So glad to have discovered you again. I started out playing keys at about 5 but fell in love with bass in my teen years and played electric bass in rock bands for about 6 years. But a situation arose in one of my bands where I started playing keyboard bass and keys. I found that pedaling for the right hand did not work for the bass so I started using a synth for bass which then allowed me to pedal for the upper keys, but since bass does sort of keep moving, it required no pedal, just correct fingering. It worked great once I got the independence worked out. But rock and country and blues to some extent are different from jazz and your lesson here is quite interesting. Rock, though it can have a bit of swing at times, does not swing like jazz does. Blues and jazz "cross pollinate" a bit more in the swing dept, but still are different to some extent. But love this lesson. This old dog (77) will have to try some new tricks here lol! And the way you broke it down makes perfect sense. Thank you!
Just listening to those few bars at the beginning, of you singing 'Have you met Miss Jones?', and the walking bass with it, gave me so much pleasure that I had to pause the video and write this. You have a gorgeous voice, Aimee, and are a wonderful pianist. Thank you for posting. Now back to the rest of the video!
I do basically the same, but sometimes I play 1-3-5-leading tone instead of 1-2-3-leading tone. Another variation I do is sometimes I go down instead of up, so it would be typically (going down) 1-7-5-leading tone. I really like the triplets that you're showing, I'll try it.
What a pity there isn't a "love" button on TH-cam! I've been trying to figure out walking bass for years, couldn't understand why it didn't feel right. That leading note makes all the difference! ♥️
Aimee, my mentor was the recently passed Jessica Jennifer Williams. Let me pull your coat about her! She had such dexterity and could lay out elaborate walking bass lines to sound like several pianists at once. I've been playing piano for a couple of years and (I know, I know) I want to sound like that! I'm ready for this video!
Love this! As a 70+ year old guitar player who started playing bass because my bands bassist quit this is so helpful. I've played mostly rock and roll and blues, and love it, but I have struggled with jazz walking lines. Since you video I've been going through the real book and your formula works just fine on bass as well. Love you channel ❤️.
Aimee, you are incredible and you sound so good then and now. So grateful that you share your experience so people like me can benefit and connect with the music. I hope your kindness is returned to you exponentially. 😊
Excellent video. Your technique on how to play walking bassline on the piano has open up doors for me giving me new motivation. I'm own my way right now to blow the dust off my piano and start practicing your technique. Thanks a million Aimee.
Very cool video. I'm not a piano player but I'm going to try this. I love walking bass and I don't see people doing it enough. Thanks for unlocking some of the mystery here.
I knew I had to move into understanding baselines and walking bass. But nothing I have seen has made it so clear and straightforward to learn as you. Thank-you so very much. I'm sticking with your lessons for a while yet!
Wow you pretty much fixed the problem I've been with having with writing smooth basslines. Thanks Aimee, I'll try applying what I learned here very soon.
You can't imagine how I've improved my jazz piano skills after I started using your tips. Thank you very much! And by the way, do you have any plans for a new livestream?
Thank you so much Aimee for this short and sweet walking bass lesson. It’s basic and simple without being boring! A great start for someone who wants to accompany themselves on the piano and also solo with their RH. Thanks so much for all you do for jazz aficionados :-)
Hi Aimee, you are not only an amazing and talented musician, but also a generous and giving person. This is simply great stuff and you are sharing with your followers and the world free of charge! Wish you and your family a wonderful 2022! Best wishes from Hong Kong!
Great lesson! I always thought of walking bass as complicated and have been in avoidance mode about learning it but you've made it so clear and easy. Thanks! Now off to the piano to give it a try....
Great stuff as always! I often solve the problem (if it's a problem) of the 3 of the walkup line being the leading tone of the following chord (moving from E to A via E-F#-G#) with the 1-2-b3-3 (E-F#-G-G# in this case) trick. Not sure if you'd have any objections to that, but coming from a more 12-bar background as I do, I seem to fall back on it. Next time it comes up, though, I think I'll try the leading tone a half step above as you suggest. Thanks again for all your enjoyable and informative work!
Wonderful video. The explanation is simple and although its not that easy to do off the cuff it works great. As a flautist, I'm I always looking for new improvisational ideas and stuff to play in the background. The approach gives us folks thar can't play chords a great way to outline and feel the harmonic movement better in a jazz tune.
Thank you Aimee for that wonderful lessons. I don't need any other lesson. This is enough for me. Can you zoom a little beat of your beautiful hands in the piano. I'm half blind. Thank you Aimee.
Thanks for this great formula. I’m learning to play bass lines on my Paetzold contrabass recorder (accompanying a dobro player on swing tunes). I think this will work just fine. It’s just what I was looking for. Recorder range is F2 to F4; I mostly play in the first octave and occasionally up to as much as a fifth above (C4).
Thank you Amy for sharing this lesson. I’ve been wanting to learn the Pattern to doing a Bass Line. And, you explained this in the clearest way possible. Proud of you ! 👍🤗💕👏
Aimee, YOU're hip!!! I don't play piano. However, this system you've shared is a nice road map for anyone who wants to know how to create a walking bass line. I'll have to save this one!! Thank you very much. My instrument...saxophone.
Thanks, Aimee. That's sorted out my approach in the future to basslines to melodies and bassline comping to vocals on guitar in under 1/4 hour! Brilliant.
Hi Aimee! I've been enjoying your videos! I learned a walking bass line when I was in college that's similar. It's amazing that you put your formula together based on observations. My pattern is Root - Scale Tone - Chord Tone - Leading Tone. The variation is the opportunity make the fourth note the leading tone of the root or fifth of the next chord.
Good lesson Aimee, I remember John Goldsby teaching the 1,2,3,5 way of approaching walking bass lines when I attended a Jamey Aebersold jazz camp here in the UK in 2003. Simple yet effective 👌
Aimee, you are the greatest piano teacher ever. I will ask you again, if you ever decide to take on private students again, please let me know. Though I live in NC, I have studied guitar a with NYC based teacher so and I am very comfortable with Zoom lessons. Thanks again.
Hi Amiee, I've delved pretty deep into walking basslines for a bit but noticed there was something missing. Now I have pretty good formulas too the point that I can improvise them but the problem I have is certain free like syncopations. For example sometimes I notice on a four feel people will hold a long (quarter dot note usually) on the & of 4, and somtimes skip the first beat(or any other beat beat completely ) with out a note being held and finish it with it off on the next & walking to the next chord. I've also noticed somethings like on a two feel instead of (1 3 with the 2& and the 4&'s in between), people will hold the the & of the 2 or & of the4's. A lot of times I'll also withness a bunch of walking 8th notes during a two feel. The final thing that stumps me is starting on the beat using a degree other that the 1. I know some of this sounds easy to figure out. But I'm in search of some introduction to it and was wondering if you could do a video on it. You have some of the best tutorial videos I have ever seen especially on scatting and seem to learn best from you. Thank you in advance -Raquel
I wouldn't of used the term Leading Tone, I would call it an Approach Note. Calling it an Approach notes is more description of what it's doing, I played bass in younger days and before I even knew names for things I learned that I could setup a chord change by play a note a half-step above or below it. One of the benefits of playing lots of Blues jams as a kid discovering approach notes and developing a feel for where to put them. Another lesson learned from bass that can transfer in lots of way is... Chord tones on strong beats and dam near anything on weak beats. Which is why approach notes work. Cool lesson and another bass player loses their gig, you're mean.
Great video. The A7 in the beginning is technically not in A major. It is in D major, but this doesn't affect your system since you aren't going to play 7th of the chord except as a sharp 7th leading tone. You might like to see my very crude Jazz tuba lessons. I made it for training classical tuba players to play in my Dixieland band. Just type in Jazz Tuba Lessons.
The truth is, your videos are too advanced for me. I'm an old dude who always wanted to play but never learned. Now I flit around TH-cam looking for a magic formula - your walking bass is pretty good - but I'm afraid that if you didn't put in ten years when you were young ... game over. Still, you do have a gorgeous voice. Break a leg, kiddo.
Hi Aimee. Loved your video, this truly is magical and a light bulb moment for me. by any chance, Do you have a magic formula for left hand fingering these bass lines? Also, do you ever use a descending bass line between chords? Thank you!
Hey Aimee, any tips on walking where the tune is more modal and the harmony stays relatively constant for long periods of time? I.e. So What, Impressions, Passion Dance, etc. I find myself trying to walk with my left hand and consistently at a loss for stuff to do that doesn't involve repeating the same pattern over and over ad nauseam. Also, I just wanna say, I loved the video and got a lot out of it. Your lessons are an amazing gift to this world and for self-studying jazz pianists like me.
Aimee's videos are great, and I'm enjoying this too. Her first example works well, but a scale note from above is good too. I'm saying that the B natural works fine as beat 4 in the first example, and adds a bit of light relief from that dark chromaticism linking many chords. I'd probably play CGCBA..to begin with. How high the line can be depends on the other instrumentation. I've heard Nat King Cole playing basslines very low, and driving a whole band when the bass player was not on the recording. Piano LH basslines soon gets lost in the mix if they're playing high against drums or horns, but might be fine in solo piano playing or with just a singer. The best keyboard bass lines are played with both hands, because you can "skip" more and throw the ball back and forth. This is good to know when you're making a backing track. Also guys, if in doubt, record the backing track bassline a little deeper and louder than seems necessary, because real bass notes are felt too, and you don't have that advantage. It's terrible when you lose the prerecorded bassline in the middle of a performance, simply because it doesn't cut through.
I’m asking myself if this could be useful to build a base for improvise on your instrument. I play the flugelhorn and I think that I will give it a try. Thank you Aimee.
Such fun Aimee! Think you are the first to break it all down to small bites. Thank you! I have subscribed to Nebula and now watching you lessons. Can't wait to get started. 👏
You can play “in one” and hold the root from beat one till the and of three and then do a leading tone to the next chord - or you can play ONE FIVE ONE (octave up) or ONE FIVE ONE (octave down) or ONE FIVE LEADING TONE or just do scale motion that takes you where you’re going. :)
Great stuff. Also your jumper is really cool. At a glance it looked like you were wearing a black dress and a white scarf which would've been very high-end jazz club haha
So glad to have discovered you again. I started out playing keys at about 5 but fell in love with bass in my teen years and played electric bass in rock bands for about 6 years. But a situation arose in one of my bands where I started playing keyboard bass and keys. I found that pedaling for the right hand did not work for the bass so I started using a synth for bass which then allowed me to pedal for the upper keys, but since bass does sort of keep moving, it required no pedal, just correct fingering. It worked great once I got the independence worked out. But rock and country and blues to some extent are different from jazz and your lesson here is quite interesting. Rock, though it can have a bit of swing at times, does not swing like jazz does. Blues and jazz "cross pollinate" a bit more in the swing dept, but still are different to some extent. But love this lesson. This old dog (77) will have to try some new tricks here lol! And the way you broke it down makes perfect sense. Thank you!
Enjoyed Birdyoumans longer comments .. Wouldn't it be wonderful to get your fans together, hang out and discuss life and music!
Just listening to those few bars at the beginning, of you singing 'Have you met Miss Jones?', and the walking bass with it, gave me so much pleasure that I had to pause the video and write this. You have a gorgeous voice, Aimee, and are a wonderful pianist. Thank you for posting. Now back to the rest of the video!
Ditto to what he said!!! And I am a bass line freak -- IMO it dictates & leads the song.
Agreed, she killed on that one.
thirsty
Yes, the best teacher. Great voice too!
True.
one of the most difficult things playing bass and sing.......you made Easy the way you play AND the way you teach great and thanks
I do basically the same, but sometimes I play 1-3-5-leading tone instead of 1-2-3-leading tone. Another variation I do is sometimes I go down instead of up, so it would be typically (going down) 1-7-5-leading tone. I really like the triplets that you're showing, I'll try it.
What a pity there isn't a "love" button on TH-cam! I've been trying to figure out walking bass for years, couldn't understand why it didn't feel right. That leading note makes all the difference! ♥️
I'm a guitarist and I found this lesson really helpful.
Aimee, my mentor was the recently passed Jessica Jennifer Williams. Let me pull your coat about her! She had such dexterity and could lay out elaborate walking bass lines to sound like several pianists at once. I've been playing piano for a couple of years and (I know, I know) I want to sound like that! I'm ready for this video!
This video couldn’t have come a better time! Working on a project that needs a walking bass line and you answered my prayers 🤩
Aimee's a Saint! It's what she does!
Love this! As a 70+ year old guitar player who started playing bass because my bands bassist quit this is so helpful. I've played mostly rock and roll and blues, and love it, but I have struggled with jazz walking lines. Since you video I've been going through the real book and your formula works just fine on bass as well. Love you channel ❤️.
Merci for this. I need to stick to basics to get my chops for now.
Aimee, you are incredible and you sound so good then and now. So grateful that you share your experience so people like me can benefit and connect with the music. I hope your kindness is returned to you exponentially. 😊
I've always wondered how to approach walking bass lines on the piano, this is really cool and useful! Thank you A LOT for sharing this! :D
Excellent video. Your technique on how to play walking bassline on the piano has open up doors for me giving me new motivation. I'm own my way right now to blow the dust off my piano and start practicing your technique. Thanks a million Aimee.
This deserves a lit more appreciation than it has so far. I don't play piano, but tye knowledge is useful for guitar.
Very cool video. I'm not a piano player but I'm going to try this. I love walking bass and I don't see people doing it enough. Thanks for unlocking some of the mystery here.
Loving how this will help me put walking bass lines to any jazz tune. Thanks ❤️❤️
I knew I had to move into understanding baselines and walking bass. But nothing I have seen has made it so clear and straightforward to learn as you. Thank-you so very much. I'm sticking with your lessons for a while yet!
Thanks for this expansion on your previous walking bass material, Aimee. Now to take a walk through the Real Book
I was just trying to work out bass lines for my sax playing. Looking on the internet, then this. You must be reading my mind! lol thank you for this.
Wow you pretty much fixed the problem I've been with having with writing smooth basslines. Thanks Aimee, I'll try applying what I learned here very soon.
You can't imagine how I've improved my jazz piano skills after I started using your tips. Thank you very much! And by the way, do you have any plans for a new livestream?
If you follow me on all the social medias…I always try and announce it there! Thanks Simone.
This is awesome Aimee. Love it! I've never really studied Jazz very much so this walking base line idea is great for me.
Thank you so much Aimee for this short and sweet walking bass lesson. It’s basic and simple without being boring! A great start for someone who wants to accompany themselves on the piano and also solo with their RH. Thanks so much for all you do for jazz aficionados :-)
Hi Aimee, you are not only an amazing and talented musician, but also a generous and giving person. This is simply great stuff and you are sharing with your followers and the world free of charge! Wish you and your family a wonderful 2022! Best wishes from Hong Kong!
Great lesson! I always thought of walking bass as complicated and have been in avoidance mode about learning it but you've made it so clear and easy. Thanks! Now off to the piano to give it a try....
Loved this tutorial Amy---you are a hyphenate--sing, play, teach!!!!
Congradulations Aimee glad you are working at Open Studio
This is a great lesson- simple and effective-many thanks Aimee
Great stuff as always! I often solve the problem (if it's a problem) of the 3 of the walkup line being the leading tone of the following chord (moving from E to A via E-F#-G#) with the 1-2-b3-3 (E-F#-G-G# in this case) trick. Not sure if you'd have any objections to that, but coming from a more 12-bar background as I do, I seem to fall back on it. Next time it comes up, though, I think I'll try the leading tone a half step above as you suggest. Thanks again for all your enjoyable and informative work!
Wonderful video. The explanation is simple and although its not that easy to do off the cuff it works great. As a flautist, I'm I always looking for new improvisational ideas and stuff to play in the background. The approach gives us folks thar can't play chords a great way to outline and feel the harmonic movement better in a jazz tune.
Woah, congrats on the Curiosity Stream sponsorship!
Thank you Aimee for that wonderful lessons. I don't need any other lesson. This is enough for me. Can you zoom a little beat of your beautiful hands in the piano. I'm half blind. Thank you Aimee.
Thanks for this great formula. I’m learning to play bass lines on my Paetzold contrabass recorder (accompanying a dobro player on swing tunes). I think this will work just fine. It’s just what I was looking for. Recorder range is F2 to F4; I mostly play in the first octave and occasionally up to as much as a fifth above (C4).
Nice straight forward approach. Should be able to remember that. Sounds lovely too.
Thank you!
Trombonist/lower brass to keys here. Can read block charts though..
Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you Amy for sharing this lesson. I’ve been wanting to learn the Pattern to doing a Bass Line. And, you explained this in the clearest way possible. Proud of you ! 👍🤗💕👏
Holy crap this was this a useful video! So rich with content. Thank you!!
Aimee,
YOU're hip!!! I don't play piano. However, this system you've shared is a nice road map for anyone who wants to know how to create a walking bass line. I'll have to save this one!! Thank you very much. My instrument...saxophone.
Thanks, Aimee. That's sorted out my approach in the future to basslines to melodies and bassline comping to vocals on guitar in under 1/4 hour! Brilliant.
This is so awesome. Deepest thanks Aimee!
I love it it's good
very Nice! I love your tutorials Thank you Aimee!
Great tips, thanks Aimee!
Hi Aimee! I've been enjoying your videos! I learned a walking bass line when I was in college that's similar. It's amazing that you put your formula together based on observations. My pattern is Root - Scale Tone - Chord Tone - Leading Tone. The variation is the opportunity make the fourth note the leading tone of the root or fifth of the next chord.
Superb. Thank you Aimee.
Good lesson Aimee, I remember John Goldsby teaching the 1,2,3,5 way of approaching walking bass lines when I attended a Jamey Aebersold jazz camp here in the UK in 2003. Simple yet effective 👌
Great Mrs Nolte. GREAT 👍👍👍
Aimee, thank you so much!!! This video is wonderful. You are a wonderful musician and a wonderful teacher. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😍😍😍😊😊😊
Thank you for teaching me this Aimee. You rock!
This was really helpful for me. I've always been intimidated by walking bass.
I dig this kind of learning... pieces of vocabulary--full phrases.
Amy thanks so much. This has really helped me. It is simple! Best regards.
I have subscribed, I have the bell, all because this is an amazing video, thank you!
Big thank you from Australia!
Really simple, just add different rythmn and it’s perfect for me.
I just want to say thanks again to facilitate my progression at the piano….
This is a very goood lesson. I will be applying it to some gospel songs I'm working on to add bounce.
Frickin awesome I’ve needed this .
I question the 3 chord (E m) sticking to the whole step/half step pattern - use half/whole? It sounds OK, but I wonder about that
This is cool but it’s harder than it seems at first. I’m going to have to work on it!
Great stuff! Have you got a lesson or formula for that nice comping you do in the right hand?
Brilliant lesson. Cheers
Solid musical info ... and an exquisite voice. Damn!
Aimee, you are the greatest piano teacher ever. I will ask you again, if you ever decide to take on private students again, please let me know. Though I live in NC, I have studied guitar a with NYC based teacher so and I am very comfortable with Zoom lessons. Thanks again.
I really loved this one!!
Hi Amiee, I've delved pretty deep into walking basslines for a bit but noticed there was something missing. Now I have pretty good formulas too the point that I can improvise them but the problem I have is certain free like syncopations. For example sometimes I notice on a four feel people will hold a long (quarter dot note usually) on the & of 4, and somtimes skip the first beat(or any other beat beat completely ) with out a note being held and finish it with it off on the next & walking to the next chord. I've also noticed somethings like on a two feel instead of (1 3 with the 2& and the 4&'s in between), people will hold the the & of the 2 or & of the4's. A lot of times I'll also withness a bunch of walking 8th notes during a two feel. The final thing that stumps me is starting on the beat using a degree other that the 1.
I know some of this sounds easy to figure out. But I'm in search of some introduction to it and was wondering if you could do a video on it. You have some of the best tutorial videos I have ever seen especially on scatting and seem to learn best from you.
Thank you in advance
-Raquel
Thanks for the great free content!
Thank you Aimee so useful and so clear.
This is amazing. THANK YOU.
Brilliant! ❤
Very nice tutorial. Thanks!
So good! Thankyou!
What a great formula!
Awesome! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you, very well explained
So great
OMG how'd you know that I was working on WBL ... you are amazing.
I wouldn't of used the term Leading Tone, I would call it an Approach Note. Calling it an Approach notes is more description of what it's doing, I played bass in younger days and before I even knew names for things I learned that I could setup a chord change by play a note a half-step above or below it. One of the benefits of playing lots of Blues jams as a kid discovering approach notes and developing a feel for where to put them. Another lesson learned from bass that can transfer in lots of way is... Chord tones on strong beats and dam near anything on weak beats. Which is why approach notes work.
Cool lesson and another bass player loses their gig, you're mean.
Great video. The A7 in the beginning is technically not in A major. It is in D major, but this doesn't affect your system since you aren't going to play 7th of the chord except as a sharp 7th leading tone. You might like to see my very crude Jazz tuba lessons. I made it for training classical tuba players to play in my Dixieland band. Just type in Jazz Tuba Lessons.
This is so cool, thanks!
The truth is, your videos are too advanced for me. I'm an old dude who always wanted to play but never learned. Now I flit around TH-cam looking for a magic formula - your walking bass is pretty good - but I'm afraid that if you didn't put in ten years when you were young ... game over. Still, you do have a gorgeous voice. Break a leg, kiddo.
Hi Aimee. Loved your video, this truly is magical and a light bulb moment for me. by any chance, Do you have a magic formula for left hand fingering these bass lines? Also, do you ever use a descending bass line between chords? Thank you!
I really like these types of videos (I really like all of your video). I would really like to do walking bass lines. Time to practice.
Hey Aimee, any tips on walking where the tune is more modal and the harmony stays relatively constant for long periods of time?
I.e. So What, Impressions, Passion Dance, etc.
I find myself trying to walk with my left hand and consistently at a loss for stuff to do that doesn't involve repeating the same pattern over and over ad nauseam.
Also, I just wanna say, I loved the video and got a lot out of it. Your lessons are an amazing gift to this world and for self-studying jazz pianists like me.
Spread out the notes in that case. 1,5,9,5,1,5,10, 5 is nice. 1,2,3,5 works too
Aimee's videos are great, and I'm enjoying this too. Her first example works well, but a scale note from above is good too. I'm saying that the B natural works fine as beat 4 in the first example, and adds a bit of light relief from that dark chromaticism linking many chords. I'd probably play CGCBA..to begin with.
How high the line can be depends on the other instrumentation. I've heard Nat King Cole playing basslines very low, and driving a whole band when the bass player was not on the recording. Piano LH basslines soon gets lost in the mix if they're playing high against drums or horns, but might be fine in solo piano playing or with just a singer. The best keyboard bass lines are played with both hands, because you can "skip" more and throw the ball back and forth. This is good to know when you're making a backing track.
Also guys, if in doubt, record the backing track bassline a little deeper and louder than seems necessary, because real bass notes are felt too, and you don't have that advantage. It's terrible when you lose the prerecorded bassline in the middle of a performance, simply because it doesn't cut through.
great. thank you.
I’m asking myself if this could be useful to build a base for improvise on your instrument.
I play the flugelhorn and I think that I will give it a try. Thank you Aimee.
Such fun Aimee! Think you are the first to break it all down to small bites. Thank you! I have subscribed to Nebula and now watching you lessons. Can't wait to get started. 👏
Instant fan.
It sounded better than ok... it was fantastic. I didn't know you were a singer. And you definitely are.
Genius , she's a genius :)
Thanks!
Thank you Aimee, amazing video and very useful!
Totally brilliant ⚘
Aimee you’re dope 🙏🏿🎹🔥
Great information! So very well explained.
Really cool Aimee did you ever make follow video with advanced techniques. Thanks
th-cam.com/video/Koi-XK6QeTc/w-d-xo.htmlsi=h7TOGvuW-rIZdhay
What an eternal doll thanks
Great lesson thanks :) Any suggestion for waltz time?
You can play “in one” and hold the root from beat one till the and of three and then do a leading tone to the next chord - or you can play ONE FIVE ONE (octave up) or ONE FIVE ONE (octave down) or ONE FIVE LEADING TONE or just do scale motion that takes you where you’re going. :)
Very nice voice
So helpful
Great stuff. Also your jumper is really cool. At a glance it looked like you were wearing a black dress and a white scarf which would've been very high-end jazz club haha