I’ll just do this with flatter fingers and see if that makes a difference. Thanks!
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@artax_2
Just a thought Stacy. Are you trying to keep your hand relatively still when you’re doing the walk ups/downs?
I certainly don’t! My fingers are moving to the next chord as I’m playing the walks.
Just watched the vid again and Justin’s hand isn’t still either. He probably doesn’t move as much as I do but then he’s a guitarist and I’m a human!
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Good question. I think I’m keeping them rather still, probably because its a new technique. I think it would get more fluid once I’m getting proficient.
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I don’t think that the tab matches the lesson for C to G. In the lesson Justin plays the C chord for a bar then goes (from 1:26) C to B to A (3 notes) and then the G chord. Unless I’m not seeing it correctly. The tab just shows B to A.
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Listen to Justin play and count.
1 2 3 4 … a bar of C played bass note - strum - bass note - strum
1 2 3 4 … played bass note - strum - walking note - walking note
1 2 3 4 … played bass note - strum - bass note - strum
Bold numbers are the bass notes and the walking notes.
It is similar walking back up to C to create the repeating cycle.
Now check the TAB.
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Thanks but he doesn’t do that. He clearly says that the bass note run is C to B to A to G - 4 notes, although I guess that the G is part of the chord G/strum. It’s also in the text of the lesson:
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Of course if the tab is correct I’ll just use that.
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Stuart, he does do that. 100%.
Look again at the tab. Read the single, stand-alone notes.
C comes first.
Then B
Then A.
Then G.
In between are a few light strums of either C chord or G chord.
He then changes direction and walks back up.
G comes first.
Then A.
Then B.
Then C (which is the first thing that happens on beat 1 of the first bar as it loops back on itself, following the repeat symbols.
I find it hard to hit the base notes accurately, without looking. Do you have tips for picking the right single notes, without hitting other strings? …
I think maybe what’s confusing Stewart is that there is no bass run of 4 consecutive notes C - B - A - G. There is always an intervening strum after the C. Likewise for G - strum- A - B - C.
The only solution for that is lots of practice. Using a metronome, start REALLY slow while looking, then try to minimize how much your fretting hand fingers move, then increase the speed, then try to do it while looking away.
I’ve been learning for 3.5 years now, and I still have to look when doing this.
YMMV
I’ve been practicing this on and off and can just about do this slowly (forwards and backwards) but does it matter which order I play A and B between the two chords?
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Yes it does you’re either walking up from G to C(G A B C) or walking down from C to G (C B A G). It’s a chromatic run
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OK.
Had to Google that one as wasn’t sure that that was. Not sure that been part of Grades 1 and 2. So according to Google a chromatic run is a series of notes a semitone part which I can see with C>G, but the example in the lesson for A>D has this as a tone apart. Is that still a chromatic run or something else?
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Do you like the sound of it?
If it sounds good it is good.
Toby mentions it being a chromatic run … you think it might not be a strict chromatic run as it is not confined to semitone steps. You’re right, technically.
It is a descending line that is designed to be played in a step-wise downward sequence.
BUT
If you like your walking bass line to meander a little rather than taking the direct path, if you like the sound of it, then there is no rule and no person to stop you from doing that.
moi ?
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Yeah it definitely works in songs that are not country. One great example is in the song,
Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town by Pearl Jam
has a great walk down in the verse from a full G to Cadd9 that sounds great. You have to be super fast on that 3 + 4 and in control to be right there and ready for the strum on 1.
I cant wait to get the rest of these under my belt. There are tons of 90s songs that use these as embelishments I think. Great lesson.
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Can u link chords with any strumming pattern that has a downstrum on 3 and 4?
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Hey @neonguitarist , actually you are stopping the strumming pattern on beats 3 and 4 when you play the individual notes. So, in principle you could use any strumming pattern at all, abandon it on beats 3 and 4, and then go back to it on beat 1 of the next bar.
However, in practice you want to use a pattern that hits the bass note on beat 1, so you get the 3-note sequence on beats 3-4-1. But what the pattern is doing on beats 3 and 4 doesn’t matter, since you don’t play it when playing the individual bass notes.
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Had a question about the C to A transition. I tried the notes B and A (open string) in the transition and that seemed to sound ok too. So I’m guessing it’s about trying options and using the one that sounds best to you. Is that correct? Also wanted to understand what justin means when he says “there’s not enough notes there” when he describes the reason for using Bb. Would really appreciate the wisdom from the masters in the community.
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