The Instant Walking Bass 'Hack': Nail Your 2-5-1’s With A Single Lick

►► FREE: Check out my 5 ‘Plug-And-Play’ Walking Bass Line Formulas here: • Walking Bass Line Less...
I used to think that in order to get through a song with a walking bass line, you needed to have some sort of advanced degree in music theory.
Everyone around me was telling me different things like:
→ “You need to know all your scales to make it through”
→ “If you don’t know your arpeggios, you’ll get lost”
→ “Make sure you throw some chromatics in there”
Ugh…
Sure - knowing all that stuff absolutely helps, but if you’re just starting out with walking bass lines, it can be overwhelming.
I don’t want that for you, so today, I’m sharing a super quick trick that you can use to nail one of the most common chord progressions you’re likely to come across if you’re playing walking bass lines: The 2-5-1 progression.
You don’t need to know all the modes, arpeggios, chords, fancy scales or anything like that. All you need to know to start using this trick is the plain old major scale. (And if you need a refresher on that, check out this lesson: • The Easiest Way To Lea... )
It’s a super quick lesson this week - less than 4 minutes, but you can start using this line right now to nail all the 2-5-1’s that you can poke a stick at.
By the way, if walking bass lines are what you need help with, be sure to check out my other walking bass line video right here:
• Walking Bass Line Less...
It’s goes into a bit more depth than I had time for here, but it’s full of authentic walking lines you can use for any chord progression.
Good luck with the lesson and happy walking!
Cheers,
Luke
If you’re really keen and want to download the 5 plug-and-play formulas in tab and notation form, you can do that right here:
becomeabassist.com/walking-ba...
Just fill the form out underneath the video and the formulas will be sent straight to you.

[@carlnielsen3477]

What a lovely trick. So simple and so effective. Thanks for that! 🙂

[@la196]

It immediately hits my ear as that 2-5-1 is clearly what Paul used with The Beatles: All My Loving.

[@BecomeABassist]

Absolutely @Lori A. It's the exact same thing.

[@drmrgod]

@@BecomeABassist Well, how dumb am I? Been playing that line for a bit, never saw that this is what it was!! Thanks Luke for the lesson, and thanks Lori A for pointing out that it's the line from All My Loving.

[@BecomeABassist]

I wouldn't say 'dumb' @drmrgod - just that it hadn't been pointed out to you yet. It's often very easy to overlook things that are right in front of you.

[@drmrgod]

@@BecomeABassist So it seems.... :-)

[@kennethbeavers6903]

@Luke from Become a Bassist do you have a tutorial for Minor 251 in Aminor?

[@ricardo-yz6vr]

Awesome. Nice trick!!

[@jmford45]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this knowledge

[@BecomeABassist]

You're more than welcome @Jojoe Simmons - thanks for watching.

[@majorrobinson2615]

Ha! Neat little trick you can easily toss in. Thanks for sharing!

[@BecomeABassist]

No worries at all @Major Robinson. Thanks for checking it out.

[@asansone57]

Cool little trick

[@ChuckLazer]

Hey, Luke. Thanks for this. I'm finally starting to grok walking bass and this little 2-5-1 trick is so simple and so cool! It's as cool as tri-tone sub!

[@BecomeABassist]

For sure! Definitely a more straight forward approach than the tritone sub, but just as useful.

[@ChuckLazer]

Looking forward to your "5 Plug-and-Play Walking Bass Lines".@@BecomeABassist

[@BecomeABassist]

I hope you like it! Here's the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f57WqKChg5KslcU

[@averagemigie8142]

ty man cool videos me sub

[@johnwilkerson1535]

That Spector sounds awesome

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks so much John! It's a great bass!

[@chriscantor6852]

They are awesome, not cheap though, but I fluked 2 rare 2nd hand bargains on EBay - a Legend (Korean) and a Rebop (Czeck)

[@johnwilkerson1535]

@@chriscantor6852 I love them. I have my 4th and 5th Spectors now.

[@chrishansen9379]

Is that drum track available?

[@julianapostata8031]

All my Loving...

[@losriosprofundos2113]

Could you let me know what you use for backing tracks? Might make a great video.

[@BecomeABassist]

Hey @Conan Shinn - I usually just look around KZbin for something that fits what I need, and if not, I use either Garageband or iRealPro to make something up. I don't have plans to make videos on how I do this anytime soon though.

[@johnPiercey]

Great "hack"!

[@BecomeABassist]

Thanks @john piercey!

[@villelan81]

🤯

[@jeffayoe7468]

Wouldn't the B when coming down from the Dm7 to G7 be a Bflat because is D minor?

[@BecomeABassist]

Not in this case @jeffayoe7468. In this context, the D minor doesn't use a 'natural' minor scale sound, but a Dorian minor sound which has a major 6th (B natural) rather than a minor 6th (Bb). I go into depth about this in my guide to the modes. The first video of that is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fHmloYabYs5onbM And the second one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4PWl6GJoaicq68

[@jeffayoe7468]

@@BecomeABassist ah right, thank you!

[@bongo3304]

dog cameo

[@BecomeABassist]

I swear he finds his way into every video. I think he secretly wants to be famous

[@wk001]

Look

[@BecomeABassist]

👀

[@russianbear6384]

Just don't stop playing. You're only ever 1 semi tone away from a right note

[@BecomeABassist]

Totally @The Bear.