In yesterday’s lesson we looked at how to comp with bass lines by seeing how bass lines over II-V-I’s and fit with different chords that have been investigated through this 30 day comping series.

Now that a firm grasp of comping over the II-V-I progression has been established, we can further our study of how to comp with bass lines by applying the concepts we learned from yesterday to a tune, which is in this case, a blues.

In today’s lesson we’ll be checking out a walking bass etude over a jazz/blues progression which will show you how to walk over other movements and incorperae what we learned in yeserday’s lesson.

Things to Notice in this Blues

II-V-I example in bars 9-10 from yesterday’s example

Use of chromatic passing tones down a half step in bar 11

Use of chromatic passing tones up a half step in bar 12

Only use of two chords being played in one bar are in bars 7 and 12

Once you have learnt this progression, pick out some of your favorite movements and apply them to different tunes and progressions that you know. Play the etude in different in a few different keys, but be aware that because of how the guitar works, this etude won’t work as well in every key. What are some of your favoritre progressions and tunes to comp with bass lines? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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