Add to My Playlists
Mark as
{{currentPlaylist.title}} Edit
Recently Watched
{{playlistLesson.runtime}}
Course Progress
Get a Private Lesson
Indie Courses
Indie Courses are video course downloads produced independently from TrueFire. Often recorded in educators’ home studios, these products present fresh educational concepts and effective teaching methodologies. Indie Courses are exclusively available for purchase in the educator’s channel store and can be downloaded via the TrueFire apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android. Indie Courses are NOT included in the All Access streaming plan as they are self-produced outside of TrueFire's studios.
Add to My Playlists
Mark as
Course Progress
Chart
Please log in or quickly create an account to access the free tab, notation, and jam track for this lesson.
Steady 8ths is a 12 bar blues in Bb with a straight 8th bass line throughout most of the form. It starts on the 5 chord with some hits also known as backbeats for the intro of 4 bars, meaning that an F7 is played on beats 2 and 4 without playing anything on beats one or three. This creates an effect that can be used at different times in composition, arranging or improvisation as a walking bassist. The main bass line of this song is meant to be played very straight and solidly 8th note based for most of the tune. Occasional staggered or upbeat syncopations are used as a juxtaposition to the standard that has been set by playing the very straight 8th notes throughout the piece. Syncopation is the displacement of the beat, accents, or rhythms, so that strong beats become weak or weak beats become strong and are a different feeling from the usual. Therefore, by playing very straight you are giving rise to the possibility of greater rhythmic and musical effect being achieved by the other instruments using syncopation against the straight rhythms.
Notice that the band plays the 5 chord in an orchestrated turnaround as a rhythm phrase of 16th notes at measure 10 while the bass continues to walk straight through in straight eighths beneath the figure.
Download This Course
Get a Private Lesson
Use the form below to submit an issue you may have discoverd with our tabs, charts, or other content. Thank you!
We've updated and consolidated the web player settings to make it easier for you to customize your experience. Hit the settings cog icon at the top of the video lesson list to open up the control panel, where you can turn autoplay on or off, choose your video quality, set your default view, and choose which lessons to display (free, in progress, completed, etc.). If you have questions have any issues, please contact our help team at help@truefire.com. Practice smart, play hard!
Get it onGoogle Play