Just Friends Walking Bass Line
John Klenner and Sam M. Lewis wrote Just Friends in 1931, and Charlie Parker recorded it with strings in 1949, with Ray Brown on bass. It's a 32-bar ABAC tune in G, and it starts on the IV chord, Cmaj7, which catches a lot of players off guard. The changes borrow from G minor, slip down half steps and chain ii-Vs together, so there's plenty to walk through in 32 bars. Below you'll find the changes bar by bar and a walking line in G.
Turn the bass off and it's your gig: the piano and drums keep going and you walk the line. The band counts you in with one bar of hi-hat.
Recorded upright bass, grand piano and a jazz drum kit play the line. Tab is for 4-string bass in standard tuning.
The changes
Charts differ in two spots. Bar 11 is F#m7b5 B7b9 on Learn Jazz Standards; Jazzadvice writes Gmaj7 there and gives F#m7b5 B7 as an option. We use F#m7b5 B7b9, which matches bar 27. Bars 15 and 16 follow Jazzadvice, Am7 D7 | Dm7 G7; Learn Jazz Standards holds Am7 in bar 15 and plays D7 C#7 in bar 16. The tune's also often played in F. Learn Jazz Standards says F and G are the most common keys, and that some players, Charlie Parker among them, played it in A-flat.
How this line works
- The root lands on beat 1 of 28 of the 38 chord changes, so the harmony is clear. The rest start on the 3rd or 5th, which keeps the line from sounding like a list of roots.
- 37 of the 37 chord changes are approached by a half step or a whole step, so every new chord arrives smoothly instead of by a jump.
- Non-chord tones sit on the weak beats: 23 on beat 2 and 19 on beat 4. That's where passing and chromatic notes sound intentional instead of wrong.
- No note repeats back to back. A repeated note is the quickest way to make a walking line sound stiff.
What Just Friends teaches you
- It starts on the IV chord: bar 1 is Cmaj7, not G. The home chord, Gmaj7, doesn't arrive until bar 5, which catches a lot of players off guard.
- A backdoor into G: Cm7 F7 in bars 3 and 4 is borrowed from G minor. It's a ii-V in B-flat, but it resolves to Gmaj7 instead, with F7 going up a whole step to G.
- A ii-V that slips down a half step: Bbm7 Eb7 in bars 7 and 8 is a ii-V in A-flat, but instead of resolving, it slides to Am7 in bar 9, a half step below Bbm7.
- The B section: Am7 D7 (a ii-V in G), then F#m7b5 B7b9, a minor ii-V to Em7, then two bars of A7 before Am7 D7 and Dm7 G7 turn you back to Cmaj7.
- G major waits until the end: the last eight bars run Am7 | D7 | F#m7b5 B7b9 | Em7 | A7 | Am7 D7 | Gmaj7, and bar 32's Dm7 G7 is a ii-V back to Cmaj7 at the top.
How to practice it
- Hear the form first. Turn the bass off and play just the root of each chord along with the band until you never lose your place.
- Read the line slowly. Set the tempo around 80 and play the written line with the drums. Slow is the fast way here.
- Loop the hard spots. Turn on Loop, find the four bars that trip you up, and play them until they feel like the easy ones.
- Make it yours. Keep beat 1 of every bar, but change the approach note on beat 4. A half step above, a half step below, a whole step: each one changes the color of the arrival.
- Play it with the record. Put on one of the versions below and play along. That's where the time feel gets into your hands.
Want to build your own lines on these changes? Try the free Walking Line Builder and practice with the click on 2 and 4.
Recordings to hear
- Charlie Parker, Charlie Parker with Strings (1950), with Ray Brown on bass.
- Cecil Taylor, Stereo Drive (later reissued as Coltrane Time) (1959), with Chuck Israels on bass.
- Oscar Peterson, Walking the Line (1971), with George Mraz on bass.
Just Friends: questions
What key is Just Friends in?
G major on JazzStandards.com, Jazzadvice and standardrepertoire.com, and that's the key on this page. Learn Jazz Standards says F is just as common, so ask before the count-off. In G the first chord is Cmaj7; in F it's Bbmaj7.
Why does Just Friends start on Cmaj7 if it's in G?
The tune opens on the IV chord and takes four bars to get to I: Cmaj7, then Cm7 F7 borrowed from G minor, then Gmaj7 in bar 5. JazzStandards.com compares that IV-iv-I opening to After You've Gone.
What's the form of Just Friends?
It's 32 bars, ABAC. The two A sections are the same. B and C both start Am7 D7, then B heads to A7 and a ii-V back to Cmaj7, while C finally lands on Gmaj7 in bar 31.
Your next step
This page gives you one line to study. These courses teach you to build your own, on the bass you play.
The 7-Day Walking Bass Breakthrough
Cole DavisWalk through any jazz tune with lines that move, swing, and never repeat themselves.
- Walk through any ii-V-I, major or minor.
- Solve the two-bar problem on static modal tunes.
- Never repeat yourself two bars in a row.
Walking Basslines on Upright Bass from the Beginning
Cole DavisFive lessons from “my walking lines don't sound like the records” to professional-grade walking.
- The chord first: the 1-3-5-7, where every great bass line starts.
- The master move: changing the order of the notes, bar by bar, on an F blues.
- The three questions every bass line has to pass, then the whole method on Autumn Leaves.
Not sure which course fits? Answer a few questions and we'll point you to one.