Making the Changes: Countermelodies in the Basslines of George “Pops” Foster and Ed “Montudi” Garland

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores how two early New Orleans bass players, George “Pops” Foster and Ed “Montudi” Garland, used countermelodies to construct their basslines, and how the principles they used to construct their lines were rooted in the voice leading of barbershop harmony. Their note choices are explored in relation to the blues and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee.”