07
Walking
Beginners
Level
Bass 01
With Ian
Scott
Martin
Devine
Allison
07.
01. ‘Rumble In the Alley’
Jazz Primer
SCOTT SBASSLESSO NS. CO M
COURSE BOOK
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 1
Lesson 1
“Rumble in the Alley”
Trading rhythmic variations back and forth. Quarter notes. Half notes.
Whole Notes. Rests. Reading tablature. Thinking about your hands... we’ve
already come a long way! Let’s continue on our journey with another song
that continues to tie all these together.
Our next playalong is influenced by the song “Rumble” by Link Wray
and the Wraymen, and is titled “Rumble in the Alley.” It’s a “cool, bluesy,
vintage tune” from 1958—and due to it’s rock ‘n’ roll swagger, it’s the only
instrumental song to be banned from being played on the radio in the US.
Talk about the power of music!
SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 2
LESSON 1 (continued)
Example 01 “Rumble in the Alley”
beginner-level1-course7-rumble-in-the-alley
A
Moderately fast q � 110
D C D C
? 44 ™™ w ˙ œ œ w ˙ œ œ
™
¤ ™ 5 3 3 5 3 3
5 G C D C
? œ œ w ˙ œ œ
w ˙
3 3 5 3 3
3
9 A C D C
? œ œ w ˙ œ œ
w ˙
3 3 5 3 3
5
B
13 D
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
17
G D
? œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
5 5 0 3 5 5
0 3 5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
21
A D C D
?
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ w
™
5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
5 5 0 3 5 5 3 3 ™ 5
SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 3
Lesson 2
Song Overview & Ties
Our playalong from Lesson 01 featured a couple things we haven’t
encountered before: squares with letters inside, and a big, curved line
connecting two notes. Let’s take a look at both to find out what they mean.
Ties
In the first bars of “Rumble in the Alley,” we see a long curved line
connecting two noteheads. This is called a tie, and it acts essentially as
a “plus” or “addition” sign: it means we hold that note for the duration of
both notes: it connects those two notes. In Bars 1 and 2, for example we
pluck the whole note on Beat 1 and hold it for the length of the whole note
(four beats) plus the length of the note it’s tied to, the half note (two beats),
meaning we would let that note sound for six beats in total. We do not pluck
the note again. And when counting, we still only count to four in
each measure.
Example 01 Tied Notes
A Ties
Moderately fast q � 110
D C D C
? 44 ™™ w ˙ œ œ w ˙ œ œ
Beat: 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
™
¤ ™ 5 3 3 5 3 3
Ties
5 G C
are used to connect notes across two measures. They can also be
D C
?
used to connect two notes within a measure if necessary. œ œ w ˙ œ œ
w ˙
Song Form 3 3 5 3 3
3
“Rumble in the Alley” is a blues-inspired tune, and blues tunes are typically
of
9 a 12-bar
A format. You may have heard
C the term 12-bar
D blues before. C
Our
? playalong is a 12-bar blues tune œthat’s broken
œ up winto two 12-bar ˙ œ œ
w ˙
sections. You’ll see the letters A and B in boxes above measures 1 and 13,
respectively: those are referred to as rehearsal marks, or section markers.
In essence, they indicate we’re in a different
3 3part of the
5 tune that’s different 3 3
5
from what we may have just played.
B
13 D SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 4
LESSON 2 (continued)
Let’s compare the A Section of “Rumble in the Alley” with the B Section:
Example 02 “A” Section
A
Moderately fast q � 110
D C D C
? 44 ™™ w ˙ w ˙
A
œ œ œ œ
Moderately fast q � 110
™ D C D C
¤ 4 ™™ w5
? 4 ˙ œ3 œ3 w5 ˙ œ3 œ3
5 G C D C
? ™
¤ w™
œ œ w ˙ œ3 œ3
5 ˙ 3 3 5
5 G C D C
3 3 5 3 3
? 3
œ œ w ˙ œ œ
w ˙
9 A C D C
? œ3 œ3 w ˙ œ3 œ3
w ˙ 5
3
9 A C D C
3 3 5 3 3
? 5
œ œ w ˙ œ œ
B
w ˙
13 D
Example
œ5 œ 03
œ “B”
œ Section
? œ œ3 œ 3 œ 5
œ œ œ œ œ3 3 œ
œ œ
B
13 D
? œ5 5
œ
0 3
œ
5
œ
5
œ
0 3
œ
5
œ
5
œ
0 3
œ
5
œ
5
œ
0 3
œ
œ œ œ œ
17
G D
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ3 œ œ œ3 œ œ œ3
5 5 0 3 5 5
œ0 5 5
œ0 5 5
œ0
17
G
5 5 0 3 5 5 D
0 3 5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ
21
A D C D
?
œ5 œ5 œ 0 œ 3 œ 5œ œ5 œ0 œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™ w
3 5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
™ D
21
A D
™ 5 C
œ œ œ œ ™™ w
5 5 0 3 5 5 3 3
? 5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
™
5 5 0 3 5 5 0 3
5 5 0 3 5 5 3 3 ™ 5
SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 5
LESSON 2 (continued)
Notes:
— IN the A Section, it’s the guitar that drives the tune.
— The B Section, we move from the repeated rhythm of tied whole and half notes followed
by two quarter notes, to more of a walking bass line featuring a steady stream of quarter
notes that really moves the song along. Here the bass drives the tune.
— The repeat sign at the end of the B Section takes us all the way back to the beginning,
also referred to as the “top” of the tune, making the song form A – B – A – B.
“A repeat sign ... gives you a second
chance to address anything you may
have struggled with in your first pass...
especially if you’re just practicing.”
SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 6
Lesson 3
Tone & Technique
In this lesson, we’ll take a look at how to achieve the proper tone—
including not only the tone controls, but also your hands—to play a song like
“Rumble in the Alley.”
Bass Knob Settings
For “Rumble in the Alley” and similar tunes, you’ll want to favor the neck
pickup rather than the bridge pickup (if your bass has only one pickup, such
as a P-bass-style bass, you won’t have to worry about which pickup to use),
but for J-style basses, turn down the VOLUME knob for the bridge pickup,
and turn back the TONE knob a bit as well. Here’s a look at J-bass knob
settings, with the neck pickup at “10,” the bridge pickup dialed back slightly
to roughly “6” and the tone dialed back to about “3”*. We’re going for a nice,
big, warm sound without a lot of “brightness” to it:
Figure 01 Control Knob Settings on a Fender Jazz-Style Bass
Neck pickup
Bridge pickup
ProTip When working on a sound or a song, try “playing” the song in your “We have to count at first,
mind, and even sing part of it, or better yet, “mouth” the drums out but at some point I want
loud. It will help you get into the spirit of the tune. you to start to feel it.”
*If you happen to have an active bass (one that requires a battery), you may have more sophisticated EQ controls.
Just experiment until you find a setting that works. (The standard Jazz Bass is a passive bass.) SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 7
LESSON 3 (continued)
Plucking-Hand Technique
We mentioned previously that our volume and tone controls are not the
only things that get us a good sound and/or tone; our hands are equally as
important, so it’s important to use proper technique:
— Pull through the string as you pluck. Don’t pull away from the bass as
you pluck the string.
— Alternate your fingers as you pluck, in general. (Of course you can use
the same finger two or three times in a row—or even throughout—but
only do that as a choice.**)
— Be sure you have a nice, even pull on the strings, with a consistent
sound for each note you play. “You’re gonna find what you like.
None of it is right or wrong.
— Experiment with your plucking-hand position to find what sounds best.
... Part of finding your own
Should you pluck near the bridge? Over the neck pickup? You decide. sound and your own approach
to this instrument is finding
Find what you like. where you like something.”
Fretting-Hand Technique
— This tune can best be played using your “rock horns”—fingers 1 and 4. If
your fingers can accommodate the stretch, you could use fingers 1 and
3, but for most of us, that will only introduce tension in the fretting hand,
particularly in the B Section.
— The “1–2–4” technique works well in this tune.
— Relax your fretting-hand shoulder, move your fretting-hand elbow away
from your body, and drop your fretting-hand wrist. Don’t grip the neck
like a baseball bat!
**The legendary bassist James Jamerson famously only used his index finger to pluck notes. It wasn’t
because he couldn’t alternate fingers; he did it by choice to achieve a certain sound.
SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
COURSE BOOK: BEGINNERS LEVEL 01 — COURSE 07 8
Lesson 4
Level 01 Wrap Up
Congratulations on completing Level 01 of this Learning Pathway! You’ve
come a long, long way already: you’re playing music!
BUT, if you’re still a little shaky on any of the tunes we’ve played in Level 01,
by all means go back and practice those song exercises until you are feeling
confident before moving on. Ideally, you should be able to play each one
three times through without mistakes to know that you’ve nailed it. Things
won’t be getting easier, so it’s important that you have a solid foundation
before advancing. And don’t jump ahead!
ProTip
When you find a song you like to play, put it on repeat.
Play it over and over again and work to smooth out any
transitions, work on your technique, your tone, etc.
If you feel you’ve got a good handle on things
at this point, it’s strongly recommended you
give Level 01 of PLAYERS PATH a try to further
develop your fundamental skills. Players Path
is a performance learning system here at SBL
that is song based, with nine levels of increasing
difficulty. It features a range of song styles and
uses a wide variety of techniques, and will really
help you see a trajectory in your learning.
SCOTTSBASSLESSONS.COM
S C OT T S B A S S L E S S O N S . C O M
