Rolling bass lines

[divinenow]

I'm currently playing in a ska/punk band and of course, I'm going to be using a bit of rolling bass lines. Thing is, I'm not experienced with writing these kinds of lines, and I'd rather not have my guitarist write my parts (doesn't take advantage of skill, want to be able to make original parts). Could any of you give me some pointers on where to start? Thanks.

[Scalestein]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a rolling bassline. Could you give a description or an example?

[stedtale]

Originally Posted by Scalestein

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by a rolling bassline. Could you give a description or an example?

ditto...

do you mean "walking" basslines?

[jamesblue]

Walking would be the more accepted decription of what ska bass lines have going on.
I'm not great at them, but I remember reading somewhere that learning different fingering variations (like single string) of scales, lots of pratice working up and down the neck (w/swing feel/big band feel) and find what you're looking for.
I'm sure you could find some lessons or tab online.

[werbo1]

Learn the Chords, then the notes within the chords. Emphasizing the chordal notes would bring about a cool little line - if your on a C chord you can play C E G and be safe. Also stepwise motion is very cool such as C D E G. In that example skip the F just to break up the scalular sound.

Take it for what its worth, it's all i got brotha! Good luck!

[beggar98]

Try straight eighths in this pattern- RR,33,55,33. So "1 +" on the root, "2 +" on the 3rd, "3+" on the 5th, "4+" back to the third. That's a pretty basic ska pattern, and you can change it up once you get more comfortable with some passing tones.

[divinenow]

Yeah, I noticed the mistake a little too late... I meant walking. Thanks for the tips, I'll try it out

[Shroom]

It also helps if you listen to ska bands and their basslines (if you don't already). I don't know what kind of ska you folks are going for, but if you're somewhere around 3rd wave (like my band) you should learn a few Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto songs.

Now that I got the hang of it, I usually use Trendy by RBF to warm up every time i pick up my bass for the first time in a day

[stedtale]

I played ska for a long time. and all of this advice is right on. just emphasize the chord tones and add a few passing tones and use your ear, keep it tight and you should be good.

[Gadolinium]

If you know the key of the song, then you can just use the scale. I find that the best way to do it is to play the route notes of the chords and then work your way to the next one using the notes in the scale.