There Will Never Be Another You Walking Bass Line
Harry Warren and Mack Gordon wrote There Will Never Be Another You for the 1942 film Iceland, and Chet Baker's 1954 vocal version helped carry it to a wider audience. It's a 32-bar ABAC tune in E-flat, and it's a favorite at jam sessions. For a bassist, it's full of useful moves: a minor ii-V to the vi chord, a backdoor Db7, and a last four bars that change every two beats. Below you'll find the changes bar by bar and a walking line in E-flat.
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
The last eight bars change more than any other part of this tune. We use the version on Jazzadvice's chart, which matches the changes a guitarist posts on the jazzguitar.be forum: Abmaj7 | Db7 | Ebmaj7 | Am7b5 D7 | Ebmaj7 Ab7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7. Learn Jazz Standards gives F7 as another option for bar 28, and some players run dominant chords down by half steps in the last four bars (Eb D7 | Db7 C7 | B7 Bb7 | Eb). The Bb7 at the end of bar 32 only turns the tune around; on the last chorus, stay on Ebmaj7.
How this line works
- The root lands on beat 1 of 30 of the 37 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.
- 36 of the 36 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: 26 on beat 2 and 17 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 There Will Never Be Another You teaches you
- A minor ii-V to the vi chord: after two bars of Ebmaj7, Dm7b5 G7b9 takes you to Cm7. The third of G7, B natural, is the only chord tone in those four bars outside the key signature, and it pulls up a half step to C.
- A ii-V into the IV chord: Bbm7 Eb7 in bars 7 and 8 lands on Abmaj7. Bbm7's D-flat isn't in the key of E-flat, so it's the note that tells the band you've left home for a moment.
- A backdoor dominant: bar 10's Db7 is the bVII7 chord, and it goes up a whole step to Ebmaj7 in bar 11 instead of coming from Bb7, the usual V7. The root walks Db, Eb.
- A II7 that turns minor: bars 13 and 14 hold F7, then bar 15 makes it Fm7 and adds Bb7, a ii-V that sends you back to Ebmaj7 at the top of the second A.
- A run of fourths to finish: the last four bars move every two beats, Ebmaj7 Ab7 | Gm7 C7 | Fm7 Bb7 | Ebmaj7. Ab7 stands in for D7 (a tritone sub) and slides down a half step to Gm7, and from there the roots go G, C, F, Bb, Eb, each a fourth above the last.
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
- Chet Baker, Chet Baker Sings (1954), with Carson Smith on bass.
- Lester Young, Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio (1954), with Ray Brown on bass.
- Stan Getz, The Steamer (1957), with Leroy Vinnegar on bass.
There Will Never Be Another You: questions
What key is There Will Never Be Another You in?
E-flat major. That's the key on JazzStandards.com, Learn Jazz Standards and Jazzadvice, and it's the key you'll hear called at sessions. Singers sometimes move it, so check before the count-off.
What's the form of There Will Never Be Another You?
It's 32 bars, ABAC. The two A sections are the same. B and C both start Abmaj7 Db7 Ebmaj7, then B heads to F7 and Fm7 Bb7, while C packs in a minor ii-V and a chain of two-beat chords to get back to E-flat.
How fast is There Will Never Be Another You played?
Jazzadvice's chart marks it Medium Up Swing, and bands often count it off quick. Learn the line slow enough that the two-beat chords in the last four bars land clean, then move the metronome up.
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.