Things You'll Need:
- Bass guitar
- Warmed-up hands
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Step 1
Make sure that your hands are warmed up. Get out that bass and get ready to move.
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Step 2
We'll use a twelve-bar progression in E. Each chord in the progression will have a different waling line underneath it. If you don't know what the twelve-bar progression is, then here's a brief explanation. Start on the I chord, in this case E. The E will be played for four bars. Next, move to the IV (A) chord for two bars. Move back to the I chord for two more bars, then up to the V (B)chord for one bar, down to the IV (A) chord for one bar, then to the I (E) chord for two bars.
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Step 3
This is the tab for the first four bars of a walking blues bass line in E:G---------------------------------------------------------------D---------------------------------------------------------------A-------2-4-5-4-2---------2-4-5-4-2----------------------E--0-4--------------4-0-4---------------4-0------------------
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Step 4
Then the chord shifts to A for two bars, as does the bass line:G--------------------------------------------------------------------D-------2-4-5-4-2-----------------------------------------------------A--0-4---------------4-0----------------------------------------------------E----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Step 5
Back to the E for two bars:G-------------------------D-------------------------A-------2-4-5-4-2------E--0-4--------------4-0-
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Step 6
Now for the next two bars, which are under the B and A chords:G---------2------------------------------------------------------D----1-4----------2-5-----------------------------------------------A--2----------0-4--------------------------------E-----------------------------------------------------
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Step 7
Ending with two bars on E:G--------------------------D--------------------------A-------2-4-5-4-2-------E--0-4--------------4-0--
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Step 8
This is just a basic explanation of a walking blues bass line in E. This progression can be transposed up or down and played essentially the same way. It's a simple trick that you'll hear on many blues and early rock and roll recordings.








