Ohio5665
Verified buyer
03/07/26
Many Thanks
This volume and the preceding volumes will keep me busy for years to come! Thank you Brad for these lessons and concepts!
Guitar Lab: 100 Walking Blues Bass Line Formulas, Vol. 5
Master Walking Blues: Quarter-Note Groove, Guide-Tone Craft, and Ear Training
Get this course and 1,000+ more with All Access
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
About this course
Guitar Lab: 100 Walking Blues Bassline Formulas, Vol. 5 pushes your walking-bass playing even further, diving deep into one-bar and two-bar phrases that open up new rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic possibilities. This volume focuses on developing lines that do more than just walk—they outline chords, preview harmonic movement, and add expressive detail inspired by horn phrasing and comping ideas.
Brad Carlton breaks down how fingerings, rhythmic variation, and theoretical awareness work together to create bass lines that sound intentional and musical. You’ll learn how to articulate chord extensions, shape forward motion, and make your lines feel connected across the bar line instead of locked into predictable patterns.
By the end of this course, you’ll have a stronger command of walking-bass construction, a deeper understanding of harmony, and a collection of formulas you can adapt instantly on the bandstand. So grab your guitar, dig into the groove, and let’s play some cool blues bass lines.
Brad Carlton breaks down how fingerings, rhythmic variation, and theoretical awareness work together to create bass lines that sound intentional and musical. You’ll learn how to articulate chord extensions, shape forward motion, and make your lines feel connected across the bar line instead of locked into predictable patterns.
By the end of this course, you’ll have a stronger command of walking-bass construction, a deeper understanding of harmony, and a collection of formulas you can adapt instantly on the bandstand. So grab your guitar, dig into the groove, and let’s play some cool blues bass lines.
Release date: 02/01/2026 • 1h 33m runtime
Sample lessons
1 3 5 3 b7 6 5 6
Lesson & Demonstration
What's included
33 lessons • 1 charts
100 Walking Blues Bass Line Formulas Vol. 5
I am Brad Carlton, and I have Volume Five of 100 Walking Blues Bass Line Formulas. I’ll be introducing all kinds of chromaticism, talking about how to use a four-chord punctuation as a bass player, and also how to apply the skip when you have more notes that you want to play—because rhythmically, you’re gonna pretty much be allocated to quarter notes.
So you want to grab your bass, your guitar, whatever you have—your kazoo—and play along with these bass lines.
So you want to grab your bass, your guitar, whatever you have—your kazoo—and play along with these bass lines.
1 3 5 3 b7 6 5 6
In this lesson we will learn a classic 2 bar dominant 7 6 walking idea and how to punctuate it with guide tones and shell voicings We will experiment with alternate fretboard layouts including unison options to reduce jumping and clean up string noise and we will also try the line in octaves so it becomes a guitar friendly foundation we can build on
1 3 5 3 b7 6 5 3
In this lesson we will cover a variation of the previous line where we change the final scale degree to the 3 to shift the vibe We will focus on feel locking it into a shuffle pulse and talk about style cues like rockabilly Texas swing phrasing palm muting and how the picking approach supports that loping groove
1 3 5 3 b7 5 6 5
In this lesson we will learn how to create motion with a pedal tone feel by bouncing around the 5 in the second bar We will explore multiple efficient fingerings and layouts including using open strings when available and we will pay attention to minimizing squeaks while keeping the quarter note drive consistent
1 3 5 8 b7 6 5 3
In this lesson we will cover an up the hill down the hill contour climbing through the triad to the octave then walking back down We will talk about how line shape contour helps us understand musical structure and guides choices when building parts or adapting the idea to different registers and instruments
1 2 b3 3 b7 6 5 3
In this lesson we will learn how to introduce the b3 as a blue note that wants to resolve to 3 and how to place it so the descent b7 6 5 3 sits comfortably under the fingers We will also practice the line with primitive fingerings one finger at a time to strengthen visualization and avoid getting trapped in muscle memory ruts
1 2 b3 3 b7 6 5 6
In this lesson we will cover how changing just the last note can change the entire character of a two bar riff We will use this line to practice one note variations learn to hear outcomes before we play them and reinforce singing scale degrees so the sound becomes internal not just a pattern under the hands
+ 26 more lessons
Reviews
1 result
Stop searching. Start improving with All Access.
Try 14 days free. Cancel any time.
