bassmagazine.combassmagazine.com ;; ISSUE 4ISSUE 4 ;; BASS MAGAZINE BASS MAGAZINE 9999
BASSISTS PLAYING BEBOP HEADS!
CHECK IT OUT Christian McBride, Roy Hargrove, and Stephen Scott play the Charlie Parker
standard “Dexterity.”CHECK IT OUT Kinga Głyk plays “Donna Lee” ... on a bass ukulele!CHECK IT OUT Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen plays “Donna Lee” in duo with Joe Pass at a
burning tempo.CHECK IT OUT Jeff Berlin is grooving — here playing Dizzy Gillespie’s “Groovin’ High” on his
2010 album High Standards.tonic, F major, down to the IV chord, Bb 7.
The B section (bridge) has two four-bar IIm–
V–I sequences, first in Bb (Cm7, F7, Bbmaj7),
then in Db (Ebm7, Ab 7 , Dbmaj7).
Note the following:
First chorus, walking bass
Bars 1–2 Good walking lines often put
the root of the chord on the downbeat, as in
bar 1. In bar 2, the line moves from the root of
the Em7b 5 down to the 3rd of the A7 (the note
C#), followed by the A root on beat four. Bar
1 sounds stable; bar 2 sounds more melodic.
Bar 3 Over the Dm7 to G7, the bass line
moves in a melodic pattern (D, F, E, D), ig-
noring the root of the G7 chord. This is a me-
lodic, scalar approach. The note G could also
be used in place of the note E, for a more pre-
cise outlining of the root motion. It’s a matter
of taste.
Bars 7–8 In bar 7, the harmony rests on
G7. In bar 8, the Gm7 to C7 leads back to the
Fmaj7 in bar 9. Note the difference between
bars 7–8 and bars 15–16, the parallel spot in
the second A section.
Bar 10 The note Bb outlines the b5 of the
Em7b 5 chord. Moving up this scale with the
notes A, Bb, C#, D sounds harmonious. Never
play the natural 5th (B) on the Em7b 5!
Bars 14–15 Playing root-to-leading-
tone-to-root is a great way to strongly outline
these fast-moving IIm–V sequences.
Bar 17 The B section (also called the
bridge) starts with a dotted-eighth-to-16th
skip. This rhythmic embellishment is mir-
rored on beat one in bar 18. Note the three
half-steps approaching the root F in bar 18,
and the three half-steps approaching the root
in bar 19.
Bars 19–20 This is a common triplet
drop on beat one, followed by a walk-up to
the note F (the 5th of the chord).
Bars 21–22 The movement from the
note Db on the Ebm7 chord to the note C on
the Ab 7 chord melodically outlines the har-
mony. Db is the b7th of Ebm7; C is the 3rd of
Ab 7. This melodic approach adds some vari-
ety to the contour of the line.
Bar 23 Beginning the line on the note Eb
— the 9th of Dbmaj7 — also sounds melodic.
The root, Db, lands on beat two.
Bars 26–28 The 3rd of the dominant
chords in these three measures lands on beat
three, followed by the root on beat four.
Second chorus, solo line
Bars 1–3 The line stays in the key of F
major, yet it outlines chord tones in each bar
using a descending scale sequence.
Bar 4 The note Eb in this bar describes
the Cm7.
Bar 5 The note Ab in this bar describes
the change to Bb 7.
Bars 7–8 The line lands on the note C#