I have been playing guitar for going on 35 years... the first four were "yep, I'm good on that one." Number five was nothing short of eureka moment for me. I can't tell you the number of times I've been confused by jazzers playing/talking blues progressions, and stumbled through parts of gigs as a result! I do know some Jazz and can do standards and cocktail bar stuff all day long, but this was the first explanation of the jazz blues that made sense to me. Can't wait to get to my guitar and explore. Thanks a ton!
It is very common in "jazzed up blues" to have the 5th or dominant chord substitute with the 2nd interval. As an example, in the key of A the E7 chord is replaced by Bminor. Sometimes,the 4th chord, the D7 in key of A, is moved up a half step for the 6th bar - D7 for 5th bar and Eflat for 6th bar then back to A7 the tonic. You hear this one a lot too. This is a flatted 5th structure. When covering this eflat half diminished chord, the 5th needs to be flattened or diminshed half a step to stay in harmony - Eflat and its flattened 5th which is the A note, conveniently the key of the song. There is a lot of ambiguity in the blues. The mixing of minor and major, you can easily go chromatic and use "wrong notes" as passing tones. I love to hear a good blues soloist go from playing some sweet diatonic phrasing to a pentatonic phrase. I hope this isn't confusing.
I'd also add - note all the non-standard blues that come up regularly at your local jam and learn them! I went to our local jam only intending to do three tracks I know well enough (I do vocals as well as bass) but ended up on bass for over an hour. Most of the variations in your video came up, but I found the Allman Bros. version of 'Stormy Monday', which I'd never played before, a bit of a struggle to play by ear!
I’ll never forget when me and my teenage Zep-head buddies attempted to jam on a slow blues with a jazz guitar player. We had no idea what he was doing, and tried to correct him. Turns out we were all wrong at the moment!
Haha! Not necessarily 'wrong', but it sounds like you guys were definitely on different pages of the same book. Or to use a different analogy, you were speaking the same language, but wildly different dialects.
Luke this is great, I can play along and hear the notes well enough by ear and enjoy it BUT need to go back a stage to understand the number system you're using and the chord descriptions. Can you point me in the right direction please - a link to an earlier lesson maybe ?
No worries Pete - try these for a broad-ish overview of the number system: th-cam.com/video/sVTiW4dC5NU/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/aRsfnSlCiuM/w-d-xo.html Let me know if you have any questions. I’m always happy to help.
I cover this exact kind of thing in a different video all about turnarounds and walk ups. That video is right here: th-cam.com/video/1OgfEOHa8-I/w-d-xo.html
Good stuff and approach which makes sense to my learning style. do you have the tab for the 5th trap the one that is Jazz oriented? I want to learn that type of walking bass style. I know the basic 1 4 5 rock style boogie walks.
I don’t have a tab for that one @paul reid, since it was just improvised, but if you want more of that type of bass line, I have one video called 5 Walking Bass Line Formulas That Work Every Time. Here’s the link: th-cam.com/video/ImswmkN-y_c/w-d-xo.html I hope it’s helpful!
@@BecomeABassist Thanks for the response. nice walk for just improvising that's what I hope to get to. I have put in my email on all your lessons and for the book but I haven't received any email from in return. Are you still sending the book and other info? Thanks
A lot of the time it is, or it'll be a 7#9 chord which would mean it uses the major 3rd in addition to the minor 3rd. I can't think of an example of a minor blues that uses a minor 5-chord off the top of my head, but I'm sure they're around.
Luke from Become A Bassist #3 is technically not a major V but a dominant V. Sharp 9 is considered as a colour extension or alter in jazz/blues context so I don't think you can functionally call it minor 3rd. Most music uses dominant V even in minor key ( harmonic minor) for more satisfying resolution to the i chord due to the stepwise movements ( g# to a and b to c in this key).
Hey @toolzroolz - I'm not sure if you saw in the video, but the V-chord in trap #3 was notated as a dominant chord, not a major triad, although a major triad would have pretty much the same effect. And you're technically right that a #9 is different to a minor third, but the difference is largely a semantic one. The distance from an E to a G in an E7#9 chord is still a minor third, even if it doesn't function like one.
Ah ok. The problem isn’t that 99% of people making bass videos are all doing the same thing wrong. The problem is you’re listening on a device that can't physically reproduce those low frequencies. Have you tried using headphones or plugging into a speaker system?
@@BecomeABassist Well said, Luke. I can;t stand it when people whip out their damn smart phone and ask me to "listen to this killer tune!:. I tell them to not even bother, because it sounds like ASS !!!!!! And nearly everyone is so addicted and infatuated with these stupid smart phones, they just don't get it !!! I am sick of the friggin; things !!! (WHEW! Sorry, rant over !! Great video, BTW! I saved it for later viewing).
![5 Ways To Get Through A Blues Solo On Bass [Blues Bass Lesson - Improv]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/UNzk80yNinQ/mqdefault.jpg)
![5 Ways To Get Through A Blues Solo On Bass [Blues Bass Lesson - Improv]](/img/tr.png)
I have been playing guitar for going on 35 years... the first four were "yep, I'm good on that one." Number five was nothing short of eureka moment for me. I can't tell you the number of times I've been confused by jazzers playing/talking blues progressions, and stumbled through parts of gigs as a result! I do know some Jazz and can do standards and cocktail bar stuff all day long, but this was the first explanation of the jazz blues that made sense to me. Can't wait to get to my guitar and explore. Thanks a ton!
It is very common in "jazzed up blues" to have the 5th or dominant chord substitute with the 2nd interval. As an example, in the key of A the E7 chord is replaced by Bminor. Sometimes,the 4th chord, the D7 in key of A, is moved up a half step for the 6th bar - D7 for 5th bar and Eflat for 6th bar then back to A7 the tonic. You hear this one a lot too. This is a flatted 5th structure. When covering this eflat half diminished chord, the 5th needs to be flattened or diminshed half a step to stay in harmony - Eflat and its flattened 5th which is the A note, conveniently the key of the song. There is a lot of ambiguity in the blues. The mixing of minor and major, you can easily go chromatic and use "wrong notes" as passing tones. I love to hear a good blues soloist go from playing some sweet diatonic phrasing to a pentatonic phrase. I hope this isn't confusing.
I'd also add - note all the non-standard blues that come up regularly at your local jam and learn them!
I went to our local jam only intending to do three tracks I know well enough (I do vocals as well as bass) but ended up on bass for over an hour. Most of the variations in your video came up, but I found the Allman Bros. version of 'Stormy Monday', which I'd never played before, a bit of a struggle to play by ear!
I always look for that occasional glimpse of Luke's dog's tail at the bottom of the screen 🙂
Great stuff!! I wish I could see your left hand better when chart is up.
Nice video thanks for taking the time
To make it
No worries at all GlenGH - I hope it helps!
Cool video. Especially that final jazz blues progression. Cheers.
I’ll never forget when me and my teenage Zep-head buddies attempted to jam on a slow blues with a jazz guitar player. We had no idea what he was doing, and tried to correct him. Turns out we were all wrong at the moment!
Haha! Not necessarily 'wrong', but it sounds like you guys were definitely on different pages of the same book. Or to use a different analogy, you were speaking the same language, but wildly different dialects.
@@BecomeABassist That’s for sure!
Luke this is great, I can play along and hear the notes well enough by ear and enjoy it BUT need to go back a stage to understand the number system you're using and the chord descriptions. Can you point me in the right direction please - a link to an earlier lesson maybe ?
No worries Pete - try these for a broad-ish overview of the number system:
th-cam.com/video/sVTiW4dC5NU/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/aRsfnSlCiuM/w-d-xo.html
Let me know if you have any questions. I’m always happy to help.
Thank you 😊 very much Luke 😊
Not playing with jazz musicians is ALWAYS good advice, LOL!!!
Unless you want to get your feelings hurt
Thank you Luke
Very useful stuff; specially the jazz one.
Glad you think so Dan!
Nice Luke. Concise not verbose....straight ahead. Heh heh...the Jazzer in me.
Luke, Thanks for this (and others) keep 'em comin'.
Those Jazz guys be crazy!
Once again - an insanely helpful video, Luke
I had so many “ah ha” moments I kept going back
Awesome @Mark Langan - glad it helped!
What about going to to the 5 chord in bar 12 which is extremely common?
I cover this exact kind of thing in a different video all about turnarounds and walk ups. That video is right here: th-cam.com/video/1OgfEOHa8-I/w-d-xo.html
Great lesson! Thank you
Good stuff and approach which makes sense to my learning style. do you have the tab for the 5th trap the one that is Jazz oriented? I want to learn that type of walking bass style. I know the basic 1 4 5 rock style boogie walks.
I don’t have a tab for that one @paul reid, since it was just improvised, but if you want more of that type of bass line, I have one video called 5 Walking Bass Line Formulas That Work Every Time. Here’s the link: th-cam.com/video/ImswmkN-y_c/w-d-xo.html
I hope it’s helpful!
@@BecomeABassist Thanks for the response. nice walk for just improvising that's what I hope to get to. I have put in my email on all your lessons and for the book but I haven't received any email from in return. Are you still sending the book and other info? Thanks
BEAUTIFUL.
Very nice. Thanks
🎩🎸🎶...Big "Thanks
🎩🎸🎶..Best Regards From Denmark🇩🇰
As always, Luke, great lesson. Thanks
Cheers Terry - glad you liked it!
Good basic lesson, but I wouldn’t call these 5 “traps” they’re more like alternatives or variations of the basic 12 bar formula. Imho of course 😎
In the descripton he explains the trap is actually ignoring these variations
Thank you.
nice to see your dog at 2:48
Arnie's always invading the lessons. I'm pretty sure he wants to be famous.
Useful..Thanks Luke..!
No worries Jeffrey! Thanks for checking it out.
since the chords are dominate(major 3rd) Why does the blues scale have a minor 3rd?
Awesome!
Terrific!!
Thanks so much for watching Daniel - I really appreciate it.
Another secret unlocked! Thanks Luke!
Trap #3 the V is major during a minor blues?
A lot of the time it is, or it'll be a 7#9 chord which would mean it uses the major 3rd in addition to the minor 3rd. I can't think of an example of a minor blues that uses a minor 5-chord off the top of my head, but I'm sure they're around.
Luke from Become A Bassist #3 is technically not a major V but a dominant V. Sharp 9 is considered as a colour extension or alter in jazz/blues context so I don't think you can functionally call it minor 3rd.
Most music uses dominant V even in minor key ( harmonic minor) for more satisfying resolution to the i chord due to the stepwise movements ( g# to a and b to c in this key).
Hey @toolzroolz - I'm not sure if you saw in the video, but the V-chord in trap #3 was notated as a dominant chord, not a major triad, although a major triad would have pretty much the same effect.
And you're technically right that a #9 is different to a minor third, but the difference is largely a semantic one. The distance from an E to a G in an E7#9 chord is still a minor third, even if it doesn't function like one.
Hidden trap - the 8 bar blues!
🎩🎸🎶...👍👍👍👍
As with 99% of bass videos, the music you're playing with is so loud I can't tell what the hell you're doing because I can barely hear the bass.
What are you watching on William?
@@BecomeABassist On my phone.
Ah ok. The problem isn’t that 99% of people making bass videos are all doing the same thing wrong. The problem is you’re listening on a device that can't physically reproduce those low frequencies. Have you tried using headphones or plugging into a speaker system?
@@BecomeABassist Well said, Luke. I can;t stand it when people whip out their damn smart phone and ask me to "listen to this killer tune!:. I tell them to not even bother, because it sounds like ASS !!!!!! And nearly everyone is so addicted and infatuated with these stupid smart phones, they just don't get it !!! I am sick of the friggin; things !!!
(WHEW! Sorry, rant over !! Great video, BTW! I saved it for later viewing).
Fabulous, thanks for your lesson.