Walk with me In the second part of our series on walking bass, Mauro Battisti takes a closer look at chordal movement ING bass [DouBLe Bassist No.18, AuTumN 2001] WE INTRODUCED THE THREE MAIN chordal, scalar and chromatic. To improvise a good line, itis important first of ll to know using the notes of the triad (root, third and fifth) as strong reference points for the line. The 7th, 9 Ith and 13th should he used with care due to their dissonant quality. The ear has to be trained so as to perceive the tension and release of the bass line; the dissonances should be surrounded by notes of the triad and played mostly as passing notes or appoggiatura towards the consonant notes. (Obviously, this principle needs to be adjusted according to musical context and your own taste.) Here are some examples of chordal movementas played by renowned bassists, starting with walking-bass notes ofthe triad movements of the walking-bass lin I: THE PREVIOUS ARTICLE ON Wal how to move chordal that use only the Red Callender cfarqve-7e7 abr azabr aba oe eb7 abr G75) + t — — bee Dye el i =a # chorddegree 10411 4 1 4) 14p_t 144 Eddie Gomez B7 E79) AT D7b9 Ga ete oe In the next two examples, the seventh is added as a passing note for connecting chords: George Mraz Walter Page Fr ebro cbr abr ob? hy B7 PE eS eae (1 7b\\3 1) (1 7/3 1) A 73 1953 14 {5.3.1 7bj(/3 5 1 3/1 Now the 9th, 11th and 13th are added, Note that according to the chordal perspective the notes within the ottave are also considered extensions (2 equals9, 4 equals 11, 6 equals 13). The 13th in major or minor chords is always considered as the sixth. In the following examples, the ninth is used as an appoggiatura to the root: Percy Heath * Eddie Gomez see eeIn the next examples, the ninth is used. the fifth of the fifth of the chord (remember the strength of directional intervals): Ray Brown Ron Carter aba, ap A The sixth can also be used as a passing note towards the fifth (Brown); Blanton uses the 13th on the weak beat, surrounded by notes ofthe triad; and Haden’s example shows the typical movement ofthe dissonant 11th (equals fourth) towards the third: Ray Brown, Jimmy Blanton Charlie Haden 8ba abr Chordal mavement that proceeds mostly by skips (vertically) highlights the harmonic function of the walking bass, The choice of extensions (9th, 11th and 13th) varies depending on the chord function, the melodic direction ofthe line and the musical context Let's turn to Charlie Haden’s bass line in For Heaven's Sake (see p.25). Its a perfect example ofa line based almost exclusively on chordal movements. Play through it, possibly with piano accompaniment, concentrating on the pizzicato sound, the regular pulse and the melodie direction. Please nate that in this transcription broken triplets are written as J), in accordance with common jaca notation: £35.» Haden maintains the focus on the notes of the triad (in particular root and fifth) by modifying or simpli nuances, even when using altered or extended chords. With simple but effective notes, he supports the soloist and clearly defines the harmonic path. In Haden's line the chords are connected naturally through the respeetive roots or through half-step (semitone) and whole-step (tone) intervals. ‘The half-step movement provides the most fluid link between the chords, while the whole-step movement recreates aasimple step-by-step scalar movement. Both of these give the walking-bass line a forward drive, as in addition to playing a good solid beat the player has to make the walking bass swing by creating continuous and fluent melodic lines that move forward. Notes indicated with a cross (for example the third note in the first bar) are ghost notes. These ‘mmuflled’ notes, often not essential tothe chord, are frequently used in rhythmic embellishments based on triplets that reflect the basic feeling ofa swing rhythm: a gt 6 ‘The rhythmic aspect of the walking bass is unquestionably tied in with the concept of swing, The term ‘swing! indicates that paticular feeling characteristic of jazz that can to some degree he traced back toa dancing pulse based on triplets ‘The way these triplets are perce! determines the rhythmic character and expression of the walking bass. Listening to contrastingjazz styles from different periods will help you develop this feature, as well as alot of practice, Inthe previous article, we started off building a purely chordal walking bass on a B, blues harmonic structure using only notes of the trad. The following example shows how to enrich this basic line by adding the other notes ofthe harmonic pyramid according to sug omy fst she HEthe principles presented so far: ‘The exer under the stave). EE e can be played entirely in the first position, except for bar six (see fingering i ip ° thee Pp ie A quick reference guide to chord symbols and notation Toconstruct a waiking-bass line tis important to have @ thorough knowledge of chords and to understand the symbols generally used in jazz. The following chart shows the most important chords and their related symbols. They are organised into five groups or families: major, minor, dominant seventh, halt-diminished and diminished. ‘As there is no universally recognised chord notation, you may come across different symbols for the same type of chord. Here is a ‘quick guide to which symbols equal which: 4° = ‘+ (for example C749 = C7+9);*4’='~' (for example C75 = C7-5);‘~ (in minor chords) ‘min’ or ny (for example C-6 = Cm6 = Cmin6); "15? = aug’ (augmented) = ‘+ (for example C7'5 = Caug7 = C7-+); ‘maj’ (major) = "M" {8 (for example Cmaj7 = CM7 = C7 oF simply Ca); ‘dim’ (diminished) = ‘o'(for example Cdim = C0); half diminished chords are {frequently notated with‘o" (C-75:= C9), Chords with specitic characteristics that fall outside the standard symbol groupings are indicated with ‘add’, ‘no’ or ‘omit’. For ‘example, ‘C add indicates a chord formed by a major triad and an added ninth (C E G D).“C9 Mt or ‘C9 N03 implies a dominant seventh chord with the ninth, but without the third (C G B.D). Sometimes note changes appear in brackets: C7 (9). [Slash chords (for ‘example C-16, B/C, BC), functional harmony and how chords are related to scales willbe discussed inthe upcoming parts ofthe seres.] razon cnonos Douaie SENT CHORES chord degrees chordinc chord degrees chordinc Ciorctrady 135 CEG 7 13517 cEGB os 1356 CEGA c7s 13897 cEGe csi9 13569 CEGAD crs 13397 ceGB cmaj7 1357 cece crs 1355719 CEGED majo 13378 ceGeD crs 13817% cEGaD cmajrtt i357 cecar cm 1385 cCEGEF mais 13557 ceas co 135i79 cEGBD en 1@)5:7911 Cc GBDF tumor cHonos usually the thirds omitted) chord degrees chordine crs 13579(1) 13 CEGBDIA o 135 ceG (usually the 11thisomited) - . cs 1356 CEGA cit (M357 0H113 CEGBDFA csi9 19569 CEGAD 789 13:6 57'8 CEGBRD o7 13597 cece ors 13350719 cegaD ozs 113 #597 cece 758 1318 7% CEGBO os 19579 ceGBD C758 1345:719 cCEGED | ova 135711 ceGBr CZalt any C7 with both fith and ninth altered (see four chords above) on 1357911 ceGBOF o7a 1@)5:711 CE GRF cs 195:791113 CEGBDFA —(usuallythethirdisomitted) ‘ may 1357 cece c7sus4 1437 cro c7sus9 145i78 creep * chord degrees chordinc ozs 131617 coGB DasHeD CHORDS ersie 1131679 CEGBD chord degrees chordine cits dae Ot CEGB(0)F Calm 13355 cee (the rinthisfrequenty omitted) Gaim? (or simply Cam) 15315 17 ceeFOR HEAVEN'S SALE 6 cuensa wey SL snes, WALKING BASS BY AAG A roeH CHAeLI€ HAOEN 1 gag kom stt a 4 46 0 4&0 4 4 Oo 4 t 0 4 a2 an ur guts 67 Ay Ow Cas in og A7 Or as fo wy g. gn 4 o 4 4 ££ £ t £ T T 0 0 ° Aa hbo 67 67 Fo Myr 4 o ———_reansceioreo reo BxCeON/HADEN's ALSOM: “NIGHT ANO THE CITY" - Veove £ # ~ i