Bass lines from piano music

[ctregan]

Is it possible to get good bass lines or ideas, from the bass clef on piano sheet music?

[MalcolmAmos]

Sure. What you will run into is the piano and bass are an octave apart and your 4 string will not go low enough to get the ledger notes below E that are shown on the piano sheet music - with out doing some mental gymnastics. That's where the 5 string comes to your rescue. Look at the 9th and 10th measure.
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Now it's only two notes, but, that is what you run into.

I also take a peek at the piano bass clef - look at the lowest note - and use that as an indication of what chord and then what chord tones to use in that measure. I'm amazed at how often roots and fives will get the job done. Yes, inversions mess that up.

Have fun.

[waleross]

Yes you can use piano sheet music for bass lines as well as getting ideas from the chord symbols. I have been studying with a jazz/classical pianist and it has helped my bass knowledge ,again.!!!

[theduke1]

I agree, but in doing two musicials this last year I found that scorefor the left hand somtimes can not be played on a bass be it 4 or 5 string. In the musical RENT the song Santa Fe I had to right my own bass part because I could not play what was wirtten. As it turnd out the musicial director and the guy singing the song like what I played better then the paino part. But again this has made me a better player!
Hope that helps you!

[Russell L]

Depends on the sheet music. What others have said about ledger lines is true. Sometimes, though, even if the notes are reachable, if it's a rendition of a popular song, the part may not be like the recording. Sometimes it's over simplified, or plain wrong. But it helps. The other thing is that, typically, bass lines for keyboard and bass can be different due to the natures of the instruments and how they play. It's the reason that most multi-instrumentalists say they different kinds of music when on different instruments. I have played some bass lines that were originally composed on keys to have a different feel, some that were even awkward to play, and some that were very interesting, being something I would've never come up with an the bass guitar myself.

So, yes, there is a lot to be learned from playing the lines on sheet music.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

That's where the 5 string comes to your rescue. Look at the 9th and 10th measure.

The bass is a transposing instrument which sounds one octave lower than written. To put it another way, to read piano music on the bass, you need to transpose it up an octave. The C in measure 10 of your example is the C on the A string of a 4 string bass.

[Febs]

Originally Posted by theduke1

I agree, but in doing two musicials this last year I found that scorefor the left hand somtimes can not be played on a bass be it 4 or 5 string. In the musical RENT the song Santa Fe I had to right my own bass part because I could not play what was wirtten.

Were you reading the bass book or the piano/conductor score? The part written in the bass book is playable on bass. It is not easy, but it is definitely playable.

[gscroggin]

Originally Posted by ctregan

Is it possible to get good bass lines or ideas, from the bass clef on piano sheet music?

Yes, find anything from Chick Corea :-) "Kicker" from the Inside Out album particularly changed my approach to playing. Transcribing the piano line (and later finding a real sheet to see where I went wrong) absolutely gave me some new ideas on bass.