Exercise 3
Having the ability to ascend and descend between whatever chords you encounter allows you to create linear patterns in your bassline (which is what you’re aiming for). Walking basslines lose their impact if every chord is presented to the listener in ascending order.
Try mixing it up like this exercise, ascending for bars 1 and 3 while descending for bars 2 and 4.
Bar 1 – A7 ascending – A C# E G
Bar 2 – Dmaj7 descending – D C# A F#
Bar 3 – Gmaj7 ascending – G B D F#
Bar 4 – Cmaj7 descending – C B G E
Exercise 4
If ascending and descending are just as important in creating walking basslines, it seems a good idea to reverse our previous exercise so we descend and then ascend. This allows us to internalise the arpeggio shapes for each chord while adding to our musicality and ability to switch between ascending and descending.
Bar 1 – A7 descending – A G E C#
Bar 2 – Dmaj7 ascending – D F# A C#
Bar 3 – Gmaj7 descending – G F# D B
Bar 4 – Cmaj7 ascending – C E G B
Exercise 5
One of the complexities of jazz and swing music is the variation found in the bassline against static and repetitive chord progressions. Sometimes (not always but it is a common feature) you will find the bassist starting on a note other than the root, which is present in the current chord.
This leads us to starting our walking bassline patterns on the third of each chord. The reason we are using the third is because that is the next note available in each chord. A7 uses A C# E G. A would be the root note. C# would be the third, which we can see is the next note above the root.
Again we will keep all of the patterns ascending but we will be starting on the third of each chord. To make this clear, I have included a list of all the notes we will be playing in the next exercise.