Developing Your Own Basses - Harmonic Ideas & Suitcase Blues Study

Exploring Creative Bass Lines: Albert Ammons' "Suitcase Blues"

Talking about getting creative with bass lines, let's look at a truly interesting one by the fantastic Albert Ammons in his piece "Suitcase Blues."

Introduction to the Bass Line

• Identifiable Piece: The bass line is easily recognizable.
• Basis in Tenths: This bass line is based on tenths, which we haven't actually explored yet.

Essentially, it's a variation on a very simple bass line, but Ammons adds the 10th on top, which greatly enriches the texture.

• The root and the 10th stay where they are, and only the middle note moves.

The whole bass line goes like this:

When it moves up to the 4, it does this:

• It walks down the same intervals.

You'll notice it's exactly the same on the C and then back up to the G.

The V Chord: A Deeper Dive

When we reach the V chord, things get really interesting and quite complex.

• The harmonies seem to be influenced by stride piano playing, where tenths are more common.
• Ammons was a great stride piano player.

So when he approaches the V chord, he does so via a G (first inversion) to a B flat diminished chord, which is where the harmony transitions to A:

• This is actually a D7 in second inversion, with that tenth voicing.

So, it flows in tenths with the fifth in the middle or sixth, depending on how you look at it. It does this cool little phrase, and you could even put a little skip in there:

• Something like that.

Revisiting the Turnaround

There's a lot of notes here, and then we return to the diminished again. Next comes the turnaround, which I'll explain:

• The turnaround might look something like this:

So, the harmonies on the turnaround could be something like that, based on this:

• But he keeps transitioning to the G7 to the D7.

What he's done here is taken those harmonies and structured them in tenths. However, he's broken them up to maintain that rhythmic rolling feel:

• On 2, 3, 4.

And then we're back into the tune.

The Left Hand Feature

That's quite an involved left hand from Albert Ammons, and there's a fantastic little break during the tune which I'm excited to share.

• This segment is a left-hand feature before returning to the main theme.

Essentially, it involves going up the triad and back into the tune, with some rolls included.

• The whole break might look something like this, then back in.

Let me just show you that little turnaround back into the tune.

Right Hand Integration

Now, to give you a glimpse of how the actual tune sounds, we will also look at the right hand stuff alongside the tenth in the left hand:

That's the main part of the tune!

Conclusion

There you go! That's just a little insight into "Suitcase Blues" by Albert Ammons.