My Magic Formula - Walking Bass Lines For Piano

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One of the things that gives jazz it’s unique feel and sound is a walking bass line. Follow this simple formula of mine to be able to create your own bass lines with your left hand and really start to sound like a swinging pianist.
0:00 Intro
1:46 What You Need To Know To Begin
2:34 When The Chord Lasts One Bar
6:26 When The Chord Lasts 1/2 A Bar
8:07 When The Chord Lasts 2 Bars
9:12 Arpeggio Triplet Drop
11:17 Demonstration
11:51 Best Deal On The Internet - CuriosityStream/Nebula for $14.79
13:22 Conclusion
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[@williambunter3311]

Just listening to those few bars at the beginning, of you singing 'Have you met Miss Jones?', and the walking bass with it, gave me so much pleasure that I had to pause the video and write this. You have a gorgeous voice, Aimee, and are a wonderful pianist. Thank you for posting. Now back to the rest of the video!

[@jhawk3547]

Ditto to what he said!!! And I am a bass line freak -- IMO it dictates & leads the song.

[@connshawnery6489]

Agreed, she killed on that one.

[@danielmccauley3619]

thirsty

[@DavidWeinbergGG]

Yes, the best teacher. Great voice too!

[@alanbarnett718]

What a pity there isn't a "love" button on KZbin! I've been trying to figure out walking bass for years, couldn't understand why it didn't feel right. That leading note makes all the difference! ♥️

[@blow-by-blow-trumpet]

Everyone should learn to play walking bass lines whatever the instrument - it really gets you to the root of the harmony (pardon the pun). Great video Amiee. I do love watching your content.

[@bman3977]

This video couldn’t have come a better time! Working on a project that needs a walking bass line and you answered my prayers 🤩

[@newyorkfilharmonik110]

Aimee's a Saint! It's what she does!

[@davidgaughran5450]

I'm a guitarist and I found this lesson really helpful.

[@1950francesca]

Great lesson! I always thought of walking bass as complicated and have been in avoidance mode about learning it but you've made it so clear and easy. Thanks! Now off to the piano to give it a try....

[@WoodyGamesUK]

I do basically the same, but sometimes I play 1-3-5-leading tone instead of 1-2-3-leading tone. Another variation I do is sometimes I go down instead of up, so it would be typically (going down) 1-7-5-leading tone. I really like the triplets that you're showing, I'll try it.

[@arthurrosch5378]

Aimee, my mentor was the recently passed Jessica Jennifer Williams. Let me pull your coat about her! She had such dexterity and could lay out elaborate walking bass lines to sound like several pianists at once. I've been playing piano for a couple of years and (I know, I know) I want to sound like that! I'm ready for this video!

[@josefernandomosquera3267]

one of the most difficult things playing bass and sing.......you made Easy the way you play AND the way you teach great and thanks

[@BirdYoumans]

So glad to have discovered you again. I started out playing keys at about 5 but fell in love with bass in my teen years and played electric bass in rock bands for about 6 years. But a situation arose in one of my bands where I started playing keyboard bass and keys. I found that pedaling for the right hand did not work for the bass so I started using a synth for bass which then allowed me to pedal for the upper keys, but since bass does sort of keep moving, it required no pedal, just correct fingering. It worked great once I got the independence worked out. But rock and country and blues to some extent are different from jazz and your lesson here is quite interesting. Rock, though it can have a bit of swing at times, does not swing like jazz does. Blues and jazz "cross pollinate" a bit more in the swing dept, but still are different to some extent. But love this lesson. This old dog (77) will have to try some new tricks here lol! And the way you broke it down makes perfect sense. Thank you!

[@vivfaydonahue687]

Enjoyed Birdyoumans longer comments .. Wouldn't it be wonderful to get your fans together, hang out and discuss life and music!

[@antunes6770]

I've always wondered how to approach walking bass lines on the piano, this is really cool and useful! Thank you A LOT for sharing this! :D

[@jzzgrl3]

Thank you so much Aimee for this short and sweet walking bass lesson. It’s basic and simple without being boring! A great start for someone who wants to accompany themselves on the piano and also solo with their RH. Thanks so much for all you do for jazz aficionados :-)

[@joesauvage1165]

This is so awesome. Deepest thanks Aimee!

[@REALsandwitchlotter]

This is a great lesson- simple and effective-many thanks Aimee

[@stevenmartin8121]

Thank you for teaching me this Aimee. You rock!

[@andreac5306]

Hi Aimee, you are not only an amazing and talented musician, but also a generous and giving person. This is simply great stuff and you are sharing with your followers and the world free of charge! Wish you and your family a wonderful 2022! Best wishes from Hong Kong!

[@francesnustedt9036]

I knew I had to move into understanding baselines and walking bass. But nothing I have seen has made it so clear and straightforward to learn as you. Thank-you so very much. I'm sticking with your lessons for a while yet!

[@alanwheeler2530]

Thank you Aimee so useful and so clear.

[@arnellbertumen6047]

Thank you Amy for sharing this lesson. I’ve been wanting to learn the Pattern to doing a Bass Line. And, you explained this in the clearest way possible. Proud of you ! 👍🤗💕👏

[@Hj4a]

Loving how this will help me put walking bass lines to any jazz tune. Thanks ❤️❤️

[@WhitneyJohnson]

Loved this tutorial Amy---you are a hyphenate--sing, play, teach!!!!

[@ludens5129]

Wow you pretty much fixed the problem I've been with having with writing smooth basslines. Thanks Aimee, I'll try applying what I learned here very soon.

[@comtesseluar24]

Aimee, thank you so much!!! This video is wonderful. You are a wonderful musician and a wonderful teacher. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😍😍😍😊😊😊

[@thesaxplace]

Very cool video. I'm not a piano player but I'm going to try this. I love walking bass and I don't see people doing it enough. Thanks for unlocking some of the mystery here.

[@cjbankston]

Excellent video. Your technique on how to play walking bassline on the piano has open up doors for me giving me new motivation. I'm own my way right now to blow the dust off my piano and start practicing your technique. Thanks a million Aimee.

[@pablors6718]

I really loved this one!!

[@edwardyoung7280]

Nice straight forward approach. Should be able to remember that. Sounds lovely too. Thank you!

[@peterjacobs2012]

Superb. Thank you Aimee.

[@andrewwright6893]

Brilliant lesson. Cheers

[@NomeDeArte]

Thank you Aimee, amazing video and very useful!

[@CharlieMyers-xk9ot]

very Nice! I love your tutorials Thank you Aimee!

[@electriglider]

Aimee, you are incredible and you sound so good then and now. So grateful that you share your experience so people like me can benefit and connect with the music. I hope your kindness is returned to you exponentially. 😊

[@juandelcastillo4115]

Great information! So very well explained.

[@patrickd8820]

This is amazing. THANK YOU.

[@coltonshanley1921]

Frickin awesome I’ve needed this .

[@robertnewell5057]

Thanks, Aimee. That's sorted out my approach in the future to basslines to melodies and bassline comping to vocals on guitar in under 1/4 hour! Brilliant.

[@DrRussInYourPocket]

Great tips, thanks Aimee!

[@SlapAlice]

So good! Thankyou!

[@johnrodgers4773]

Thanks for this expansion on your previous walking bass material, Aimee. Now to take a walk through the Real Book

[@hayleycomet8029]

This is so cool, thanks!

[@Justin_the_Analog_IC_architect]

Very nice tutorial. Thanks!

[@davul1966]

Thank you, very well explained

[@fusion-music]

This deserves a lit more appreciation than it has so far. I don't play piano, but tye knowledge is useful for guitar.

[@nickk8416]

Amy thanks so much. This has really helped me. It is simple! Best regards.

[@velvetknight780]

I was just trying to work out bass lines for my sax playing. Looking on the internet, then this. You must be reading my mind! lol thank you for this.

[@dylancastle7649]

Thanks for the great free content!

[@QuitoWashington]

I have subscribed, I have the bell, all because this is an amazing video, thank you! Big thank you from Australia!

[@quailstudios]

This is awesome Aimee. Love it! I've never really studied Jazz very much so this walking base line idea is great for me.

[@LouisL1963]

Good lesson Aimee, I remember John Goldsby teaching the 1,2,3,5 way of approaching walking bass lines when I attended a Jamey Aebersold jazz camp here in the UK in 2003. Simple yet effective 👌

[@keithcowen5220]

So great

[@simonezanella5953]

You can't imagine how I've improved my jazz piano skills after I started using your tips. Thank you very much! And by the way, do you have any plans for a new livestream?

[@AimeeNolte]

If you follow me on all the social medias…I always try and announce it there! Thanks Simone.

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

Merci for this. I need to stick to basics to get my chops for now.

[@johntrojan9653]

Great Mrs Nolte. GREAT 👍👍👍

[@jonjeziorski5354]

Holy crap this was this a useful video! So rich with content. Thank you!!

[@kurikokaleidoscope]

Totally brilliant ⚘

[@DavidWeinbergGG]

Wonderful video. The explanation is simple and although its not that easy to do off the cuff it works great. As a flautist, I'm I always looking for new improvisational ideas and stuff to play in the background. The approach gives us folks thar can't play chords a great way to outline and feel the harmonic movement better in a jazz tune.

[@valve84]

Thanks!

[@euancameroninedinburgh8756]

Nice one!

[@UkuleleSioni]

Thanks for this great formula. I’m learning to play bass lines on my Paetzold contrabass recorder (accompanying a dobro player on swing tunes). I think this will work just fine. It’s just what I was looking for. Recorder range is F2 to F4; I mostly play in the first octave and occasionally up to as much as a fifth above (C4).

[@moogoomoogoo5990]

So helpful

[@SuzyQHorn]

Love this! As a 70+ year old guitar player who started playing bass because my bands bassist quit this is so helpful. I've played mostly rock and roll and blues, and love it, but I have struggled with jazz walking lines. Since you video I've been going through the real book and your formula works just fine on bass as well. Love you channel ❤️.

[@SnyderChips07]

Been waiting for a new video on this :-))))

[@iloverumi]

great. thank you.

[@makingmusicfun]

Hi Aimee! I've been enjoying your videos! I learned a walking bass line when I was in college that's similar. It's amazing that you put your formula together based on observations. My pattern is Root - Scale Tone - Chord Tone - Leading Tone. The variation is the opportunity make the fourth note the leading tone of the root or fifth of the next chord.

[@jreskin]

Great stuff as always! I often solve the problem (if it's a problem) of the 3 of the walkup line being the leading tone of the following chord (moving from E to A via E-F#-G#) with the 1-2-b3-3 (E-F#-G-G# in this case) trick. Not sure if you'd have any objections to that, but coming from a more 12-bar background as I do, I seem to fall back on it. Next time it comes up, though, I think I'll try the leading tone a half step above as you suggest. Thanks again for all your enjoyable and informative work!

[@cn1577]

Awesome! ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@OrelLowther]

I love it it's good

[@stevesomerdin9928]

This is a very goood lesson. I will be applying it to some gospel songs I'm working on to add bounce.

[@dessiplaer]

I really like these types of videos (I really like all of your video). I would really like to do walking bass lines. Time to practice.

[@shdgashgda]

GREAT METHOD

[@leobarrios2532]

Thank you Aimee for that wonderful lessons. I don't need any other lesson. This is enough for me. Can you zoom a little beat of your beautiful hands in the piano. I'm half blind. Thank you Aimee.

[@pheldonmajors2999]

Trombonist/lower brass to keys here. Can read block charts though.. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@seamus9305]

Instant fan.

[@boboscurse4130]

This was really helpful for me. I've always been intimidated by walking bass.

[@georgehiggins1320]

Woah, congrats on the Curiosity Stream sponsorship!

[@BAwesomeDesign]

I dig this kind of learning... pieces of vocabulary--full phrases.

[@joshcharlat850]

Aimee, YOU're hip!!! I don't play piano. However, this system you've shared is a nice road map for anyone who wants to know how to create a walking bass line. I'll have to save this one!! Thank you very much. My instrument...saxophone.

[@claude5125]

Really simple, just add different rythmn and it’s perfect for me. I just want to say thanks again to facilitate my progression at the piano….

[@zazoomatt]

Wow Fire Starter

[@collinoliver5713]

Aimee you’re dope 🙏🏿🎹🔥

[@brendaboykin3281]

Brava, Maestra 🌹🌹🌹

[@spirosmoutsatsos4590]

What an eternal doll thanks

[@bshilkitus]

Aimee, you are the greatest piano teacher ever. I will ask you again, if you ever decide to take on private students again, please let me know. Though I live in NC, I have studied guitar a with NYC based teacher so and I am very comfortable with Zoom lessons. Thanks again.

[@quailstudios]

This is cool but it’s harder than it seems at first. I’m going to have to work on it!

[@helenstewart2917]

Very nice voice

[@mitchelledels9762]

Congradulations Aimee glad you are working at Open Studio

[@dartek14]

OMG how'd you know that I was working on WBL ... you are amazing.

[@thomp9054]

Dang...that secret sauce! Thanks for sharing!

[@irt1971]

Great stuff! Have you got a lesson or formula for that nice comping you do in the right hand?

[@Zoco101]

Aimee's videos are great, and I'm enjoying this too. Her first example works well, but a scale note from above is good too. I'm saying that the B natural works fine as beat 4 in the first example, and adds a bit of light relief from that dark chromaticism linking many chords. I'd probably play CGCBA..to begin with. How high the line can be depends on the other instrumentation. I've heard Nat King Cole playing basslines very low, and driving a whole band when the bass player was not on the recording. Piano LH basslines soon gets lost in the mix if they're playing high against drums or horns, but might be fine in solo piano playing or with just a singer. The best keyboard bass lines are played with both hands, because you can "skip" more and throw the ball back and forth. This is good to know when you're making a backing track. Also guys, if in doubt, record the backing track bassline a little deeper and louder than seems necessary, because real bass notes are felt too, and you don't have that advantage. It's terrible when you lose the prerecorded bassline in the middle of a performance, simply because it doesn't cut through.

[@EllisThings]

Great stuff. Also your jumper is really cool. At a glance it looked like you were wearing a black dress and a white scarf which would've been very high-end jazz club haha

[@JohnA000]

It sounded better than ok... it was fantastic. I didn't know you were a singer. And you definitely are.

[@Lutemann]

Great video. The A7 in the beginning is technically not in A major. It is in D major, but this doesn't affect your system since you aren't going to play 7th of the chord except as a sharp 7th leading tone. You might like to see my very crude Jazz tuba lessons. I made it for training classical tuba players to play in my Dixieland band. Just type in Jazz Tuba Lessons.

[@janetgoodall6372]

Such fun Aimee! Think you are the first to break it all down to small bites. Thank you! I have subscribed to Nebula and now watching you lessons. Can't wait to get started. 👏

[@DojoOfCool]

I wouldn't of used the term Leading Tone, I would call it an Approach Note. Calling it an Approach notes is more description of what it's doing, I played bass in younger days and before I even knew names for things I learned that I could setup a chord change by play a note a half-step above or below it. One of the benefits of playing lots of Blues jams as a kid discovering approach notes and developing a feel for where to put them. Another lesson learned from bass that can transfer in lots of way is... Chord tones on strong beats and dam near anything on weak beats. Which is why approach notes work. Cool lesson and another bass player loses their gig, you're mean.

[@peterbodofsnik9429]

Wow

[@kidsguitar3]

Hi Aimee. Loved your video, this truly is magical and a light bulb moment for me. by any chance, Do you have a magic formula for left hand fingering these bass lines? Also, do you ever use a descending bass line between chords? Thank you!

[@matthewgoldberg1461]

Excellent lesson, Aimee. You forced me to crank up my bass guitar. But, why did you reveal bass players’ triplet secret to the world?

[@newyorkfilharmonik110]

Such a mathematician....my brain is going "We don't have to do all of that? Right?" LOL Nevermind my left hand! Merci beaucoup professor.

[@giovannibazzini7117]

I’m asking myself if this could be useful to build a base for improvise on your instrument. I play the flugelhorn and I think that I will give it a try. Thank you Aimee.