Six Blues Bass Lines

Authentic ‘Plug-And-Play’ Formulas That Will

Work Every Time



















 The Blues
It really pays to know how to get through a blues. It’s almost
universally known! If you got together with 3 other random musicians,
you may not all know the same exact songs, but most people will
know how to get through a blues.

Just in case you’re not sure how the 12-bar blues is structured, let’s
recap really quickly.

In it’s most basic form, the blues has just 3 chords. A ‘1-chord’, a ‘4-
chord’ and a ‘5-chord’.

For our examples, let’s say we’re playing a blues in the key of A. That
means the 1-chord will be an A7, the 4-chord will be a D7, and the 5-
chord will be an E7.

If you put all the chords in order, you’ll get this:

I find it helpful to think of the blues in terms of 3 phrases that are 4

bars each.

The first phrase just hangs out on the 1-chord – the A7. In our 2nd
phrase, we get 2 bars of the 4-chord, then 2 bars of the 1-chord
again. Finally, in our last 4 bars, we get a bar each of the 5-chord and
the 4-chord before finally coming back again to the 1-chord.
 The Formulas
Now that you know how the blues is structured, we can start playing
around with some of these authentic blues bass lines.

Formula #1
5 The first is very
Instant simple. All we’re going
'Plug-And-Play' to do is play
Walking the roots
Bass of all of
Formulas
the chords in 8th notes. That means we’ll play A over the A7 chords,
D over the D7 chords and E over the E7 chord. It doesn’t get much
https://becomeabassist.com

simpler
qaa z=[qp ]ethan this.
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some examples of this exact kind of bass line check out these tracks:
A7 A7
™7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
™Led7Zeppelin
7 7 – Rock
7 And7 Roll
7 (Straight
7 7 8th 7 Notes)
Lafayette Leake – Short Dressed Woman (Swung 8th Notes)
¤ 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

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œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
D7 A7
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
¤ 5 5 5 55 5 5 5 5 5 5 55 5 5 5 5 5 5 55 5 5 5 5 5 5 55 5 5

? œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™
Formula #2
E7 D7 A7
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5 5extra
5 5note to our first formula – the ™
th
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? ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
A7 A7
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¤ ™ 7 7 7 7

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¤ 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™
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E7 D7
A7
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It’s a good idea to use the 5th underneath the roots of the chords. Do
you notice how we started on the high A so we could use the E
underneath it?

If you use the 5th above the roots, it sounds a bit strange – and not as
strong. Also be sure to de-emphasize the 5th and keep the roots really
strong on the down beats.

This kind of line works best at a slower tempo and with swung 8th
notes. For a great example of this kind of bass line, check out the
Pino Palladino line on John Mayer’s version of Every Day I Have The
Blues.

John Mayer – Every Day I Have The Blues

 Formula #3

Let’s keep adding more notes to these lines. We’ve used the root and
5th, now let’s add the 7th. Our formula for this line is just 1 – 5 – 7 – 1.
That final ‘1’ of each chord will be an octave above our first 1 and to
begin with, we’ll just use quarter notes – almost like a classic walking
2 bass line.
? ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
A7
™ 5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7
¤ ™5 7 5 7 5 7 5 7

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
? œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ
D7 A7
7 5 7 7 5 7 5 7 5 7
¤ 5 5 5 7 5 7

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? œ œ œ
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œ œ
E7 D7 A7
9 7 9 7 5 7 5 7 5 7
™
¤ 7 5 5 7 5 7 ™

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it qfits
the song, you could also double every note – and this can
p ]e
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œ œorœ swung œœœ œœœ
œœ œœ œœ œœ
That
A7 would look like this:
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55 7 7 5577
55 7 7 5577

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? œœœœœœ œœ œ œ œ œ œœœœ œ œ œœœœ
œœ œœ
D7 A7
5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7
¤ 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7
5 5 7 7
5 5 7 7
5 5 7 7
 9 7 9 7 5 7 5 7 5 7
™
¤ 7 5 5 7 5 7 ™

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? ™™ œ œ œœœœ œ œ œœœœ œ œ œœœœ œ œ œœœœ
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œœ œœ
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7 7 5 5 7 7 7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7
¤ 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 7 5 5 7 7

œœœœ œœœœ
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If you want to hear this bass line in a real world song, check this out:

Buddy Guy – My Time After A While

Formula #4

Next, we get a classic blues bass line. This is one that you may have
heard on heaps of recordings and it’s kind of like the descending
version of Formula #3. Instead of mostly going up, this bass line
‘falls’.

We’re using the exact same notes, just in a slightly different order.
Check out Jaco Pastorius’ version of Fannie Mae to hear this line in
action. You’ll notice he embellishes the line with a lot of triplets:

Jaco Pastorius – Fannie Mae

 33

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A7
™™™ 77 55 77 55 77 55 77 55
¤¤ ™ 55 77 55 77 55 77 55 77

? œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
? œœ œœ œœ œœ
D7
D7 A7
A7
77 55 77 77 55 77 77 55 77 55
¤¤ 55 55 55 77 55 77

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œœ œœ
E7
E7 D7
D7 A7
A7
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¤¤ 77 55 55 77 55 77 ™
Again, you can play each note twice to make the line more active:
? ™™™
? œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
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A7
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¤¤ ™ 55 55 77 77 55 55 5
555 5
555

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? œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
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D7 A7
A7
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¤¤ 5
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5 5 55 55 55 55

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99 99 77 77 99 99 7 7 5 5
7 7 5 5 77 77 77 77 55 55 77 77 77 77 55 55 77 77
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 Formula #5

Next, we’re going to swap out the 7th of every chord with the 6th
instead. This is a very melodic note choice and it makes for and
incredibly versatile bass line. That means over every A chord, we’ll
have A – C# – E – F#, over the D chords, we’ll have D – F# – A – B,
and finally over the E chord, E – G# – B – C#.

If we play all these as quarter notes, we’ll get this:

4

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œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ
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¤ ™5 4 7 5 4 7 5 4 7 5 4 7

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œ #œ œ #œ
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œ #œ
œ #œ
D7 A7
4 7 4 4 7 4 4 4
¤ 5 5 5 4 7 5 4 7

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œ #œ #œ ™™
œ #œ œ œ #œ œ
E7 D7 A7
6 9 6 4 7 4 4 4
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You could play this exact bass line over a swung blues with no issues
at all. The best thing about this formula though is its versatility. You
? can
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œ it! #œ œ œ œ#œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ
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Of
A7course, you can do the obvious things like doubling every note:
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55 4 4 7 7 44
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¤ 7 5 5 4 7 5 4 7 ™

? ™™ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ

œœ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ
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55 4 4 7 7 44
55 4 4 7 7 44

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œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ
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4 4 4 4
¤ 5 5 4 4 7 7 5 5 4 4 7 7 5 5 4 4 7 7
4 4
5 5 4 4 7 7
4 4

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6 6 9 9 66 4 4 7 7 44 44 44
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When you do this, you can also play around with bouncing back and
forth between different notes like this: 5

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œœ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ
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55 4 4 7 7 47
55 4 4 7 7 47

? œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ

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¤ 5 5 4 4 7 7 7 5 5 4 4 7 7 7 5 5 4 4 7 7 4 7 5 5 4 4 7 7 4 7

? œ œ#œ œ œ œ# œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ #œ
œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ ™™
E7 D7 A7
6 6 9 9 69 4 4 7 7 47 47 47
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 This is exactly the kind of line from the Elvis recording of Jailhouse
Rock – a classic rock and roll track.

Elvis Presley – Jailhouse Rock

Instead of coming down from the 6th, you can also go up to the root of
the chord, just like we did in Formula #3. Of course, then you have to
come back down, but you can use the exact same notes you went up
on.

This makes each phrase 2 bars though, which is fine, but you have to
modify your approach when it comes to the 5-chord and the 4-chord
in the last phrase. They’re each only one bar long, so we have to
revert to the original 1-3-5-6 formula for them:
6

? ™™ #œ œ #œ œ #œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ
œ #œ œ #œ #œ
A7
™ 4 7 4 4 7 4
¤ ™5 4 7 7 4 5 4 7 7 4

œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ
? œ #œ œ #œ œ #œ
œ #œ
D7 A7
4 7 4 7 4 7 4 4 7 4
¤ 5 5 4 7 7 4

? œ #œ œ # œ œ #œ œ
œ #œ œ #œ œ ™™
œ #œ œ #œ
E7 D7 A7
6 9 6 4 7 4 4 7 4
™
¤ 7 5 4 7 7 4 ™
As always you can double the notes and play swung 8th notes if you
5
want to make a shuffle blues line out of it:
? ™™ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ
œœ œœ
A7
™ 44 7744 44 7744
¤ 7 5 5 4 7 7 4 ™

? ™™ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ

œœ œœ
A7
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55 4 4 7 7 44 77447744

œœœœœœ
? œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ œ #œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ
œœ
D7 A7
4 4 7 7 4 4 7 7 4 4
¤ 5 5 4 4 7 7 5 5 4 4 7 7 4 4 7 7 4 4 7 7 4 4

#œ œ
? œ œ#œ œ œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ
œœ
#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ œ œ#œ œ ™™
œœ
E7 D7 A7
6 6 9 9 66 4 4 7 7 44 44 77447744
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¤ 77 55 55 4 4 7 7 ™
This kind of line is exactly what you’ll find in the Jimmy Dawkins track,
Little Angel Child.

Jimmy Dawkins – Little Angel Child

Formula #6

Our final formula uses elements from all the other bass lines we’ve
talked about so far. Like the last variation of the last formula, it’s a 2-
bar phrase, and this is another one you’ve probably heard hundreds
of times before.

The formula for this one is: 1-3-5-6-7-6-5-3-1

Again, you have to modify your approach when we get to the last
phrase because each chord only lasts one bar. In this case, I’ve just
put in the first half of the phrase.
 77

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œœ œœ ##œœ œœ ##œœ œœ ##œœ
œ œœ
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A7
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5

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œ œœ œœ œœ ##œœ œ ##œœ œœ ##œœ œœ ##œœ
œ ##
œœ œ
œ
D7
D7 A7
A7
44 77 44 55 44 77 44 44 55 44 77 44
¤¤ 55
55 44 77

œ #œ œ œœ
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œœ œ
œ ##
œœ œœ ##œœ œœ ##œœ œœ ##œœ ™™ ™™
œ
E7
E7 D7
D7 A7
A7
6 99 66 4 77 44 44 55 44 77 44
™™
¤¤ 77 6 55 4
55 44 77 ™™
If you doubled every note, you’d get this:

?? ™™ ™™ œ œ##œœœœœœœœ##œœœœ œœœœ##œœœœœœœœ##œœœœ œ œ##œœœœœœœœ##œœœœ œœœœ##œœœœœœœœ##œœœœ

œœ œœ
A7
A7
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¤ ™ ™
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5555

œœ œœœœ
?? œœœœ##œœœœœœœœœ œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ##œœœœ œ œ##œœœœœœœœ##œœœœ œœœœ##œœœœœœœœ##œœœœ
œœ
D7
D7 A7
A7
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¤¤ 5
5 55
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œœ
E7
E7 D7
D7 A7
A7
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You can find this kind of line in tons of tunes, but perhaps the most
famous is another Elvis recording, Blue Suede Shoes. This recording
uses the simpler quarter note-based line:

Elvis Presley – Blue Suede Shoes

Notice how we went from relatively simple lines, just using the roots
of the chords and went all the way to phrases played across multiple
bars using 5 different notes over every chord?

These lines are varied enough that they can get you through a ton of
different playing situations.

Are there other ways to get through the blues form?

Absolutely! But these are a great place to get started, and once
you’ve mastered these, there’s nothing stopping you from learning
even more.

I highly encourage you to go through and check out the recording

examples I’ve provided for you. It’s one thing to read about these
formulas and understand them intellectually, but it’s another thing
entirely to hear how they’re played.

In some ways, how they are played is even more important that what
is being played.

Of course if you have questions or need some clarification, just let me

know – I’m only an email away.

Thanks so much for downloading this guide, and if it’s helped you,
send me an email letting me know how. I’d love to hear from you.

Cheers,