Beginner

1. See attached file
2. You learn it. Better if you memorize it. Know each chord you are playing. I.E. if in the 3rd bar of the tune you see Eb G Bb and D, that is NOT and Ebmaj7 chord. It's a Cmin9 chord. Get it? Look at the changes if you need to.
3. You play it on the piano, using your left hand to play the bass notes for each chord. If the chords are in an open position and you can't play them with your right hand, then try taking the bottom note up an octave and if that doesn't work, try taking the top note down an octave. 
4. Write in all the chords.

Short etude, but should be a little bit of a challenge. 

In the final blues dampening etude, we explore the minor blues form. Please note that there are some common substitutions in this one that are used often in minor blues. 

This is another version of the etude that goes through the same chord changes as Blues for Alice. There's a few different approach notes in this version. Remember that when playing this etude with the additional ii-V-I's, figure out all the other tunes you can use these lines on and try it in different keys!

This etude goes through the same chord changes as Blues for Alice. One thing to keep in mind is that when playing this etude with the additional ii-V-I's, figure out all the other tunes you can use these lines on. Also, try it in different keys!

Here's another dampening etude. We change keys here, Bb, another very common blues key. Some of these lines actually work great not just as bass lines, but solo lines! You can hear players like Hank Mobley occasionally playing these bass type lines.

In this etude, the quarter note remains consistent like an actual walking bass line. The challenge in this exercise is to keep the pedal down and the dampening smooth, making sure no notes ring together. Work on getting a really nice legato sound!

Check out the attached PDF!

In this exercise, the line is a little closer to a walking bass line with quarter notes. Keep the notes legato, and shoot for keeping the pedal down as much as possible with clean dampening in between the notes. Check out the attached PDF!

Hi everyone!

I'm doing a short series on dampening. In these etudes, we're using walking bass lines as a way to work on dampening. Most of these exercises are pretty simple, and a lot of fun! Try them out and see how well you can keep a legato feel throughout. And of course, check out the attached PDF! 😀