anyone plays bass out here?

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giv me gear
Member Since: Jan 29, 2009

need some tips writting a bassline.i play guitar.not bass and am new to it.so any tips?

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Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Feb 19, 2009 09:17 pm

I don't play bass either....or guitar for that matter. I'm a keyboardist/pianist at heart. That said, I think I still manage to pull off fairly convincing parts. And I kinda look at a question like that as being the same as asking a composer how he writes music. For some of us, it just comes naturally. The rest of us just have to work a little harder.

This is what I recommend first and foremost: Listen to a lot of music, not just quantity, but variety. Rock, Jazz, classical, electronica, celtic, bluegrass, whatever. Listen to parts and try to get a feel for how they interact, particularly the bass lines if that's what you're trying to figure out.

It's usually a good idea if you're starting out writing music to first analyze how others do it, try emulating it, and then try diverging from it and experimenting.

Usually, when I start a song, I lay down a rhythm track, and a bass track at the same time: meaning, I'll have a drummer, or virtual drummer going, and I'll use the keyboard to lay a bass track based on the rhythm track. I don't always do it that way though. Sometimes a cool bassline just comes to me, and I'll lay that down before the rhythm. Or sometimes I'll lay down a melody before anything else. I don't have any real set method, "sometimes it just comes to me."(tm)

Anyway, for starters, based on what you have, start with a simple ostinato, but break it up every so often by coming up with simple riffs to help glue everything together. Time them with the drum fills, or not, depending on the feeling you're going for. Jam along with your own music, and get a good feel for what you're trying to do before laying down any actual tracks.

And of course, experiment. Have fun with it.

-J

giv me gear
Member
Since: Jan 29, 2009


Feb 19, 2009 11:03 pm

i meant technically in terms of music theory chord changes ,when to change the bass note and when not to ,when to allow a suspension,when to hit the harmony note on the bass etc.

Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Feb 20, 2009 01:01 am

What you've described in your last post is basic style. It's up to you to determine what makes your style.

Your bass style envelopes chord changes, timing, suspension, harmonies, etc.

All the 'advice' in the world will not help you be a 'better' bass player. You need to decide what sounds good to you and go with it. Forget the word when it comes to personal satisfaction. It all comes down to what sounds good to you.

If you need tips or talking points, simply listen to your favorite bands. If they dont do it for you, then listen to STP, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rush, and others like them that include either complicated or skilled bass lines, or complicated compositions with simple bass lines. Music is art. No mistakes, just trial and error.

That's about all I can tell you.

Byte-Mixer
Member
Since: Dec 04, 2007


Feb 20, 2009 11:37 am

Honestly, knowing all the music theory in the world won't make you write better bass parts. Seriously, theory is about rules. Composition and art is about breaking those rules. The only thing theory really helps with is giving you a good understanding of -how- music works, so that you know -why- you're breaking those rules.

That's why me and Keith have both said, go listen to music, see how they do it, and then try to do it yourself. There is no real right or wrong, just what sounds good, and what works.

If you want a "technical" idea, then center the bass around the root, and use a lot of open intervals. Beyond that, it's all playing around with it, and finding out what works, and what doesn't. Try to hear the part in your head, how it could fit, how it couldn't fit with what's already there, and then just start working with it. Listen to your tracks that are missing the bass, and then ask yourself "what's missing? what needs to go here? how would it fit?"

I know it may seem like a vague response, but music is a more intuitive sorta thing anyway. Just read between the lines, and you'll be fine.

-J

P.S. Here's a bit of trivia: J.S. Bach never had a lick of music theory. Every last piece he wrote was composed by ear. He wrote everything based on what sounded right to him. Back then there wasn't any formally adapted music theory.

I think that's what a lot of us are trying to tell you even in other threads too. Use your ears, and write what sounds good to you.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006


Feb 20, 2009 11:54 am

When not riding the root notes of the guitar line, I just play simplistic solo lines on bass.

Administrator
Since: Apr 03, 2002


Feb 20, 2009 02:47 pm

Typically, I start out playing root notes to get to know the tune, once I kinda know the "groove" I just play around within the scale to emphasize the dynamics of the rhythm and the melody...the relationship between the bass line and the melody I have always found somewhat fascinating.

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006


Feb 20, 2009 03:39 pm

Said much better DB. Find the root notes and work the scales (solo).

'The Flying Dutchman'
Member
Since: Jan 11, 2006


Feb 20, 2009 04:53 pm

I'm a guitarist who only plays bass when recording. After I got the drums down I'll start with the rhythm guitars first, then I'll record bass. That way I can fill the holes and see what fits and what not. Don't like playing bass with just drums. I've always liked John Deacon (Queen) and Duff McKagan as bassplayers. Especially Duff (Guns N' Roses) plays a lead guitar bass kind of thing, very melodic yet grooving at the same time, never too much or over the top, very subtile.

I suggest listening to your favorite bands' bass playing, see what they play under the guitarriffs.

I remember Duff mentioned how there's one thing that stuck with him ever since GN'R and that was when a bridge or whatever led to the guitarsolo, he'd usually started with high notes (fills) and then went down to the lower notes.

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer
Member
Since: May 10, 2002


Feb 22, 2009 11:31 am

Sorry, can't make you an insta-bassist. It's just another instrument. What do you hear the bass doing in your minds ear? Is it simply holding tempo? Is it maintaining a grove? Is it counterpoint to other instrumentation? Is it in reality the melody structure with other instruments providing other aspects of the composition? Does it create melodic augmentation or does it project stress in the piece? Or, does it do all of these things at different times?

Listen to your minds ear and then sit down at some interface that you can use to recreate what you hear.

Answer:On a good day, lipstick.
Member
Since: Jun 24, 2004


Feb 23, 2009 01:58 pm

Not much to add, as all that you need is written above. I'd just mention a few bass players who could give you an idea of how divergent this whole bass playing thing is:

James Jamerson (Funk Brothers - just about every Motown song you ever heard: Jamerson had an incredible sense of melody, combined with a 'groove' that is second to none. Note how his counter melodies intertwine with his root playing.

Leland Sklar (just about everyone...): Can play very simply, and on the root - like he puts in three less notes than the song requires - but has an amazing sense of melody too.

Roger Glover (Rainbow, Deep Purple): One of the most under-rated bass players on the last century. Plays the song - nothing more. Sublime.

John McVie (Fleetwood Mac): Another "play the song" type bass player. Rock solid.

Mark King (Level 42): Slappidy-slappidy-slappidy... Ex drummer who mastered the slap bass schtick. More rhythm than notes, but holds the songs together nicely.

Tal Wilkenfeld (Sessions, Jeff Beck): My latest hero on the bass. Such incredible feel... Check out "Because we ended as lovers" with Jeff Beck on the Eric Clapton benefit for Crossroads. Jeff's never had a better bass player...

Michael Anthony (Van Halen): Root peddler of the highest magnitude (lots of D-tuned E-string). Wonderful. Kept the songs together.

Willie Weeks (don't get me started): Old school. Swings like a mo-fo.

Les Claypool (a law unto himself): A great bass player, who messes around a lot. Slapping a six-string fretless? Slapping a Ricky 2001 (don't try it at home)? Just nice groovy playing. Brings it all.

Dee Murray (RIP, Elton John Band): Listen to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John. No two songs are the same, and the bass just melts into every song. Almost like you'd only notice if it wasn't there....

David Paton (Camel, Pilot etc.): Another class player. The bass just sings the song.

Sure I've got a lot of 'pop' bass players in there, but "pop" just means popular, and these guys do their part.

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