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"Four On Six"

 

About the Series

Four On Six: Walking Bass for Jazz Guitar has arrived! This is an exciting collection of comping arrangements featuring the popular technique of playing a walking bass line simultaneously with chords. It's fun and totally functional, whether you're a solo or rhythm guitarist.

Like our popular Monster Guitar Solo and Good Vibes Jazz Solo series, each FOS edition is presented in standard notation with tablature and custom fretboard diagrams as shown below, in a high-quality eBook complete with an MP3 audio track.

Note how clearly the bass line is isolated for study in the score example, with chord grids that are intelligently mapped to pick up the essential harmony of the walk. Tips for syncopating the rhythms are supplied with each Four On Six edition, creating an endless number of creative possibilities beyond the basic arrangement. Scroll for available arrangements and more information about the series. To hear this arrangement, click here or on the music above.

To hear an example of how effective these arrangements can be, click here or on the graphic above to check out a duo demo featuring two guitars, one playing the intro, head, and solo to the classic "I Got Rhythm" (Gershwin), and the other supplying the harmony using walking bass w/chords. Enjoy!

- Mark Stefani

 


 

Current Selections

FOS Editions now available (to hear the walks and see eBook covers, click titles below):

All the Things You Are
Uptempo walking bass line w/chords arrangement for the this Jerome Kern swing standard. One-chorus, 36-bar progression. Key of Ab.

Autumn Leaves
Famous swing standard by Johnny Mercer. One chorus, 32-bar arrangement in the key of E minor. A/B format. Medium-fast tempo.

Billie's Bounce
A medium-fast walking bass line w/chords arrangement for the epic Charlie Parker bebop blues classic. Two-chorus, 24-bar progression. Key of F.

C Jam Blues
Hard-swinging uptempo walking bass line w/chords arrangement for the famous Ellington blues standard. Two-chorus, 24-bar progression. Key of C.

Doxy
Medium-tempo walking bass line w/chords accompaniment for this classic 16-bar swing tune by saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Key of Bb.

Giant Steps
A 16-bar walking bass arrangement for one of the most harmonically challenging bebop standards by the legendary John Coltrane.

I Got Rhythm
An uptempo edition based on this highly-popular tune by George Gershwin. "Must-know" chord progression. One-chorus, 32-bar arrangement. Key of Bb.

Ornithology
32-bar bebop classic by Charlie Parker, based on the changes for "How High the Moon" in the key of G. Fast tempo. A/B format.

Sugar
Medium tempo rendition of this popular minor swing classic by Stanley Turrentine. One-chorus, 16-bar arrangement. Key of Cm.

Take the A Train
Brisk tempo in this walking bass line w/chords arrangement for the well-known Ellington swing tune. One-chorus, 32-bar progression. Key of C.

Note: Each FOS edition is delivered via email attachment, so there is no shipping cost or waiting period. Format is PDF eBook for the score, in standard notation with tablature and custom chord grids, plus complete MP3 audio file. Priced at $15 per edition.


 

The History Behind Four On Six

When I first began to appreciate the world of jazz improvisation many years ago, the one element that fascinated me the most was the bassist's role in the rhythm section. Here a player could simultaneously be supportive and truly creative at the same time. Whether the situation called for playing the head (melody), adding a two-beat feel, walking a line or soloing, the bassist seemed to have a sort of unlimited freedom.

My earliest exposure to influential bassists came by way of listening to my father's jazz records of the fifties and sixties. Paul Chambers and Ron Carter with Miles Davis, Ray Brown with Oscar Peterson, and Sam Jones with Cannonball Adderley were but a few who caught my admiring attention. Being foremost a guitarist, I decided that bass would be a natural second instrument. Some books were indeed helpful, but over the years I've always learned the most by listening and observing, and this case was no different. I began transcribing and analyzing what I had been enjoying hearing, and soon the harmonic foundation I sought came into focus. While my understanding of bass concept was growing, so was my ability to arrange compositions for solo guitar. It wasn't long before the too skills began to merge, and when I first heard guitarist Joe Pass playing what I had been imagining, the dream became a reality!

 

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