Walking Bass Lines - Transitions (upright bass)

http://www.playjazznow.com bassist and Trackmeister Bill Harrison explains how to transition from one chord to the next.

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Music

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• bill harrison
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[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!

[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.

[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.

[jeanforthewin]

played my first gig on double bass last night

was shaking so i got some lovely vibrato ;)

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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]

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?

[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.

[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?