How to Perform Walking Bass Line Exercises

On the bass guitar, there are many different bass techniques you can use. One is walking bass lines, a type of bass accompaniment using unsyncopated notes that are of equal length. You'll need to use fingers rather than a pick. Here's how to perform walking bass line exercises.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Bass guitar

1. Imagine that you are performing a song in the key of A and that you want to transition from A up to D in your progression. To perform a walking bass line like that, you could play A, B, C, C-sharp to D.
2. Return by playing D, down to F-sharp, on the E string, G, G sharp and back to the original A. This comes from the lower side of the scale so that you are approaching A from the lower notes.
3. Put that together and notice that you use all four fingers to do this. This way you're keeping the fingers on the same frets to go from A to D. This creates a clear sound. Don't try to play each note with one finger because it would make it harder.

Tips & Warnings

• Set up some space for this activity in your basement or another room that won't annoy other household members when you practice.
• You will find walking bass lines in many boogie-woogie tunes, as well as in gospel tunes and blues progressions. You can hear guitar players perform them in several other genres of music, such as rock, Latin, and rhythm and blues.