Bass Line Development
by George Urbaszek
CreativeBassLessons.com

Often we get bored with what we play. This can be due to the repetitiveness of some bass lines. Here is a simple and systematic way to develop your bass lines while maintaining the all-important groove.

The examples are over the two-chord vamp of C7 and Bb7, such as in the A-section of “Killer Joe”, a jazz standard in 4/4 time. Although the examples below employ the walking bass technique of playing quarter notes, you can and should make up your own variations to suit your style.

Legend

1 = chord root
3 = the third of the chord (the third note of the chord scale – can be played below the root)
5 = the fifth of the chord (the fifth note of the chord scale – can be played below the root)
8 = the chord root an octave higher
CPT = Chromatic Passing Tone

Ex1

1 5 1 CPT 1 5 1 CPT – Repeat this two-measure phrase. The notes are C G C B Bb F Bb B Repeat.

       C7             Bb7              C7
G:||---------------|---------------||---------||
D:||o--------------|--------------o||---------||
A:||o--3-----3--2--|--1-----1--2--o||--3------||
E:||------3--------|-----1---------||---------||

Click HERE for audio

Ex2

Play all notes one octave higher.

       C7             Bb7              C7
G:||---5-----5--4--|--3-----3--4---||--5------||
D:||o-----5--------|-----3--------o||---------||
A:||o--------------|--------------o||---------||
E:||---------------|---------------||---------||

Click HERE for audio

Ex3

1 5 8 CPT 8 5 1 CPT

       C7             Bb7              C7
G:||---------5--4--|--3------------||---------||
D:||o-----5--------|-----3--------o||---------||
A:||o--3-----------|--------1--2--o||--3------||
E:||---------------|---------------||---------||

Click HERE for audio

Ex4

8 5 1 CPT 1 5 8 CPT – This is an inversion of Ex3

       C7             Bb7              C7
G:||---5-----------|--------3--4---||--5------||
D:||o-----5--------|-----3--------o||---------||
A:||o--------3--2--|--1-----------o||---------||
E:||---------------|---------------||---------||

Click HERE for audio

Ex5

1 3 1 CPT 1 3 1 CPT

       C7             Bb7              C7
G:||---------------|---------------||---------||
D:||o-----2--------|-----0--------o||---------||
A:||o--3-----3--2--|--1-----1--2--o||--3------||
E:||---------------|---------------||---------||

Click HERE for audio

Ex6

Any combination of the above examples PLUS YOUR OWN.

Further suggestion: Before you even attempt to play different examples, write down all possibilities you can think of. I guarantee you will come up with options you will not have found through playing alone.

Bass of Luck!
George Urbaszek