The one thing (or the worst thing) i am having trouble with and have always had trouble with is making up my own basslines.

I hear other people just making stuff up on the spot who have been playing for the same time as me and i ask them how they did it and they just say 'i just played what i heard in my head'

If i pick up my bass and try to just play something i without thinking just play something i already know just somewhere else on the fretboard, or something that i have heard before.

How can i start writing proper basslines if i dont hear it in my head?

When i try to hear a bassline in my head i just hear something i've heard before or already know.


Please help me, i love playing bass but at the moment i can only play along to things and if i get into another band i'll need to be able to come up with good and i dont want to have to give up.

I practise loads in a day (in fact i have my bass on my lap now) but when i play i can only seem to play things i know.



:bawl:

Try listening to completely new music. Stop listening to your old music choices, just go out and listen to brand new stuff. A lot of times I find myself reverting back to favorite riffs of mine, which is alright, but it gets boring sometimes (kinda like what you're describing). You gotta break your mold, get new music in your head, man.

If that doesn't work, get some drugs :smug:

Try listening to completely new music. Stop listening to your old music choices, just go out and listen to brand new stuff. A lot of times I find myself reverting back to favorite riffs of mine, which is alright, but it gets boring sometimes (kinda like what you're describing). You gotta break your mold, get new music in your head, man.

If that doesn't work, get some drugs :smug:

But i want to make my own basslines.

I would try playing another instrument for about a week (If one is available), or better yet this will change the way you look at bass, re-string your bass "upside down" for about a week, that should give you a different approach. (temporarily, of course).

BTW, How, long have you been playing bass?

Doodle-doo in the shower. It's how I came up with my last ones.
Just try making some cool lines by singing them aloud in the shower.

Then transcribe to bass.


Seriously. It works.

When I play, I don't think that I really come up with brand smacking new ideas... it's just piecing together things I already know of in different ways. A lot of people tell me that they like my bass lines, but when it comes down to it, I'm just doing the same things... but they sound different when mixed up differently. Octaves and fifths will take you a long way.

Also, the best way to learn is going to be by listening to lots and lots and lots of music. All of the people I know who I consider to be really good song writers have been music junkies while growing up. Listening to different bands and different styles will really open your mind to new possibilities.

Doodle-doo in the shower. It's how I came up with my last ones.
Just try making some cool lines by singing them aloud in the shower.

Then transcribe to bass.


Seriously. It works.

This is true for me too! Honestly, the best basslines I come up with are usually when I don't have a bass in my hands. Sometimes I will tinker on piano too, even though I can't really play piano at all, and that will inspire something new. Other times I try to just breathe deep, clear my head and play the first thing that comes to mind. Just try not to get too discouraged, because stress ruins creativity quickly (IMO) Good luck!

I always find a recording of the material to be helpful. You can try new and different stuff without stopping the rest of the band while you noodle. Also, you can listen to it a lot, get it into your head, and do the doodle doo in the shower thing.

You learn to make up your own lines from know lots of other bass lines. You learn/transcribe others bass lines you like or need for a gig. Then study the line for what you like and don't like about it and remember those things. Later on that knowledge is what you use to create your own lines. Go to a good jam session and listen to good bass players you will hear how they build up a line. Most start with a simple idea that works with the drums, then expand from there. As Herbie Hancock said copy everyone you can, then forget it all and play.

Also use your head and your voice to come up with a line then put that on the instrument. If you start with the bass you will fall into familiar patterns usually related to fingering patterns. If you start singing you can focus on groove more and notes that sound good, then find that on your bass. The more you do that the faster it gets to do.
Put on some music you like and don't worry about what the actually bass line is sing along a line you like or a variation of the line on the tune. Once you have a line you like figure out how to play it on your bass. Also analyze what you are playing to see the notes or rhythms you like so you can use them again in a different combination.

Guys that are good at making up bass line have a large vocabulary of lines and parts of lines they have played and like that they are drawing on.

As a child, you learn to speak and form your own sentences by hearing others speak them. Then you practice speaking what they spoke, first simple words, then phrases, and ultimately you learn to form your own sentences and stories, but using words that you learned from others. You don't make up the words, you make up the arrangements of them, but that's after many years of just repeating things you hear. You screw up all along the way, but you keep trying as you get better. Music is the same way, but some learn faster than others, and go farther as well.

DocBop, Eublet +1 from me.

Don't fool yourself into thinking that using other lines as reference points is somehow diminishing a line you create. There is not a single bass line out there that didn't come from bass lines before it.

Listen and get to know what turns you on the most about bass lines from as wide a variety of musical styles as you can. I used to feel that because I started in a high school orchestra, that my lines were too 'square' or 'classical-sounding' - as I added more rock and roll, jazz, funk, blues, world, etc... suddenly I had a larger library of lines to look to when I wanted to lay one down and those 'square/classical' lines are nice to be able to whip out every so often.

Also, as Eublet said - don't think of music as something else - it's a language and when you use it, you need to say something - not just make noise. The more you listen and the more you learn, the more you will be able to say. But don't let the fact that you may have a 'limited vocabulary' stop you from trying to say something. Some of the best statements are the simple ones.

Further, it's actually easier to toss out a load of nonsense that appears to be complicated but really says little more than, "look at all the notes I can play!" - If one well placed note says it all, then there ya go.

Along this subject, I can't say enough about Victor Wooten's book The Music Lesson. It deals with this subject completely, and in an inspiring manner. I think it's a must have book.

Its never good to try and force something as unique and, dare I say, spiritual as writting music. If what you come up with seems simplistic to others, don't feel bad; some of the best bass lines are made up of what ISN'T played rather than what is. Start out just playing roots notes, and through in some fills or leading tones, and eventually you stumble on something you like!

As mentioned above, it's nice playing with a drummer.
My friend and I were messing around (first time jamming together) and I just modified a U2 bassline, matching his drum strokes, etc, and it sounded wonderful.

+1 On the drugs, psychedelic ones :D

There are some good comments here and some not so great.

If you want to learn how to build your own bass lines you need to study how it is done. You'll need a book that breaks down different types of approaches.

Here is some info on Ed Friedland's book I found very helpful when I was starting out.

Building Walking Bass Lines

"Designed for the beginning player, this is my first, and by far most popular book. It was written originally as my Masters Thesis at Cambridge College in 1991. I examined the gaps in the existing literature, and set out to write a book that would help people learn the process bassists use when creating their own bass lines, not just show them some lines and leave it at that. Also it was the first walking book of it's kind in that it came with audio tracks. These days you take for granted that a book comes with audio, but back then, no one had done this with walking bass. Based on the feedback I receive from students all over the world (it's available in Japanese too) this method seems to work for people. You start by identifying the target notes of a chord, (root, five and octave) and then work with different approach notes (chromatic, scale and dominant) to lead you into the targets. It explains many other ideas like scalewise motion, chromatic motion, arpeggiation, targeting other chord tones, and much more. There are many great feeling jazz tracks to play with, including 10 full length standard progressions. "

PM me if you want me to post some live drummer tracks isolated on my MySpace page for you to doodle with. I can't with 100% tell you they are metronome quality but it will give you something different that you haven't heard to jam with. They will be dynamic and not sterile like drum machine beats.

I can isolate pretty easily with Cubase and export them. Just let me know. Songs will change from 6/4 to 4/4 and some other breaks and changes.

knowing music theory will help, even if its only minimal msuci theory such as scales/keys, this tells you what notes your aloud to go to in a song at a specific time

I too find it hard to force creativity. Although for some reason the more experience you have the easier it gets. I never have a bassline in my head. It sort of like talking, you never really say it in your head then say it aloud, but rather you just do it. Thats how it seems to work for me.

Aside from that, wagstaff's advice helps.

pick up a cheap little drum machine,, or,, i've got a zoom B2 that has preset drum tracks.. i just dial in a track that i like, or a track that has a beat totally different than i would normally play,, adjust the tempo,, & just let it run 3, 4, 5 min. i hear all kinds of lines in my head, or sometimes i don't.. then i pick up my bass & just start working different patterns

Use Pandora.com, select any arbitrary track, and when the music play, just play very differently than what the bass line is. Jump in and experiment. --Kent

I've been playing bass for a little more than six months now and I'm experiencing the same thing. One thing I've tried for a few days now is combining scale practice with groove practice. I start out by having a drum machine beat (or recording) going and use the tones for one specific scale, say the dorian mode. Try going up and down the scale a few times, the same scale in different positions, and of course in different keys. Try using more than one octave. Then I move to arpeggios before I try making bass lines using the scale. Usually one or more of the lines sounds kind of good. Try different grooves and different feels.

Another concept I'm going to explore is to incorporate melodic passages in the bass line. For instance try doubling what the singer (if you have one) is doing for a bar or so. You have to listen to what the drummer is doing. Try locking in on the kick and the snare.

+1 on listening to other bass players and new styles of music

Download hydrogen for a free good drum machine.

Some of the best b-lines I've come up with have been from using sequencers to just play around with the chords/riffs going - this is really good as you

a) dont have to play a keyboard, drive by mouse if you need to

b) gets the physical aspect of playing out of the equation - you just dont get caught in the same repetitive traps as it is nothing to do with muscle memory just the sound

c) it will play it 'right' every time, so you hear what the result of changing something is every time

d) you can impart a huge amount of feel even with a mouse into a good sequencer, it just takes a while!

Of course once you get something you like you have to figure out how to play it on a bass, which is often really interesting and will lead you off in a new direction too.

I have gone through this process with students in the past and it has never ever failed yet.

Enjoy!:p

I dont think creativity is something you can force or learn by reading a book. Obviously knowing theory and listening to all different kinds of music will help, but IMO its just something your born with. I say this because Ive used a few books and they havent helped me at all. Thats not to say it wouldnt be useful to other people.

Ive been playing for 7 years now and any time Ive tried to come up with my own riffs/lines they all end up being rubbish. Then again, writing my own music and playing in an originals band has never been something that has interested me, so maybe that is a factor. I know people who have been playing for only as couple of years, and know very little theory, and they can write great riffs and bass lines in their sleep.

Heres a link to a site i found useful when I was just starting out. It has lesson on bass line creation, and also a few lessons analyzing bass lines etc. You might find it useful. http://www.cyberfretbass.com/line-creation/index.php

Purple Haze I agree with you that creativity isn't something you can force, and some people are naturally inclined to be more creative than others. But more often than not I find that I'm way to critical to my own song writing, and that also goes for the bass lines I create. You just have to be brave enough to make those lame bass lines as well, sometimes a good one comes along. The more you try to be creative, the better you will become. Ideas also evolve over time, and that lame idea can after a while become a truly memorable bass line.

i WAS in the same situation in the past. i couldnt come up wiht bassline because i had nothing to create basslines on!
you get the drift?
this guitarist who knew a drummer asked me to jam up on some covers just to see if we three could gel up and play together. next week he brought in his song, he gave me the chord chart and sang and played his part. now when i had a half song with the chords and the vocals down i came up with a pretty bassline for the verse and the bridge the guitarist liked it so much he wanted to learn to play it! :D
when the drummer came in on his beat i formed the bassline for the chorus and it was done! so try it
you might just be needing a situation which needs a bassline

Like others have said, the first step is to get music that doesn't have a bass line. Or ignore the bass line that's there and try to do your own.

From there, what helped me the most was using the mode scales to walk up and down the neck. Instead of trying to write your lines vertically, going up and down the strings, try to write them horizontally, going up and down the frets.

For example, start walking a G major scale. Instead of walking it in the normal box, play the the G and then slide your hand up to the A and walk the dorian mode from A up to G. Then walk the same thing back down to G. So, still a G major scale, but using the A dorian scale for part of it. Then start adding the other mode scales and using portions of those.

Say you need a bass line for a measure of D major and you want to play the root on 1 and the 5 on 2. When you play the A, switch your hand position and try to play the rest of the measure using the A Mixolydian scale.

Another situation creative stuff would come from is where it's like, "OK, I'm playing this chord here. For the next chord, I need to be over there. How do I get from here to there?" I play fretless, so the default answer tends to be "just slide over there" but some times better things come up.

im having a similar problem right now with a song my guitarist just wrote. ive taken a few years of theory, up til theory III at my college actually...and to be honest, i dont suggest using theory. my band is trying to write some new stuff and i know much MUCH more theory than my guitarist and just the other day he asked me how much theory i use when i write my songs/lines. then i realized that i dont use any of it. im not saying dont learn theory, i think you should. but when it comes to writing lines and songs i go by feel, attitude, emotion, etc. i could make up basslines on the spot. thats not my problem. my thing is that if it is going to be in an official song ill probably re-write it a hundred times til i get it just where i want it.

you may want to play things that you dont think would fit. play a few notes away from where you would originally intend to. you may be surprised.

in the end, just feel it. i know that doesnt help much, but its the truth.

"Don't think, just react. When you think you hurt the team"

I have a few thoughts about the original post -
I hear other people just making stuff up on the spot who have been playing for the same time as me and i ask them how they did it and they just say 'i just played what i heard in my head'

As others have been explaining, it's not nearly as "made up on the spot" as you think. They're pulling from their "bag of tricks".


If i pick up my bass and try to just play something i without thinking just play something i already know just somewhere else on the fretboard, or something that i have heard before.


That makes sense. Remember, those other dudes didn't say "I played it without thinking". They said I played what I heard in my head.
Trying to play something "without thinking" is a far cry from playing what you've imagined in your head.

Jumping in here: when I first started playing, I tended to work from the simplest thing available, which was the root of the chord.

That works, and if you play it in time with what the guitar player is playing, you can make a bass rumble that will function.

The next thing you have to find is the groove. Listen to what the drummer is doing. See if you can accent his beats, or counter them, filling in between.

Then start looking at where you can take those beats and use notes other than the root. Use the third. Use the fifth.

Then after you're comfortable with that, start looking at where you can add connecting notes, or notes that jump way out of the line, or even notes that echo the melody of the singer.

Finally, if you make a mistake don't just cover it up. See if the mistake was musical sounding. If it was, repeat it. Now you've accidentally stumbled on something that will work for you, and is yours completely.

There's a comfort zone in any endeavor like this. Work to get just outside that comfort zone, without getting into the panic zone where you don't know what you're doing, and you can grow. Every time you do this your comfort zone gets bigger, and the number of things you're willing to try grows.

I don't even think about basslines anymore. I let my fingers write them.

Keep listening to more music! Listen, listen, listen, jot down notes, and apply. Be an active listener and learner where ever you are and trust me, you'll have more things in your head than you could play. =)