth? Or should I just wait longer and go straight to double bass?

[seeepoe]

@MrProfessorDonut Lots of bass players start out playing upright. Some would say going from electric bass to upright would be easy, because you'd then have a solid base to build on (no pun intended, haha). I'd say it depends on what you prefer, but if you're especially fond of upright bass then go for that. It's definitely worth it, and learning the upright would give you stronger fingers.

[dTbFan72]

i want an upight so bad, how much did yours cost?

[iobjectifytom]

Dude, you are suuuuuuuch a teacher.

Keep on teachin'.

[guiness1990]

CHICAGO!!!!!!

[ledfingers1]

Maybe off the subject, but you are able to precisely play accurate notes while naming them and explaining what you are doing and why, all while not pausing or getting confused. I wish people could drive this way...

[fcmilsweeper9]

This is a REALLY dumb question...whats the difference between electric bass, jazz bass and orchestral bass tuning? (I realize their may not be a diff. between the last two)

[frcwolf]

@fcmilsweeper9 No difference. Basic tuning (no pun intended) is E A D G from the bottom up. Some bassists have a "C" extension which allows the E string to extend as low as C. This is primarily used by orchestral bassists but a number of jazz players have them too.

[McPhersonBassMaster]

@frcwolf

There's also the Bass with the low "B" string, also known as a five string bass.

Sadly, that's more common on 5-string uprights, because a 5-string electric normally has a high "C" string.

Other than my random comment, great playing.

[watercrazed]

@fcmilsweeper9 there is a solo tuning .. one step higher in each string, it generally uses a different set of strings then trad tuning. These solo strings , are sometimes tuned to the trad tuning to provide a lower tension set of strings.

[themastersofsilence]

Thank you from Kalamazoo, seriously.

[darkduelist67]

Thanks for the lesson!

[1234aug]

Bill, I'm hoping that you will give us a lesson in the blues with talk and demo.

Great bass. Thanks.

[diamondbass11]

im pretty sure an upright bass along with a cello and any bass string instrument is tuned C, G, D, A

[frcwolf]

@diamondbass11 You're correct on the cello tuning but the bass is tuned E A D G from lowest to highest strings.

[SaintUdnitz]

@diamondbass11 er...my bass "string instrument" is tuned E,A,D,G and sometimes D,A,D,G

[Doderhultarn89]

i would love to play a bass but i dont have room to keep it in.

[monwoo10]

its very easy to learn by ear then relying on tabs

[MrBenPratt]

PLEASE ADD MORE ON THE DOUBLE BASS!!!!

[LoveForMyJazz]

Very nice , u play very well

[akitoytube]

Thank's a lot!. I'm starting to learn to play this instrument and this exercise is beatifull and very didactic. Congratulations from Spain

[makitfunkee]

Nice work!!!

[lisagoesmodern]

I am an aspiring upright bass player and love the information you have given in this video. Thanks so much and look forward to more!

[mcpancakes]

very nice video, thanks!

[jbQMedia]

Or, the b natural is a passing tone, a lower neighbor, a chromatic approach to the C. A Db works. A series of chromatic or diatonic tones from either side of the target also work.

The fact that a bass player plays a chromatic approach (or lead-in, in my system) doesn't have to suggest a chord substitution...but instead, melodic directionality.

Read "The Untold Secret to Melodic Bass" - now on Amazon; or google it for a pdf downloadable version.

Best

Jon

[15orchdork]

do you know any good jazz books im in middle school and i like playing jazz alot but all the books ive found arnt great

[bluescommander]

You play beautifully.

[naishl]

could you please tell me what strings you use? I just startet to play and dont know what would be best..

[frcwolf]

Thomastik Spirocore "weich"

[GunsNRosses1]

upright basses are the regular

[Ekolu4us143]

whats the difference between a upright bass and regular

[FanvanJimmy]

Almost none, but a bass guitar has frets (mostly) and an bass guitar is better amplifiable. And it has an other sound.

Excuse my poor English, I'm from Holland.

[chopin999]

cheers bill, very inspirational

[SteveMontuno]

that's if you have a spare 5 mins sometime,,thanks anyway's

[SteveMontuno]

hi bill ,,was wondering if you could help me,,,im wanting a backing track so i can play along on my guitar but the song im wanting to play along to is a live version with a medley in the middle,and the medley part is what im wanting to play too,its a walking blues bassline on, whole lotta love live 1973 version,after about the 8 min mark,could you have a listen to the song and tell me who's style of bass or jazz would be closest to that style,,so i can download some of their material,,thanks,,:)

[Adoniram1986]

Thanx!

[DevilMan38]

Fascinating, thank you for sharing :-)

[catandpiddle]

thanks bill!

[stromberg08]

Wow, I first thought this is the bass line of All My Loving, by the beatles :D

nice playing!

[mavrick45]

haha

same here :3

[mrdeecup]

wow, someone else taught me this, but u put it in words so easy to understand! awesome!

[MoiDixMoisTrademark]

I Love This!

[oOJimmySueOo]

Fantastic! Finally something helpful! I have one question. Do you remember a whole lot of different positions and shapes for playing those chords, or do you just know the notes that make up every chord by heart and work from there?

[vanderholt2]

When I solo or improvise bass lines, I usually do both, but remembering shapes is a lot easier then remembering all the notes and chords on the neck.

[thewelford]

Cool. Thanks man.

[Prickya]

Wow!

Thanks alot I wish my professors could teach likewise.

[JesustheLizard]

there's no shame in having a p bass.

[nixli1980]

Yeah, shame and p bass don't even fit in a sentence!

[Dudeonline10163]

unless the p bass is gay

[jeanforthewin]

played my first gig on double bass last night

was shaking so i got some lovely vibrato ;)

[bigd2dari]

lol good job

[hakanozelguitarist]

nice one dude! may it be the 1st of 1000s!

[Keithdrengen]

Keep it up, my favorite bass.

[ronaldsmusicfactory]

YES !! a vid that makes sence to me ...thanks

[user2157]

You make it look so effortless! I have recently started down the URB path after many years of electric and now wish I hadn't waited so long to do so. Probably something to do with maturity...

Please continue to post as I enjoy your real-world approach to playing bass!

[JoanKor]

Great teaching, by the way. =D

[JoanKor]

I got problem in plucking string. Could you help me in this? I pluck them from fingerboard and outwards (almost 90 degrees in the movement with respect to fingerboard), but in this way, it sounds too soft. When I pluck that way hardly, it sounds harsh, still soft. School orchestras need strong bass, not soft one. I saw western players pluck strings from the left side of string to the right side of the string right? I tried it before, but still sounds weird, especially in running notes.

[edlaksmi]

great tone!

[crosschords]

What's the name of that bass that your playing? I love the tone!

[garretfryandthefry]

this dude is amazing

[JustinPoon93]

I love this!

Though I'm a learning jazz guitarist, this has helped me a lot for improvising.

Any other resources like this that can help me?

Thanks!

"The only minor problem is... no pun intended" xD

[jeanforthewin]

this may be an incredibly stupid question, but do double basses have any markings for the frets and that, or is it purely by ear and touch?

im a thicko bass player so dont shout :)

plus, i love walking basses and youre really good man, the tone on this is ace

[frcwolf]

No markings of any kind, although I have lately seen a few players with subtle dots. I would say most of us URB players would consider it cheating :-) Anyway, there's no time to be looking at your hands when you're trying to play music! Thanks for the good vibe.

[jeanforthewin]

oh wow thanks

im about to start db lessons as im just about to enter a swingband, playing jazz and stuff

i already play electric bass so my ears are quite good, so hopefully ill pick up the spacing quite quick

one day ill walk like you :)

[cheesyrat]

Some beginning players add tape or sometimes even stickers (when I was in 4th grade, I had a penguin on my E) to show where the fingers go. Frc's right though. It takes away the fun of playing by ear.

[dec10]

Edgar Meyer's got big dots on his fingerboard.

[mikebassy]

@frcwolf edgar meyer uses dtts on the neck , it helps and if we are not trying to be snotty classical players then we should have dotts with lights ... pink , blue or whatever . your a great teacher by the way . check out my jaco`s the best video if you have time sir . mike .

[VarykGerai]

@jeanforthewin its not that hard to feel where your hand is when you get used to your instrument.

[jeanforthewin]

@VarykGerai lol i asked that question 2 years ago! i'm way better at double bass now!

[zlucoblij]

VERY nice video. I like your teaching style, I just understood everything. Too bad I don't live lin Chicago, I'd like you to teach me ;)

[foowah7]

I knew most of that, but you explained it VERY clearly! Good job, great tone!

[ThingintheAttic]

great tone.

[garretfryandthefry]

is there anyway you can post a video of you just jamming

[mikeypbass]

that bass has got some serious growl to it

[kw231263]

Great bass lesson thanks

[Ryeguy40]

I paly tenor and Bari sax, and in my class there is Bass, it's a pretty cool instrument, the bari often shares the wlaking base line...

[1arrya]

Bill, Could you post a vid. on the tune "Joy Spring"?

[JazzDoubleBass]

This is really useful stuff ! Good one.

[stogiechomper]

Excellent bass lesson, Bill. You are obviously knowledgeable and an expert. I would love to learn how to practice arpeggios and scales. I have a lot of books, but there is nothing like the guidance of an accomplished bassist.

[bernie49]

Thanks again, Bill. It's a pleasure to watch your left hand, it's absolutely perfect. And your sound is so smooth & enjoyable.

[frcwolf]

Thanks for the good vibe. For upright most players use the ring finger to support the 4th finger. The long scale makes it just about impossible to use 3rd independently until you get into the upper positions.

[ackeiswetter]

Thanks! I have a new upright on it's way next week. I owned one years ago (I am a drummer so I never took it too serious)and am going to get back into it. I live Denver, do you know anybody I could get lessons from here? I have been playing electric bass solid for 10+ years but again just for fun when I can't play loud drums. i want to start playing serious!

[ackeiswetter]

Thanks man, you should post some more leesons.

Also do you ever use your ring finger or do you only use it to help with your little fingure.

[TheLemon22]

Awesome man

[veijo2]

Excelent teaching! Thank you. More like this please.