Shout Music is when the congregation really gets fired up. Learning how to shout requires fluency with a variety of shout bass lines…
Here are some “bread & butter” shout bass lines on the I chord in the key of C…
Gospel Shout Bass Line Variation 1
The above may look complicated on the surface, but the pattern is quite simple. Think, hear, and feel the two “target notes”: C (Do) on beat 1 & G (So) on beat 3. The other notes are simply three note chromatic pickups that either ascend or descend into each target note.
Technique Tip: The proper way to walk is to drop the weight of your arm-hand into each note. Try to sound like a bass player thumping out juicy, round, big, fat notes.
Gospel Shout Bass Line Variation 2
Think, hear, and feel the “target notes”, C & G and “feed” them chromatically from above or below…
Rhythmic Conception and Interpretation: Feel each chorus as coherent 2-bar and 4-bar ideas, not as isolated notes or four-note segments that end at the bar lines.
Gospel Shout Bass Line Variation 3
This variation takes part of the ascending line and displaces it one octave lower…
Gospel Shout Bass Line Variation 4
The entire ascending line displaced one octave lower…
Can you think of some other ways to connect the target notes?
Okay Frank, I considered it and love it. Is there sheet music for this improv and some of your other bass line examples where there the right hand is also used in the recordings?
Sorry, Von… no sheet music… but you can find the ideas sprinkled around the website!