Melodic Countour: The direction of a walking bass line creaes a melodic shape or contour. Ascending lines tend to create more tension than descending lines. It helps to think of your bass lines in long phrases, not just bar to bar. Any strong melody will have a shape lasting longer than one or two measures. Practice creating melodic shapes in four, eight, twelve, or sixteen bar phrases. Here is an example of using direction and longer phrases to influence the feel of a walking line. T These concepts can add variety and colour to walking bass lines. In the right context they may sound great, and in the wrong context they may be disastrous. Always keep in mind that the bassist´s role in a group is primarily to provide the harmonic and rhythmic foundation. This example shows ascending, then descending motion

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