Walking Bass Line Lesson: 5 Plug-And-Play Formulas You Can Use Right Now

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►► FREE: Get the walking bass tabs, notation, and backing track from this lesson, then take your walking bass lines to the next level with my guide to the modes →
becomeabassist.com/walking-ba...
Walking bass lines can be an absolute mystery - especially for beginners. Someone shoves a chord chart in your face and expects you to know exactly how to get through it.
In theory, it should be easy. You just have to play 4 notes per bar, right? In reality, it can be a lot trickier than it sounds.
The conventional wisdom when it comes to learning how to make your own walking bass lines usually boils down to 2 things:
#1 - Learning millions of fancy scales and arpeggios; or
#2 - Spending years transcribing existing walking lines from famous recordings
Now if you’re serious about your walking bass lines, you should absolutely do these things. There’s no substitute for putting in the work.
But what if you don’t have time to learn a million fancy scales or arpeggios? Or you don’t want to spend years transcribing walking lines? What can you do then?
Well, instead of going through all that, you can actually get started very quickly and surprisingly easily. In today’s video, I want to show you how get started with walking bass lines using 5 simple formulas.
The walking bass lines that these formulas make will definitely get you started and help you out in a pinch.
However, if you want to get serious about your walking bass lines and get them to the to the next level, then be sure to go here:
becomeabassist.com/walking-ba...
Fill out the form on that page and sign up for the Ultimate Guide To The Modes For Bass. Not only will you get the Guide, but I've also put the tabs and notation for all the lines in this lesson in there as well as the practice track from this video so you can try all of them out for yourself.
Of course, the notes in your walking lines are just one part of the equation. We haven’t even started talking about how a walking line should feel. That will have to wait for another day!
Of course if you have any questions about walking lines, just let me know in the comments below or send me a message through the site.
Good luck with the lesson and happy walking!
Cheers,
Luke

[@EliPorter456]

You put it so well! This video is probably one of the best on the internet explaining walking bass. As an internet only taught bassist, I greatly appreciate this.

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks so much Eli - I'm happy you got so much out of this lesson. And thanks for your kind words as well!

[@richardchristensen1768]

I agree Eli! I am primarily a guitar guy but am getting very serious about bass! New to Luke and feel that his lessons are in the league of Steve Stine"s lessons whom I feel is such a fantastic guitar teacher! I made a strict rule for myself when I put a bass in my hands is to think like a bassist and not like a guitarist! Luke is helping me stay in that framework!

[@Nico7274]

Eli...agreed on all counts!

[@Matthew-pm3wi]

Eli Porter I agree

[@ebenmomo4751]

@@BecomeABassist 1aaaaaa

[@jd1399]

I love that you put that Tabs and notes on screen. its hard for new players to keep replaying the same 10 sec clip trying to learn the pattern without the tabs.

[@petermandic1]

I've ben playing these 5 formulas over and over and found that by counting 1-2-3-4 as I played. it helped me see that every time I was starting on the root. This was a sea change lesson for me. Thank you Luke.

[@conartist267]

Wow, I’ve been playing guitar for 40+ years but I’m falling in love with bass thanks to your help.

[@tyhendrix7921]

Walking bass was a technique I have needed to work on in my playing for a long time. Your tutelage has made it easy for me to understand and experiment with! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@DancingMeditation]

That was surely the clearest explanation of walking bass I have seen!!! Thank you very much Luke!!!

[@naomisalama430]

That "huge ugly leap" is actually used a lot too, it's kinda cool when used sparingly. Just something one shouldn't overuse and be careful when to do it

[@dannyaustin84]

With great power, comes great responsibility 😂

[@bluesdelux123]

Thanks' Luke for sharing your musical knowledge with us great lessons.

[@richardberry5040]

thanks Luke for your great instruction. You break it down so simple. You are a great instructor. Mr.Jazz

[@elnerto3154]

from Argentina, muchas gracias por tus videos, son increiblemente instructivos.

[@robertgreen3702]

Thanks Luke, for a super lesson. You've given me the courage to finally tackle the bass.😊

[@Likeaforest]

so how it was going ? its been a year now lol

[@wingame52]

Played bass since HS (teen rockband), church gospel and always wanted to do bass walking but never could. Until seeing how you did it on this video. Now I gotta get working on it. Thank you!

[@andrewmangeni7399]

You explain things so well for beginners and make it so interesting to play bass! Thank you for this video!

[@zbigniewkarnilowicz5311]

Thank you Luke. I find your lessons very useful. What I appreciate in particular are very clear tabs and notes provided to learn from by a beginner like me..

[@michaelquillen2679]

From an old has-been bassist, a most excellent lesson! Formulas 4 and 5 are a great start to sounding like a jazz bass player.

[@rolandmccabe4679]

Wow!! As a fairly new bass player watching numerous videos on bass playing, this tutorial is one of the best!! Great job!!!

[@mazzabubu73]

Thank you so much! You are a TRUE help for beginners. Thank you again.

[@MichaelLong1]

As an intermediate guitar player I've recently purchased a bass. All these tabs are brilliant plus the scales with a bit of tweaking I'm sure I will have many sounds to play through my loop pedal 👍

[@FredIreland]

Thank you, it has been said before but to say it again this was a transformative lesson for me. It brought several elements together including an introduction to walking bass, chord integration and even simple rhythm in a simple digestible, approachable way.

[@BecomeABassist]

You're welcome Fred. Thanks for watching and thanks for the kind words as well!

[@b.clayshannon7009]

This is great; it can be adapted to other genres, too. It's the most useful lesson yet!

[@chesterburnett3466]

What a great lesson for us newbies! I love the patient, repetitive and well-explained way that you presented the material. I will definitely look for your other lessons. Thanks so much.

[@BecomeABassist]

You're welcome @Chester Burnett - I'm happy the lesson worked well for you! That's always great to hear.

[@eroc4686]

Nice and clear to grasp. Nothing new under the sun here but the communication and professionalism helps make the info more accessible.

[@tonyreutter5022]

Just perfect! Thank you!!! With that approach: the secret of bass lines are revealed 😘

[@liammusik]

Wow. Thank you so much. Finally a lesson that I can easily understand. I looked so many you tube films. This is the first I really understand and have quick successes. 👍👍👍🙂

[@stevelowe3525]

So much great free downloadable content! really finding this so helpful, thanks Luke

[@bongosock]

I've checked out a lot of beginner walking bass line videos - this has been the most accessible and helpful I've found so far. Thanks :)

[@BecomeABassist]

Awesome to hear! Thanks for checking it out.

[@liseauffray2119]

Wow, what an amazing lesson! For a begining bass player and first look at walking bass lines, I learned so much! I'll be back here often for the next few weeks! Thank you!!!

[@grzesiekk1599]

Thanks, my dream of playing walking Jazz bass has come to reality. Thanks to You!!!!

[@georgemaclennan4579]

Thanks Luke! I’ve been trying to get my walking bass down recently. Very helpful!

[@BecomeABassist]

You're welcome Sean! Glad to hear it's helpful!

[@dandamerville]

This is such a fabulous explanation/demonstration of walking bass! Makes me want to shout, laugh, dance. I first viewed this video and learned the techniques Luke is teaching here back when it was posted, and since then, everyone I play with thinks I'm a friggin' jazzer!

[@chriscarreno4930]

Pondering Luke. I am learning bass. You teach well. The Bible says, A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance and doeth good like a medicine and he that winneth souls is wise.

[@MenkoDany]

There is no god

[@jumbo4billion]

@@MenkoDany A merry heart does you good

[@terjelangeland9633]

So simple to understand! Thank you!!

[@sifugurusensei]

It took forever to find lessons on walking basslines that made any sense. Thanks for breaking this down to a level I can understand

[@andrewmobley1818]

Awesome walking bassline learning tool Luke !!😱🎶😁

[@johnkimble6454]

Incredible! This lesson is amazing! Thank you so very much!

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks so much for watching it @John Kimble - I hope it helps!

[@Uniirband]

Very well done! This was one of my weak points, but after watching this video I really understand how to connect the dots now. Thanks!!!!!

[@BecomeABassist]

Amazing! I'm so happy to hear it Carlton.

[@beatbrick]

Great video, really. Perfect for people who dont have yet a solid basis on musical theory, very accesible.

[@christineharenberg198]

Thank you so much! This approach was the eye-opener after the technical videos I watched before!

[@varosolo78]

Outstanding...I learned a lot with this video

[@jackijang4038]

Thanks this is very helpful to get me started! I need to work on some jazz basslines for a new band I'll be playing with and I've mostly played just bluegrass/folk/Irish music on double bass before.

[@SlimShady-nv4mq]

Thanks for the lesson, Luke! It was very helpful!

[@bassseffect9490]

Super useful video:) I love the way you organize the content in your videos.. it's really easy to follow ... Thank you!

[@pawpawcar]

Luke, I have listened to all the KZbin guys, and want to say yours will help me move forward. Its precise, no showy "stuff" and doesn't loose me in those who want to show me their knowledge of music theory complexities. I appreciate you and looking forward as I restart my bass learning.

[@johnd942]

"...doesn't lose me..."

[@PhillipAlcock]

Very clear, thanks. The other thing you can add to the mix is instead of always going 1,2,3,5 you could come down from the octave above 8,5,3,2 etc and like the other techniques mixing up what you do as Luke says. Keep hearing about these common progressions but most of the pieces our swing band play seem to be more complicated!

[@praks007]

Very cool! Loved this lesson Luke!❤

[@marcelomonteiro6710]

Fantastic!! Simple and Clear! Well done!!! Abs

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks Marcelo - glad you like it.

[@BruhBrew]

Amazing lesson, thanks! Now I have homework to do!

[@vadimlopatko6516]

Спасибо за книжку. Благодаря вам, всё встало на свои места в моей голове.

[@johnperry9082]

Nice lesson for beginner bass player like me to give me something I can work on.. Switching from 6 string guitar. I find your teaching technique most enjoyable.

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks John - I'm glad it works for you!

[@boyonbass]

I love ur 5 plug and play walking patterns lesson. U are a great player/teacher. Thx for all u doo. dUg-Montesano, WA/USA

[@jessondesign]

I played trumpet for almost 10 years, but I've started playing bass and I had no experience with chords and chord progressions and needing to understand them But learning the patterns of the fret board and watching this helped me use the music theory skills I already had from trumpet, being able to remember the scales and transfer them onto the bass! Thanks !!

[@charlesarmstrong5292]

Thanks for your super lessons and downloads. Helping me immensely.

[@benjohn2860]

I play classical guitar but now dabbling with the bass for recording purposes, finding your channel super useful, appreciate the work , thanks 🙏🏻

[@MrJUNNY7777]

Excellent!!! Luke!! You're a Master!!!

[@kevinbrianjohnsonmusic]

This is VERY Helpful!!! Thanks!! I've been playing for 7 months and am wanting to learn walking. This is very good.

[@jaywills5776]

What a great lesson, this is how all music should be taught IMHO... immediately useful 😁

[@BluegrassCamaroAdam]

Very nice keep them coming!

[@larrygol22]

This was a great tutorial. Thanks so much!

[@BecomeABassist]

No worries Larry - Glad you liked it!

[@Matthew-pm3wi]

What a brilliant video, I've been struggling with walking bass lines for so long, and in just 20 mins, I'm already jamming to jazz bass tracks. Thank you so much Luke!

[@BecomeABassist]

This is exactly what I like to hear Matthew! Thanks so much for letting me know - this is awesome!

[@carloburatti3333]

thank you Luke very useful lesson walking bass made easy !!

[@ianturner5727]

Very useful, thanks Luke.

[@esitoris]

Fantastic!! Thanks Luke!

[@facuacos]

Gracias! excelentes recursos!

[@gtate135]

Great job, thanks man

[@fernandoherranz4095]

Brilliant! Thank you so much!

[@chandlerkellogg]

My teacher in college was absolutely horrible.. wish I had this back then. Thank you!

[@sifugurusensei]

Its some of the best bass lesson I've seen

[@gennymikel4296]

I found backing tracks to be extremely helpful. I've started gaining speed using long backing tracks and once I hear the melody I've got it.

[@bilnabiln]

thank you! i watched other walking bassline lessons and couldn’t grasp the concept, but you made it easy to understand

[@BecomeABassist]

Glad to hear it's making sense to you now @bilnabiln

[@nielsagerskovhansen2183]

Very helpful! Fanx a lot :)

[@markusmakidadmanproduction9428]

Mind blown. Like 25 yrs ago I played bassnin rock band and it was boooooring. Now i bought this badly held punk bass that i fixed. I never felt anything like this with bass guitar. Thanks bro. I am having fun here !!!! Got to make my own backing track

[@Tanglangfa]

Nice explanation and pacing of lesson.

[@weewhitedog]

Love your method of teaching, thanks for this

[@BecomeABassist]

No worries Brian. Thanks for checking it out!

[@notgeoffrey7976]

Thanks man, you dont know how much this helped me

[@judithrahilly8449]

I love this!

[@Sabre00]

Having come from a guitar background and only picking up the bass 3 months ago I always wondered what the mystery was behind walking baselines were. This video just simplified it and within less than 5 minutes after watching this video I was playing walking bass lines. I know it's not the final or finished article but the mystery has been demystified. Thanks Scott!!!

[@BecomeABassist]

Haha! No worries glad I could help. And it’s Luke btw.

[@Sabre00]

@@BecomeABassist omg. My apologies Luke.

[@nordmende73]

Great! Thank you!

[@gaelgohoungo4344]

Great video excellent teacher. Thanks you so much

[@BecomeABassist]

No worries Gael - glad you think so.

[@patrickblack4992]

Thank you ! Very helpful!

[@chemagallego]

Awesome and inspiring!

[@creamdoormusicschool1642]

Excellent teacher, excellent explanation tq

[@fokyere]

Great lesson. Subscribed

[@ryanl8489]

This is really helpful. Thank you!

[@giarusai83ss]

Great ad Always!!!! Greetings From Italy 👍🏼

[@BecomeABassist]

Glad you like it friend!

[@danthsmith]

Great lesson, thanks

[@imohedet9795]

Am so appreciate for ur lesson

[@str1feu985]

this is so simple and well explained thank you

[@beverlyvance7993]

Love your lesson. Mahalo

[@TheTonyrolling1]

Thank you ..great teacher!!!

[@juanjo250]

This is great!

[@jefferzone61]

Excellent!!!

[@jonathanwalegir7083]

I downloaded your guide. I really appreciate your instruction.

[@patrickblay4732]

Very instructive , great thanks

[@josephselkow2845]

Excellent. Thanks. Liked and subscribed.

[@mauriciodelgado1419]

Thanks bro, I really enjoyed the lesson and the playing. Best regards

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks so much Mauricio - I really appreciate it.

[@hoanganhnguyen4068]

Perfect lesson

[@StevenSimon89]

Such an amazing lesson! Thank you! Greetings from Egypt :)..

[@BecomeABassist]

Glad you like it Steven! Hope it helps.

[@sanumusic007]

Such a great channel to learn 🙏

[@chriscantor6852]

Excellent lesson, thanks, Luke.

[@BecomeABassist]

No worries at all Chris! Thanks for checking it out!

[@datrucksdavea2080]

like your style thanks for the great bass info...