Piano Songs with Walking Bass
857 songs — Walking bass — left hand moves in steady quarter notes through the chord tones and passing notes — is the defining bass pattern of jazz, blues, and boogie-woogie. Tricky to play, instantly cool.
How walking bass works
Walking bass: LH plays a steady stream of quarter notes (one per beat) that outline the harmony — typically chord root → 3rd → 5th → chromatic passing tone → next chord root. Mostly stepwise motion.
FLASHLIGHT
Parliament
GIVE IT TO ME BABY
Rick James
HELLO
Beyonce
HERE COMES YOUR MAN
Pixies
HER TOWN TOO
James Taylor with J.D. Souther
INTO THE MYSTIC
Van Morrison
I SAW HER STANDING THERE
The Beatles
JUST YOU 'N' ME
Chicago
KENTUCKY RAIN
Elvis Presley
Love Song for No One
John Mayer
Many Of Horror (When We Collide)
Biffy Clyro
MINUTE BY MINUTE
The Doobie Brothers
NEVER GROW UP
Taylor Swift
ONE
Harry Nilsson
PERFECTLY WRONG
Shawn Mendes
SAVE MYSELF
Ed Sheeran
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN
Led Zeppelin
THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND
Andrew Gold
THE GLORY OF LOVE
Paul McCartney
THEME FOR AN IMAGINARY WESTERN
Mountain
THE NAME OF THE GAME
ABBA
THE PIRATE'S BRIDE
Sting
THE WIND CRIES MARY
Jimi Hendrix
TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS
Mary MacGregor
(UNTITLED)
D'Angelo
WHO'S THAT GIRL?
Hilary Duff
WORKIN' AT THE CAR WASH BLUES
Jim Croce
ALRIGHT
Darius Rucker
CAROLINE, NO
The Beach Boys
COLD AS YOU
Taylor Swift
DO RIGHT WOMAN DO RIGHT MAN
Aretha Franklin
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN
Lee Michaels
HERE TO LOVE YOU
The Doobie Brothers
HEY JEALOUSY
Gin Blossoms
Holy
Matt Redman
HOW GLAD I AM
Jimmy Williams
I'VE TOLD YOU NOW
Sam Smith
I WAS MADE TO LOVE HER
Stevie Wonder
LOCKED OUT OF HEAVEN
Bruno Mars
MY DESIRE
Jeremy Camp
SHAKE YOU DOWN
Gregory Abbott
SO INTO YOU
Atlanta Rhythm Section
STEREO HEARTS
Gym Class Heroes
Thank You For The Music
ABBA
THAT LADY
The Isley Brothers
THE HEART OF THE MATTER
Don Henley
VALERIE
Amy Winehouse
WELCOME HOME
Coheed And Cambria
Page 8 of 18 · 857 walking bass songs
Frequently asked questions
- What is walking bass piano?
- Walking bass is a left-hand technique where you play a continuous stream of quarter notes that "walk" between chord changes. Defining sound of jazz, blues, swing, and boogie-woogie.
- Is walking bass hard?
- Yes — it's one of the more advanced bass patterns. Requires hand independence (LH does its own walking line while RH plays melody/chords) and knowledge of scale + chord theory to construct walking lines.
- What songs use walking bass?
- Most jazz standards, blues progressions, and many soul/funk tracks. Browse the list for examples — mostly medium and hard difficulty.