Theory
Today you take your very first step into walking bass. If walking bass felt hard, remember just one sentence — walking bass is walking over the chord. When you walk, stepping just anywhere sinks your foot, but if you pick only the safe stones you're allowed to step on, you can cross anywhere with ease. On bass, those safe stones are exactly the chord tones (R·3·5·b7). Today you'll get the chord tones of F7, the first chord of this week's stage, the F blues, into your hands.
F7 is made of four notes — root F, 3rd A, 5th C, b7 Eb. These four are the stones that never sink under you on F7. The root is the chord's name and its home. On F7, F is home, and the remaining 3·5·b7 are the stepping stones set around the house. In particular, the 3rd A decides whether the chord feels major or minor, so it becomes the target you land on most often in walking.
Let's see the positions on the fretboard. On a 4-string, the root F is the 4th string, 1st fret, the 3rd A is the 4th string, 5th fret, the 5th C is the 3rd string, 3rd fret, and the b7 Eb is the 3rd string, 6th fret. At first, don't try to memorize all four at once — start by pressing and checking the root F with your fingertip and add them one by one. With your right hand, pluck alternately with index and middle finger — two-finger style — sounding each note clearly.
First, lock in just the one spot that is home — the root F.
▶ 4-string. The root F is the 4th string, 1st fret — the starting point and home of every chord tone.
▶ 5-string. The position is the same as on a 4-string. There's just one more low B string.
If you play a 5-string, the fingering is exactly the same as on a 4-string. The string numbers stay 4th (E) to 1st (G), with just one more low B string at the bottom. Once you're comfortable, that low B lets you extend your walking to a lower register, but today just focus on carving the four chord-tone positions of F7 into your eyes and hands. Because these four stones become the path we'll step and walk all week long.
See it
Today you carve F7's chord tones into your eyes on both the fretboard and the score. First check the four safe-stone positions on the fretboard, then step on those stones one by one in quarter notes. Every example is laid out in both a 4-string and a 5-string version.
First, the F7 chord-tone map. The blue dots are the chord tones — starting from the root F, take in at a glance where the 3rd, 5th, and b7 sit.
▶ 4-string. Starting from the root F (4th string, 1st fret), sweep your eyes across all four spots up to the 3rd A, 5th C, and b7 Eb.
▶ 5-string. The chord-tone positions are the same as on a 4-string. For now, don't use the low B — rest your hand over it.
Next is an example that goes back and forth between the root and the 3rd. The 3rd (the green note) is the target walking lands on most often, so get it into your ear first.
▶ BPM 70, 4-string. Step back and forth between the root F and the 3rd A, learning the distance between the two notes.
▶ BPM 70, 5-string. Same notes and positions as the 4-string. Rest your hand over the low B so it stays silent.
Today's practice
0–10 min · Warm-up Loosen your hand by plucking open strings alternately with index and middle finger. For now, an even two-finger touch comes before pitch.
10–20 min · Brain training Looking at the F7 chord-tone map, press and check the positions in the order root F → 3rd A → 5th C → b7 Eb. Go slowly until you can find all four spots with your eyes closed.
20–40 min · Real play (today's product) Repeat the F7 arpeggio below at BPM 70. One note per beat, stepping up R-3-5-b7 clearly.
▶ BPM 70, 4-string. Play F7's four chord tones from low to high, clearly. These four notes are the "safe stones" over F7.
▶ BPM 70, 5-string. Same notes and positions as the 4-string. Rest the low B for now, and once comfortable, try extending to a lower register.
40–50 min · Record/feedback Record 30 seconds and listen for whether all four notes ring evenly at the same volume. Also check that the positions you pressed today were accurate.
Done when: you can find F7's chord tones R-3-5-b7 on the fretboard and step up through them as a quarter-note arpeggio at BPM 70.
- You drop the b7. You press the familiar R·3·5 and keep forgetting the b7 Eb. The b7 is what brings out the dominant color of "F7," so always grab that fourth stone.
▶ 4-string. The b7 Eb is the 3rd string, 6th fret. Only when you add this one note to R·3·5 is F7 complete.
▶ 5-string. The position is the same as on a 4-string. You can also drop to the low B to find the b7 in another octave.
- You cut the notes short. A quarter note should ring well into the next beat to feel like walking. Don't lift your finger in a hurry.
- You memorize positions but don't listen. How a note sounds matters more than the fret number. Take the sound into your ear every time you press.
- Neglecting low B (5-string). If you brush B while focused on chord tones, the low end rings out. Always keep the unused B covered.