Crawl Before You Walk: Bass Guitar Book & Online Audio

This book strips away the mystique around walking bass without sacrificing musicality or rigor. Warrington's decision to build lines directly from chord charts rather than through music theory prerequisites means students can start making real musical decisions in their first rehearsals.

Immediate and encouraging. You move from confusion about where bass notes come from to confidently building coherent lines over real chord progressions. The recorded examples ground abstract concepts in actual groove and swing.

Bass students in their first year of jazz or stage band who benefit from learning by ear and direct application rather than parallel theory study. This resource works equally well in private lessons and ensemble settings where students need to generate functional bass lines quickly.

• Reference the play-along recordings to lock into the pocket before committing a line to memory; hearing the bass in context with drums and piano settles phrasing choices that written notation alone cannot convey.
• Practice each example first without the recording at a slow tempo, focusing on chord tone placement and the shape of your line through the progression.
• Once you can speak a line fluently, experiment with rhythmic variations in how you approach the beat; the foundation holds, but your phrasing will develop character.
• Listen closely to how the bass interacts with the piano voicings in each recording; this ear training builds your instinct for complementary line construction.

Introduce this during the first weeks of jazz ensemble if your rhythm section lacks bass experience, or assign chapters to students preparing for stage band auditions. The play-along audio makes it valuable for independent practice without requiring a pianist or teacher present for every session.

• Constructing walking bass lines from lead sheets and chord charts
• Identifying chord tones and navigating changes by ear
• Developing rhythmic phrasing and swing feel at moderate tempos
• Listening for interaction between bass and other rhythm section voices