{{redirect|Walkup|the American basketball player|Thomas Walkup}} [[File:Walkdown I V vi.png|thumb|Country walkdown, in blue, with Carter Family picking. {{audio|Walkdown I V vi.mid|Play}}]]
In country music, '''walkdown''' is a bassline which connects two root position chords whose roots are a third apart, often featuring an inverted chord<ref>Wilson, Steven Robert (1985). ''On the Importance of Popular Music Theory in the Curriculum'', p.62. University of California, Santa Cruz.</ref> to go between the root notes of the first two chords. See: slash chord. A '''walkup''' would be the converse. For example, the chords G major and E minor (a minor third apart) may be joined by an intervening chord to create stepwise motion in the bass: G-D/F{{music|#}}-Em (I-V6-vi). The second chord, D major, is performed with its third note, the F#, in the bass. Walkdowns may be performed by the upright bass player, the electric bass player, the guitarist, or a piano player.
In jazz, a walkdown is a descending bassline below chords sharing a common tone.<ref>De Mause, Alan (2002). ''Complete Fingerstyle Jazz Guitar'', p.181. {{ISBN|9780786665594}}.</ref> For example, if the above was G-D/F{{music|#}}-Em'''7''' the bassline would descend, G, F{{music|#}}, E, while D is held in common. ''Walkdown'' may also refer to the movement from V to IV in bars nine and ten of the twelve-bar blues.<ref>Julin, Don (2012). ''Mandolin For Dummies'', p.174. {{ISBN|9781119943969}}.</ref>
==See also== *Walking bass
==Sources== {{reflist}}
{{Bass (sound)}}
Category:Bass (sound) Category:Accompaniment
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