walking bass
Jazz low-end movement
A walking bass is a bass line that moves steadily through a chord progression, typically one note per beat, creating a sense of forward motion.
The technique is fundamental to jazz and blues, where the bassist "walks" up and down scales and arpeggios rather than holding sustained notes: The pianist laid down chords while the upright played a walking bass.
Vertical or morally sound
- contrabassLargest bowed string instrument
- basslineLow-register musical foundation
- chord progressionsSequence of harmonies
- bebopFast, complex jazz style
hard bop · cool jazz · swing · pizzicato · arco · comping · soloing · jazz standard
Arterial blood throb
- swingSuspended recreational seat
- feelPerceive by touch
- momentumProduct of mass, velocity
- driveOperate a vehicle
bounce · pocket · lock-in · propulsion · forward motion · beat · flow · syncopation
Randomize by mixing
- boogie-woogieDriving bass, freewheeling treble
- ChicagoMajor Illinois metropolis
- deltaSymbol denoting variation
- pentatonicScale of five tones
roadhouse · juke joint · B.B. King · Muddy Waters · electric blues · Texas blues · rhythm section · blues progression
upright
Vertical or morally sound
- contrabassLargest bowed string instrument
- basslineLow-register musical foundation
- chord progressionsSequence of harmonies
bebop · hard bop · cool jazz · swing · pizzicato · arco · comping · soloing · jazz standard · Charles Mingus
pulse
Arterial blood throb
drive · bounce · pocket · lock-in · propulsion · forward motion · beat · flow · syncopation · subdivision
shuffle
Randomize by mixing
- boogie-woogieDriving bass, freewheeling treble
- ChicagoMajor Illinois metropolis
- deltaSymbol denoting variation
pentatonic · roadhouse · juke joint · B.B. King · Muddy Waters · electric blues · Texas blues · rhythm section · blues progression · turnaround
fingering
Note-playing hand technique
- pluckingRemoving by tugging
- frettingAnxious rumination or surface wear
- arpeggiosChord notes played individually
enclosure · dynamics · muting · sustain · intonation
- BluesB.B. King, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, twelve bar blues, delta blues
- jazzbebop, swing era, hard bop, soul jazz, cool jazz
- jazz bandsjazz band, big band, swing band, combo, ensemble
- Jazz Showsjazz festival, jazz club, bebop, saxophone, trumpet
- jazz slangaxe, cat, chops, gig, lick
- playing techniquespicking, arpeggiated, fingerpicking, spiccato, block chords