Walking bass
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/* Examples */ {{audio|Twelve bar boogie-woogie blues in C.mid|Play in C major}}
In [[popular music]], a '''walking bass''' is a [[bassline|bass accompaniment]] generally consisting of [[syncopation|unsyncopated]] [[musical notation|notes]] of equal value, usually [[quarter note]]s (known in jazz as a "four feel"). Walking basslines use a mixture of [[Musical scale|scale]] tones, [[arpeggio]]s, and [[passing tone]]s to outline the [[chord progression]] of a song or tune, often with a melodic shape that alternately rises and falls in pitch over several bars.
Walking basslines are usually performed on the [[double bass]] or the [[bass guitar|electric bass]], but they can also be performed using the low register of a [[piano]], [[Hammond organ]], or other instruments. While walking bass lines are most commonly associated with jazz and blues, they are also used in [[Rock music|rock]], [[rockabilly]], [[ska]], [[R&B]], [[gospel music|gospel]], [[Latin music|latin]], [[Country music|country]], and many other genres (Friedland 1995, p.4).
== Examples ==
Many [[boogie-woogie bass]]lines are walking bass lines:
[[Image:Typical boogie woogie bass.png|550px|Typical boogie woogie walking bassline]]
:{{audio|Twelve bar boogie-woogie blues in C.mid|Play in C major}}
Walking bass often moves in [[step]]wise (scalar) motion to successive [[chord root]]s, such as often in [[country music]]:
[[Image:Walking bass I-IV.PNG|550px|Walking bass I-IV]]
In this example, the last two quarter notes of the second measure, D and E, "walk" up from the first quarter note in that measure, C, to the first note of the third measure, F (C and F are the roots of the chords in the first through second and third through fourth measures, respectively).
In both cases, "walking" refers both to the steady [[duple]] rhythm (one step after the other) and to the strong directional motion created (ibid); in the examples above, from C to F and back in the second, and from root to seventh and back in the first.
==See also==
* [[Bass run]], a short instrumental break or fill for the bass instrument (or instruments)
==Source==
*Friedland, Ed (1995). ''Building Walking Bass Lines''. ISBN 0-7935-4204-9.
==External links==
*{{PDFlink|[http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/Jazz/Improv/219/244BassLinesF.pdf Bass Lines] |25.1 [[Kibibyte|KiB]]<!-- application/pdf, 25737 bytes -->}} - 244 million bass lines in F
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttpeVdSYTs[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sttpeVdSYTs] An audio/video example of a walking bass line played on electric bass guitar, created specifically to accompany this Wikipedia entry (GFDL/Creative Commons) by Dave Muscato, bassist of Treasure Junkie, for information purposes only.
[[Category:Accompaniment]]
[[Category:Musical techniques]]
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[[cs:Kráčející bas]]
[[de:Walking Bass]]
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[[he:בס מהלך]]
[[nl:Lopende bas]]
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[[uk:Блукаючий бас]]