free jam tracks - brought to you by nick cresswell

Play Bass Blues 05

03 D Burnt Steak Blues No Bass mp3 wma
Time/size: 6 mins 56 secs/9.53mb
Blues jam track:Laid back shuffle in D (86 beats per minute/bpm)
Backing track instruments: electric guitar & drums.

Progression: standard blues 12 bar: D7 x 4 bars, G7 x 2 bars, D7 x 2 bars, A7 x 1 bar, G7 x 1 bar D7 x 2 beats G7 x 2 beats, D7 x 2 beats, A7 x 2 beats.
Notice the variation on the chords of the last 2 bars compared to track 02 above? There are several variations of the standard blues progression.

Suggestions: Start out with a Root to Major 3rd, 5th to M3rd shuffle on each chord.
So on the D chord you'll play D to F# to A to F#. Then walk down or up to the next chord in the progression. The best way to learn how to walk on the bass is to listen. To walk down from the D to the G start on the D and simply move down step by step to the G chord. You can step down in whole or half steps - let your ear decide what sounds best to you and work with that.

If you are not used to walking down from one note/chord to a target chord, do it all on one string. That will help you visualize the difference in moving down a whole or half (tone or semi-tone) Vary the notes you use to walk down to or up to each chord. Get out of your comfort zone. Play some 'wrong' notes - often 'wrong' notes end up sounding right. Challenge both your mind your fingers and your ear.

Jimi Hendrix - Voodoo Child

04 E Stevie In The Crossfire No Bass mp3 wma
Time/size: 5 mins 20 secs/7.33mb
Blues jam track: Straight ahead groove E (110 beats per minute/bpm)
Backing track instruments: electric guitar, acoustic guitar & drums.

Progression: this is a one riff track using the Root, 3rd, 5th and b7th notes of the E7 chord.
I have borrowed this riff from Stevie Ray Vaughan's song 'Crossfire' from Stevie's last studio album 'In Step'. Although the riff also reminds me of the song 'Pretty Woman' by Roy Orbison. You just need to add a Major 2nd to find that riff.

Suggestion(s): Get a copy of 'In Step' by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, go and find the biggest stereo system you can, turn the volume up to 10 and put the entire album on repeat. Like Jimi Hendrix, SRV played with his guitar tuned down 1/2 a step, so he played Crossfire in Eb. I recorded this riff in E, so start by playing along with the guitar riff. If you go to jam along with SRV and Double Trouble (and I suggest that you do) tune your bass down 1/2 a step.

Tommy Shannon is one of the greatest blues players ever to walk the earth. You really should spend some time listening to his bass lines. 'In Step' is a great album to listen to his playing. He plays with a great groove and his note choice is absolute first class.

05 Db The Train Just Kept Goin No Bass mp3 wma
Time/size: 5 mins 18 secs/7.29mb
Blues jam track: Blues in Db (140 beats per minute/bpm)
Backing track instruments: electric guitar, bass and drums
Suggestion(s): This is a standard blues progression in Db. Start just with a walking bass line using the Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th and Perfect 5th and walk into each chord as the chords change in the progression.

There aren't very many blues songs in Db. The great thing about playing in different keys is that you become more familiar with your the layout of the neck. Also, each different position has it's own special sweet spot that helps to give you fresh ideas and new licks that you can then use in the keys you usually play in. Variety is one of the keys to becoming a good musician.

06 Ab Electric Mud No Bass mp3 wma
Time/size: 6 mins 33 secs/9mb
Blues jam track: Blues vamp in Ab (92 beats per minute/bpm)
Backing track instruments: electric guitar, bass and drums
Suggestion(s): Centered around an Ab7 chord. The great thing about playing bass on a vamp like this is that you can really explore and improvise using different notes of a scale. Start with a Mixolydian scale, which is a major scale with a flat 7 and get funky.

07 A Nothin But A Jam Again No Bass mp3 wma
Time/size: 6 mins 33 secs/9.01mb
Blues jam track: 6/8 blues riff in A (60 beats per minute/bpm)
Backing track instruments: electric guitar and drums
Suggestion(s): This is simply a repeated riff in 12/8 time in the key of A. The bass line I played over this track makes up the riff. You can here the bass line on the play guitar blues 04 page.

The riff I'm playing is based on the A Mixolydian scale below:
G|----------------------------4--6--7---------------
D|------------------4--5--7-------------------------
A|--------4--5--7-----------------------------------
E|--5--7---------------------------------------------

The riff is as follows:
G|--------------------------------
D|--------7--5------5--7--5------
A|---------------7------------7---
E|--5--5--------------------------

The guitar is playing an A Major chord - so you can vary the riff using the notes from the A Mixolydian scale, see what you can come up with. Put a bit of funk into it.