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The main job of a bass line, in any style, is to outline the chord sound one note at a time — and triad tones are the best raw material for that job. For jazz walking lines, put the root on beat one of each chord and fill the remaining beats with thirds and fifths. It's the fastest path to a strong harmonic foundation.
Changing one small detail in a bass line — an eighth-note rhythm, a pitch choice — can be the deal-breaker for the whole line. Practicing with strict attention to every detail builds the judgment you need to make informed, in-the-moment choices when you're improvising bass lines in a performance situation.
When creating a bass line, break it down to its simplest component — what I call the groove denominator: the smallest rhythmic and harmonic skeleton the music needs to survive. Building the line outward from there keeps it serving the song first, before any fills or embellishments ever get added.
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