Scales and chords for the upright bass desert bluegrass. As an electric bass guitar player, im finding carter s book ear opening, mostly because it concentrates mostly on bass lines using a single hand position half position near the nut. I am not sure when to emphasize the chord tones in 34 though. Ron carter first approaches the construction of jazz bass lines by applying chord tones to a standard 12bar blues. Ron carter building jazz bass lines linkedin slideshare. Try use combinations of tricks in this tutorial to add a real boost to your bass lines. The bass line descends the scale and lands on the root of the next chord. Recorded in 1965 for motowns bustling tamla label, here jamerson makes the bass swing as much as the sax. Index 1 the boss james brown 2 fell in love with a boy joss stone 3 whats the buzz jcs soundtrack 4 for what its worth east harlem voices 5 lets get it on marvin gaye 6 do your thing marion gaines singers. Pickups are also mounted to the body and work like little microphones that pick up the sound from the strings. The bass note of the chord is the most important note and will usually be played on the first beat of the bar or where the chord changes. In this bookonline audio access pack, bass legend ron carter illustrates step by step the basic concepts of creating bass lines. Hopefully this shows with just a few simple techniques, how a boring set of chords such as c, f, g, a minor, can be spiced up to something quite different mainly because of the choice of bass notes. A compendium of techniques for great jazz bass lines including playalong cd featuring ron carter bass builders paperback december 1, 1998 by ron carter author visit amazons ron carter page.
A comparative analysis of three jazz bassists walking bass lines. At first glance, the bass might appear to be one of the easier parts to add to a musical arrangementafter all, the instrument only has to play one note at a time, and bass parts tend to lend themselves equally well to either performance on a real bass you know, one with actual strings, or a keyboard sampled or synth bass. Author mikko nurmis new book the art of ron carter offers a detailed look at the basslines of the great ron carter. The four strings of a bass are g, d, a, and e, from the highest pitched to the lowest pitched. The title track from jr walkers celebrated 1969 album, jamersons line manages to be both red hot and laid back. To walk bass lines on the ii v i, all we have to do is learn three different walking patterns. A c major scale is just the natural notes from c to c. Building jazz bass lines like ron carter joe hubbard bass. Beats two and four are usually transition tones to get to the next chord. An easytouse, stepbystep approach to basic theory is given as a foundation, and then the essential stylesand many styles within each styleare explored from the bass point of view. In this bookonline audio access pack, bass legend ron carter illustrates stepby step the basic concepts of creating bass lines.
Or if you are looking at the guitar neck with the head to the right and body to the left, the bottom string is g and the top string is e. Building bass lines talkingbass online bass lessons. Ron carter building jazz bass lines the juilliard store. Walking bass line theory basicspart 1by chris fitzgerald. Many jazz bass lines are created by using two different categories of notes. Anyone have some theory on building walking bass lines in 34 time. Because techno music is usually played by machines, a bass player wishing to create an accurate techno sound must play perfectly in time and be able to play with loops.
Heres a blues in a jam track you can use to practice. These bass line shapes involve the interval of a 9th above the root of the chord. I have been given a gift, reid says of his new life as a composer. Walking bass line theory basics pdf file chris fitzgerald. Building bass lines with the 9th interval video bass lesson music theory about 9th interval on bass.
How to create bass lines 5 ostinato or riff bass an ostinato is a repeated rhythmicmelodic. Strings are vertical while imaginary frets are shown horizontally. Chord symbols have been omitted purposely, for that would necessitate. Lets take a look at a little bit of music theory in order to help you understand these bass lines a little better. May 01, 2015 author mikko nurmis new book the art of ron carter offers a detailed look at the basslines of the great ron carter. The suggested fingering for the scale is to the left of the diagram. In latin, salsa music, jazz fusion, reggae, electronica, and some types of rock and metal, basslines. While reading from the book, play along with the bassist on the recording sold separately until you feel youve mastered his feel and nuances. For example, when you do steps 1, 2, or 3 above, you are creating the most basic kinds of ostinato. Download ron carter building jazz bass lines free and other lessons from our site. The following is an example of a common bass line construction when the harmonic.
These blues bass lines are like having a one chorus lick that you can rely on to always sound good when you play it. Shes joined by bassist rufus reid who has appeared on all of. Doubled notescheck out bassist charlie haden for good examples of this device. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of. Download free bossa nova bass lines pdf alfarutracker. The book is a comprehensive insight to his style on some of his recordings from the 1960s with musical examples and six fulllength transcriptions from legendary performances such as e. A compendium of techniques for great jazz bass lines including playalong cd featuring ron carter bass. A walking bass line is the most common approach to jazz bass playing. You can get a lot more musical mileage out of the basic building devices by applying these variations to your bass lines. The samples are in pdf format and require adobe acrobat reader to be installed. An underlying sense of swing and drive, with commanding bass lines and a strong sense of. The first level will be to develop bass lines using triad chord tones only and resolve to the next chord root in the most economical way i. As with techno drum patterns, techno bass lines are gen. This book teaches everything you need to know to create great bass lines.
Rolands tb303, the use of live musicians especially bass is the exception rather than the rule. A compendium of techniques for great jazz bass lines including playalong cd featuring ron carter bass builders pdf created date 10272016 9. Ron carter building jazz bass lines discussion in bassists bg started by audioripple, sep 22, 2004. James jamerson from jazz bassist to popular music icon. Jan 11, 20 base building part 1 im all out of snappy names lately, so im just going to call this base building because its centered around your everyday max sound familiar. Here is an example with the chord progression c7 f7. Ron carter building jazz bass lines bass works australia. Just like walking with your feet, tyjwalking bass line is one step after the other that takes you somewhere. The play along cd is helpful for practicing playing a fretless bass in tune. The two dots on the right of the bass clef symbol surround the line on which f pitch is written. Bass lines from chord symbols constructing bass lines from chord symbols is not only a useful skill but is regarded as essential in most forms of music outside of classical music. In the end, walking bass lines are the most simple of concepts. Creating a walking bass line is one of the primary functions of the bassist in the rhythm section of a jazz ensemble.
The only 4 types of bass lines youll ever need to create. Paul chambers played all his bebop lines with one finger only. How to play fun great sounding slap bass lines following a stepbystep system. Building jazz bass lines by carter, ron cop and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Ron carter illustrates step by step the basic concepts of creating bass lines. A bassline also known as a bass line or bass part is the term used in many styles. I use chromatic, dominant, or melodic transitions usually. The music is complicated enough to be interesting, but it is also presented in a basic way. Teach yourself to play bass guitar at your own pace. It was something i did for decades but never put it into.
I have recently begun playing with a pop artist who writes what i would call chord heavy songs. Dorian pentatonic blues bass line ideas guitar pro zip file mp3 jam track. This produces different, less formulaic walking lines compared to lines based on moveable fingerboard patterns. This video bass lesson is all about building bass lines that use the interval of a 9th. Part one of a threepart series, this book introduces music theory, scales and chords. When constructing a walking bass line, you need only to keep in mind that, when finished, you bass line should hold a melodic property.
The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the. Heres a final adaptation of our example tutorial song. That is one reason his execution of faster lines is unique in sound and feel. A compendium of techniques for great jazz bass lines including playalong cd featuring ron carter bass builders pdf bass builders. From jazz bassist to popular music icon by joshua andrew zarbo, b. Dorian pentatonic blues bass line ideas guitar pro zip file. Bass guitar now lets apply this to the bass guitar.
This is the first step in developing walking bass lines. Jazz bass line construction thelonious monk institute of jazz. All of the other parts of the bass are mounted on these three sections. Youll learn how ron carter constructs his bass lines to enhance the melodic content of his lines. A bass lin with diffnt hythms addd to th nonchod nonhamni t0ns. These are not your typical iivv tunes, and they definitely arent riffy. Scales and chords for the upright bass the following keys should be learned in the order presented. Exercise 1 demonstrates this with several examples. Latin or straight8th note bass lines can be embellished by adding an 8th note on the offbeat of beats two and four. Use these lines to get you going the right direction when you start playing a blues.
The most common target note in most jazz bass lines is the root of each chord as it occurs in the progression. The symbol of the bass clef is derived from the old german way of writing f. Are your thoughts more along the lines of staying with the base building 90% of the time and only doing strong15 when you are preparing for a meet. The bridge is the assembly that anchors the strings to the body. The bass lines in the section are for you to learn, memorize, and play in a real live playing situation. Parts of the bass a bass is made up of three main sections. Target notes are notes that must be played at a specific place and time during a chord progression bass line.
A thesis submitted to the graduate council of texas state university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of music with a major in music may 2014 committee members. The fundamentals of music are pitch and rhythm which are placed in a grid of five lines and four spaces called staff. A compendium of techniques for great jazz bass lines including playalong cd featuring ron carter bass builders at. One that can be opened with guitar pro 6, and one with guitar pro 5. The term walking is used lescribe the moving feeling that quarter notes create in the bass part. As with the double bass, which fingers you use to pluck the string makes a big difference in sound and feel. In 44 i usually hit chord tones on the first and third beats. Building bass lines with the 9th interval video bass lesson. Sequenceheres a simple scale fragment plugged into a minor blues. Quarter notes are the foundation of all music, and are the most basic note values used in modern music. The basic principle for playing latin tunes is the same as playing twobeat bass lines.
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