How to Play a Walking Bass Line (Jazz Piano Lesson)
Walking bass lines are a lovely technique that adds energy to your playing.
Instead of sustaining one note for 4 beats, the bass line comes alive and ‘walks’ to the next chord’s root note.
Traditionally, walking bass lines are played by the bass player - but if you’re playing solo jazz piano they sound equally effective played in your left hand.
In this article I’ll show you how to write a walking bass line to any song:
How to write a walking bass line
A walking bass line typically plays every quarter note (it’s like playing a simple solo in your left hand where you only have to play quarter notes).
Your goal is for the bass line to land on the root of the chord - on the first beat that the chord is played. Most chords will be played on beat 1 or beat 3 of the bar.
Once you’ve played the root of the chord, your next goal is to start ‘walking’ to the next chord’s root note - and then the next chord’s root note, and so on.
You’re always looking ahead and making your way to the next chord’s root note - which I call the ‘target note’.
Let’s take a ii-V-I in C major - our 3 chords will be D min 7 - G7 - C maj 7.
That means your 3 ‘target notes’ will be D - G - C. We have to hit each of these on the first beat that each chord is played:
IMAGE: walking bass - target notes for 2-5-1 in C maj (D - G - C)
It’s up to you which octave you want to play each root note - you can walk up or down to any chord’s root.
Which notes do you play in-between?
There are three ways you can move to the next chord’s root note:
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- Movement by Leap: Jump by leaps of a 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even an octave. When you move by leaps, make sure you play chord tones of the chord (1 3 5 7).
So if you’re playing a ii-V-I in C major, here’s how you could leap between each note:
IMAGE: walking bass 2-5-1 in C maj LEAPS - D F G B C E G B
Or you could leap in descending intervals like this:
IMAGE: walking bass 2-5-1 in C maj LEAPS decsending - D A G D C G C
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- Movement by Step: Walk up or down the notes of the scale in step.
So if you’re playing a ii-V-I in C major, you would walk up or down using the notes of C major scale:
IMAGE: walking bass 2-5-1 in C maj STEP. D E F A G F E D C D E F G A B
Of course you can walk in both directions - upwards and downwards:
IMAGE: walking bass 2-5-1 in C maj STEP. D C B A G F E D C
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- Chromatic movement: It’s also nice to use some chromatic movement from time to time. Usually this means preceding the next chord’s root note with a half-step below, or sometimes a half-step above - which often takes you outside the scale the music is in.
This brief dissonance is fine - as long as you resolve to the chord’s root note the very next beat.
Here are some walking bass lines which use chromatic movement:
IMAGES: walking bass 2-5-1 in C maj CHROMATIC
Of course, you want to use a combination of all 3 techniques - leaps, steps, and chromatic movement.
For more walking bass line ideas, I’ve notated my favorite walking bass lines which you can download for free.
Click here to download ‘Walking Bass Lines for ii-V-Is’
Walking bass lines for jazz songs
To play a walking bass line on a jazz song, you’ll have to work through the song’s chords slowly and try out different patterns. Write down your walking bass line as you compose it, and then later learn it.
Most pianists will have to do this - I wouldn’t expect many pianists to improvise a walking bass line on the spot.
That said, it’s also useful to memorize several walking bass line patterns for the ii-V-I progression, and to have practiced these through all 12 keys.
I have 3 or 4 walking bass lines that I’ve memorized for the ii-V-I, and I suggest you memorize some simple patterns too. Click here to download my walking bass lines PDF (free).
Practice Tip
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- Practice writing your own walking bass lines for a ii-V-I in C major. Experiment with the three types of movement (leap, step, chromatic). Memorize your favorite walking bass lines, or download my walking bass lines sheet music here.
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- Choose 3 songs in your real book and write a walking bass line to them.
Recommended Jazz Songs: All The Things You Are, Fly Me To The Moon, Autumn Leaves, Ladybird, Satin Doll, Afternoon in Paris - and any swing song.
Free Jazz Piano Resources
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About the Author
Julian Bradley is a jazz pianist and music educator from the U.K. He has a masters degree in music from Bristol University, and has played with and composed for a variety of big bands.
Julian runs the popular Jazz Tutorial YouTube channel and writes educational jazz lessons at JazzTutorial.com
