Walking Bass Line Theory Basics

This video is the seventh in a series of jazz instructional videos featuring Chris Fitzgerald, assistant professor of music theory and jazz bass at the University of Louisville School of Music. This installment covers a number of issues related to walking bass line construction. Each topic is indexed by a video time marker below for ease of reference. Future installments will cover various topics including an ongoing series of videos on walking bass line construction, thumb position basics, tune learning strategy, melodic soloing, and more. For more information and bass-related content including articles, sound files, and videos, please visit chrisfitzgeraldmusic.com .

Due to the length of this video (42 minutes), it has been indexed on screen by topic so that specific topics can be more easily found. Clicking on the video timestamp beside each topic below will take you directly to that spot in the video. The sequence of events and topics in the video is as follows:

0:00 Walking bass line audio intro (Rhythm Changes at 308)
0:53 Spoken introduction
4:10 Basic terms, Target/Approach line building concepts
11:47 Non Stepwise Approach Notes
13:04 Ex. 7 (arpeggiated blues line)
13:57 Ex. 8 (arpeggiated boogie woogie line)
15:56 Stepwise Approach Notes (General)
17:00 Diatonic Stepwise Approach Notes (General)
19:33 Rhythm Changes Examples begin
20:36 Ex. 10 (Rhythm Changes 2 feel)
22:00 Ex. 11 (Rhythm Changes diatonic approach from above)
23:40 Ex. 12 (Rhythm Changes diatonic approach from below)
25:45 Ex. 13 (Rhythm Changes diatonic approach, mixed)
26:20 Chromatic Stepwise Approach Notes (General)
29:40 Ex. 14 (Chromatic approach from above)
31:40 Ex. 15 (Chromatic approach from below)
34:50 Ex. 16 (Chromatic approach, mixed)
37:50 Ex. 17 (Diatonic and Chromatic approach mixed)
39:35 Spoken conclusion and looking ahead