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Do you want to play awesome bass lines on piano like the legendary Oscar Peterson? In today’s Quick Tip, How to Play a Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano, John Proulx shares a hip left-hand technique that invokes classic Oscar Peterson vibes. You’ll learn:

• Introduction
  • What is a two-feel bass line?
  • Examples of Two-Feel Bass Lines
• Beginner Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano
• Intermediate Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano
• Advanced Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano

Introduction

The jazz pianist, perhaps more than any other instrumentalist, has to wear a lot of hats. In fact, when a jazz pianist accompanies a soloist, they often must assume the roles of two or more players. For example, the pianist’s left hand will often play a bass line while their right hand plays 3-note or 4-note chord voicings. And if you want to play solo jazz piano, then you are in essence simulating an entire orchestra or ensemble! Therefore, jazz piano students spend quite a bit of time studying the roles of other jazz instruments for the purpose of imitation. In today’s lesson, we’re going to zero in on an important left-hand piano technique that all jazz piano students can and should study: the two-feel bass line.

What is a two-feel bass line?

A two-feel bass line in jazz primarily uses half notes to emphasize beats 1 and 3. By contrast, a walking bass line mainly uses quarter notes to emphasize all four beats in 4/4 time. A two-feel bass line produces a more open and relaxed feel as compared to a walking bass line, which has a more driving pulse.

Examples of Two-Feel Bass Lines

Now that you know what a two-feel bass line is, let’s discover some important principles for constructing this essential groove. If you are a PWJ member, you can download the lesson sheet PDF and backing tracks from the bottom of this page after logging in with your membership. In addition, PWJ members can transpose the lesson sheet to any key using our Smart Sheet Music.

Beginner Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano

If you are a beginner jazz pianist, then your two-feel bass line should consist of two half notes per measure. But which notes should you play? Well, it depends on how many chords there are per bar. Before discussing specific note choices, let’s first examine a two-feel bass line over a bebop blues in C. Afterwards, we’ll get practical about how to choose your bass notes. Incidentally, all the right-hand voicings throughout today’s lesson use the guide tones of the chord, which are the 3rd and 7th.

Two Chords Per Bar

The easiest “two-feel” scenario is when you have two chords per measure. If you are a beginner, you can simply play half notes on the root of each chord. For example, the last two measures in the example above contain a Ⅰ→Ⅵ→Ⅱ→Ⅴ progression known as the turnaround progression. For a C blues, these chords are C7→A7→D7→G7. Therefore, you can play four consecutive half notes: C, A, D, G.

One Chord Per Bar

When you encounter just one chord per bar, your two-feel bass line requires a bit more thought. Generally speaking, you’ll play the root of the chord on beat 1 and another note on beat 3. Usually, beat 3 will be a chord tone such as the 3rd or the 5th; however, it could also be a scale tone. In fact, for most scenarios, there is more than one possible bass note that can work well.

In general, bass players try to observe the following melodic principles when playing a two-feel with half notes:

• Play the root on beat 1 (except for on slash chords, like C7/G)
• Stepwise motion or descending 5ths are desirable across a barline
• Repeated notes are undesirable across a barline

(Since an ascending 4th is the inversion of a descending 5th, this also results in desirable movement across a barline.) Let’s look at some examples of these principles in practice.

Measure 1

John uses the 3rd of the C7 (the note E) on beat 3. However, the 5th of C7 (the note G) would have worked just as well here. In this case, both choices would create stepwise motion to the root of F7 in the next measure.

Measure 2

Here the chord is F7. Therefore, on beat 3, we could theoretically play the note A (the 3rd) or the note C (the 5th). However, notice that the next chord is C7. In this context, the note A is a more fitting. Otherwise, you’d have two C’s in a row, which would obscure the clarity of the chord progression.

Measure 3

Here we have a C7 chord again. However, since the following chord is Gm7, we should avoid the 5th of C7 (the note G) on beat 3. This prevents a repeated note across the barline. We could certainly play the 3rd of C7 (the note E) on beat 3. However, John instead chose the note A, which is the 6th of C7. Even though the note A is not a chord tone of C7, it is in the parent scale of C7, which is C Mixolydian (C–D–E–F–G–A–B♭). The note A is especially effective here because it resolves to the root of Gm7 with stepwise motion.

Measure 7

Here we encounter a slash chord…C7/G. This chord symbol indicates that the overall chord is C7, but that the bass note should specifically be the note G.

Alright, you’re ready for the next section in which you’ll learn how to play an intermediate level two-feel bass line.

Intermediate Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano

In this section, you’ll learn how jazz bassists often combine half notes and quarter notes when playing a two-feel. Once again, let’s begin our inquiry for this level with a listening example.

Even though a two-feel groove is based on a half-note architecture, that doesn’t mean that half notes are the only rhythm that a bass player will use. Instead, bassists also incorporate smaller note values to give  their bass lines some momentum. This rhythmic momentum most often occurs on the “back side” of the measure. Therefore, the rhythmic combination of half-quarter-quarter is the simplest type of momentum that we can add to a two-feel bass line.

Intermediate Voice Leading Techniques

In general, bass players try to observe the following melodic principles when playing a two-feel with half notes and quarter notes:

• Play the root on beat 1 (except for is a slash chords, like C7/G)
• Stepwise motion and enclosures are desirable across a barline
• Repeated notes are undesirable across a barline

There are two noteworthy differences for this level. Firstly, the descending 5th (or ascending 4th) across the barline is less common because the quarter note on beat 4 essentially camouflages that leap. In other words, the descending 5th from beat 3 to beat 1 may still exist structurally, but that interval is filled in melodically on beat 4 (see measures 4 and 12).

Another difference is that the use quarter notes creates the opportunity for enclosures, a melodic gesture in which a targeted note is preceded by its upper and lower neighbor (or vice versa). For example, in measure 1, the E on beat 3 and the G on beat 4 constitute the lower and upper neighbors to the root of F7 in measure 2. Such enclosures create strong voice leading into the target note.

One Chord Per Bar

When you have one chord per bar, the pattern R-3-5 frequently results in the desirable voice leading described above (see measures 1, 9 and 10). However, R-3-5 won’t always work. For example, R-3-5 works great in measure 1 when you’re going from C7 to F7. However, in measure 2, R-3-5 would result in a repeated note (C) across the barline. Therefore, instead of playing the 5th of F7 on beat 4, we can use a half step below the next root (Think: R-3-HS). That’s how John gets the bass line F—A–B in measure 2. If you want to mix things up, you can replace the half step below the target on beat 4 with a whole step above the target (i.e.: for measure 2, try F—A-D). Another way to mix things up is to occasionally change R-3-5 to R-5-3. This reverses the direction of the enclosure.

Two Chords Per Bar

The pattern R—R-3 or R—R-5 will frequently work to achieve desirable voice leading in a two-feel bass line when you have two chords per bar. Note, the first “R” represents the root of the first chord, whereas the second “R” represents the root of the second chord. In fact, both of these patterns will work in measures 4, 8, 11 and 12 of our intermediate two-feel bass line example.

In the next section, you’ll learn how to create even more momentum in a two-feel bass line.

Advanced Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano

For a playful and active two-feel bass line, bassists frequently include a mixture of half notes, quarter notes, eighth notes and eighth-note triplets. For example, consider the following advanced two-feel bass line:

Advanced Rhythmic Techniques

Did you notice that some measures in this advanced example do not include any half notes at all? For example, measures 2, 10 and 12 almost look as if they could have been excerpted from a walking bass line. However, it’s important to realize that there is a certain symmetry involved in the phrasing here. During our intermediate level discussion, we pointed out that quarter notes most frequently occur on the back side of the measure. In the same way, an advanced two-feel bass line is most active on the back side of a two-bar or a four-bar phrase. In other words, the even measure numbers are generally more active than the odds. This helps the listener to hear the bass line in phrase units larger than one-measure-at-a-time. For example, the triplets in measures 4 and 8 function in a similar manner to a drum fill.

Advanced Voice Leading Techniques

This advanced two-feel bass line also introduces some additional voice leading techniques. Firstly, we now have chromatic approach tones (indicated in the score with the letters “C.A.”). This melodic device approaches a target note using two (or more) successive half steps in a row. For example, notice the chromatic line G→G♭→F as we move from C7 in measure 1 to F7 in measure 2.

Another chromatic device that advanced bassists use is tritone substitution. This technique descends on a target note from a half step above and is approached by a leap from the root of the previous chord. (This device is indicated in the score with the letters “R.T.” for “root to tritone.”) While there are several instances of tritone substitution in this two-feel bass line, perhaps the most obvious example occurs in measure 12 on the final G7 chord. Here, the bass line moves from the root of G7 to the note D♭, which is a tritone away. Afterward, the D♭ resolves downward by a half step into the root of C7 as the form repeats.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you’ve completed today’s lesson on How to Play a Two-Feel Bass Line on Piano. With the pro tips you’ve learned in this lesson, you’re ready to imitate the sound of an upright bass on your favorite jazz swing standards.

If you enjoyed today’s lesson, then be sure to check out the following PWJ resources:

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