How do you Write Basslines?

[Couch Slouch]

Originally Posted by Arpeggiator

depends on style - for thrashy stuff following the guitar is what i do.

This, it really depends on the music. When I jam with my friends playing thrash and crossover punk type stuff I follow the guitar pretty close, and maybe throw in a bass fill or two if it works with the song.

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

I observe the scale or progression the guitarist is using, figure out what key he's in and then go to town lol

But if I don't have a lotta time, I find the root notes and then just play around with some octave jumps and fills so that the song doesnt sound so boring.

[mambo4]

+1 to Put the bass down and sing it.

Either that or , when handed a chord progression, I start with whole or half notes on the root and let my ears lead me, unless genre dictates certain rhythmic choices. I'm lucky to have a drummer that will follow me where I go rhythmically.

[standupright]

i hum basslines in my head all the time. when one strikes me and i'm not around my bass, i try to commit it to memory, then when i am home, grab my bass, and play it out. once i've got it worked out on the bass i write it out on staff ledger

[WJGreer]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

I think of what chicks would dig the most, and I do that.

LOL

Originally Posted by Stickk

Most of the time they end up in odd rhythms (currently 27/1...

Hmm. So 27/1 would indicate 27 whole notes in each measure? I'm not sure I have ever encountered a time signature with the whole note in the denominator before. Does it make sense? My first thought is that you would end up using a lot of inconvenient note lengths and ties to formulate a sensible melody. It's also a really long measure.

Why not call it three bars of 6/4 followed by one bar of 3/4, and use quarter notes for your rhythmic baseline? I am simply curious, not at all asserting you are wrong.

[Zombbg4]

ok, so 27/1 IS different from 3/4. just putting it out there that i know that.

I'm just saying it's an uber confusing time sig that will sound like 3/4, but what ever floats your boat.

[Araillac]

i play punk and grunge stuff mainly so once i get 3 or 4 notes together that sound good i do a cool pattern with it and bam i got a verse. then i make another one up that works with it and bam i got a chorus. now all i need is a bridge. i can let these do like a walk down or up or something and then bam, awesome, i got a song. 3 basslines right there and i got me a whole song. nice nice nice. verse chorus verse chorus bridge chorus chorus. but if im just doing a bass line that sounds good then yeah i just jumble around with the bass. after enough experience of doing this you can just kind of feel what note you need to move to next.

[atheos]

I don't write them, I just play them while listening guitars and drums.

[Willy2911]

I Like to look at it like building with Legos - I will start with a drum beat - that I have pounded out on my Tama, then I will lay down usually a couple of bass lines that I have
worked on that sounds good to me, then I choose which one I like best, and start building on that, with accents and fun stuff. Hammer it out until it is just right and call it a day.

[Stickk]

Originally Posted by WJGreer

LOL
Hmm. So 27/1 would indicate 27 whole notes in each measure? I'm not sure I have ever encountered a time signature with the whole note in the denominator before. Does it make sense? My first thought is that you would end up using a lot of inconvenient note lengths and ties to formulate a sensible melody. It's also a really long measure.

Why not call it three bars of 6/4 followed by one bar of 3/4, and use quarter notes for your rhythmic baseline? I am simply curious, not at all asserting you are wrong.

Not 27 whole notes pre measure but 27 whole notes that get the count. In X/4 time (X indicating some #), the quarter note gets the count, so quarter note = 1 count, half note = 2 counts, etc. In X/1 time, a whole note = 1 count, so a quarter note = 1/4 of a count (like a 16th note in X/4 time), etc. In 27/1 you can fit very long notes such as breves and longas. In three bars of 6/4 followed by one bar of 3/4, as you said, you can't fit breves and longas. And tempo rubato, in case you didn't already know, means there is no rhythm, the tempo is completely up to the soloist. Thanks for your suggestion though.

[xxDavidxx]

Originally Posted by KsToaDangr

Most of my originals start as bass lines. I'll come up with a simple rhythm in my head, then sit down with a bass & figure out where on the fretboard I think it sounds best, and play it over and over again, making small changes until I like it enough to keep it. I'll write it down, and start coming up with a second part that would sound good to follow it, and proceed from there.

same here, exactly the same