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Alternating bass notes in a stride blues!

yet another question! :)

when playing a blues in stride style. how would you guys alternate between bass notes? for example a blues in bb


beats 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4
      bb  d   | eb  a   | bb  ?   | bb  d
      eb  ?   | eb  a   | bb  ?   | bb  b
      c   e   | f   b   | bb  b   | f   b

first of all, does this seem logical too you? second of all, what would you play where i set the question marks?

if this isn't at all how you would do it, plz tell me how it is done! thx!

by ayolt on 12/17/2006, 13:36

There are 9 comments, leave a comment.

ah my figure is a bit messed up, i think yoú all get it though!

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by ayolt on 12/17/2006, 13:37

makes me think of lennie tristano - i think he did a lot of stuff where he'd be playing walking bass lines using just the 4th and 5th fingers of his left hand and playing chords with the other three fingers. his playing's not very human either!

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by jwv76 on 12/18/2006, 14:02

remember that stride came before bebop, and walking bass lines(although, in reality, when you hit the bass notes in stride, you are playing a walking bass line). i would avoid approaching the next chord by a half step above(like the b going to bb). this will likely not stylistically fit. it can depend on the situation, but you generally play diatonic stuff, unless you are playing over a non-diatonic chord.(an example of this would be flatiiidim resolving to ii..........or abdim7 resolving to gmi7 in the key of f).

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by on 12/17/2006, 16:04

stride playing really isn't my forte, so take my advice with a grain of salt - i can play the left hand parts just fine, i just don't have enough lh/rh independance to be able to stride with my left and play a melody or solo with my right. anyway, so i'm no expert, but it seems to me that playing the leading tones in the bass line sounds just fine. it does sound a bit more like a walking bass line, kind of like a cross between walking and stride bass, kind of unusual. ayolt, remember that as an improviser you are always free to pursue what sounds good to you, that's how all of the greats develop their own original sound.

when i practice stride playing, i usually start out playing just roots in the bass with my left hand- root, chord, root, chord, sounds kinda boring, but that is the basic stride sound. then i start alternating between the root and the fifth in the left hand, so root, chord, 5th, chord, root chord, etc. you could put the 5th in all the places where you have ?'s in your example.

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by jwv76 on 12/17/2006, 17:52

bb |

good luck!

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by JHMurray on 12/17/2006, 18:09

examine the options (chord tones, chromatic approach note, 5th interval, 7th interval, etc ) and see what you like, what your hand likes, and what your ears like.

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by Jazz+ on 12/17/2006, 20:07

check out a bass technique book.

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by SolArt on 12/18/2006, 05:28

stride patterns are not always bass (b) chord (c) bass (b) chord (c).

break it up with the following patterns:

bccb

cbcb

cbbc

cbbb

bccc

there are of course many other permutations, note that if a bass note falls on the fourth beat that it's perfectly kosher to approach your target note from a half-step above.

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by 7 on 12/18/2006, 08:32

in my opinion:

bb6 /d |eb6 ab7 |bb6 edim (or gbdim) |f-7 bb7 (or e13) |

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by hepcatmonk on 12/18/2006, 09:34

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Alternating bass notes in a stride blues!

There are 9 comments, leave a comment.

by ayolt on 12/17/2006, 13:37

by jwv76 on 12/18/2006, 14:02

by on 12/17/2006, 16:04

by jwv76 on 12/17/2006, 17:52

by JHMurray on 12/17/2006, 18:09

by Jazz+ on 12/17/2006, 20:07

by SolArt on 12/18/2006, 05:28

by 7 on 12/18/2006, 08:32

by hepcatmonk on 12/18/2006, 09:34

Reply to Thread

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Alternating bass notes in a stride blues!

There are 9 comments, leave a comment.

by ayolt on 12/17/2006, 13:37

by jwv76 on 12/18/2006, 14:02

by on 12/17/2006, 16:04

by jwv76 on 12/17/2006, 17:52

by JHMurray on 12/17/2006, 18:09

by Jazz+ on 12/17/2006, 20:07

by SolArt on 12/18/2006, 05:28

by 7 on 12/18/2006, 08:32

by hepcatmonk on 12/18/2006, 09:34

Reply to Thread

Jazz Piano Notebook Series

"Latinesque"

LJP Jazz Piano Blogs

Most Recent Discussions

Articles

Top Sheetmusic Picks

Jazz piano education is cool.

Rock on. Follow your passion.

Sign In