Quote:
Originally Posted by jbassman456  Hi everyone i am a struggling bass player I have sturdy the scales the modes on the bass guitar but I'm still having a hard time create my own bass line please if you can help I Will appreciate it and if you have any good bass guitar teacher in mind let me know |
You gotta know your scales so your fingers know their way around your fretboard. IMO Modes are for when you get a lead break. 90% of what we do is play chord tones in our bass line.
Here is a little something on chord tones and how to use them in your bass lines;
Code:
Major Scale Box.
G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string
Generic Notes for your bass lines.
The root, five and eight are generic and fit most any chord. Remember the diminished has a flatted 5.
The 3 is generic to all major chords. See a major chord R-3-5-8 is a generic bass line that will work.
The b3 is generic to all minor chords. See a minor chord R-b3-5-8 is a generic bass line that will work.
The 7 is generic to all maj7 chords. R-3-5-7.
The b7 is generic to all dominant seventh and minor seventh chords. R-3-5-b7 or R-b3-5-b7.
The 6 is neutral and adds color, help yourself to 6’s. I like R-3-5-6 for major chords. Has a great sound.
The 2 and 4 make good passing notes. Don’t linger on them or stop on them, keep them passing.
In making your bass line help yourself to those notes, just use them correctly.
Remember roots, fives, eights and the correct 3 will play a lot of bass.
Get some of these into muscle memory. See a Cmaj7 chord coming up - you know that R-3-5-7 will work. Use as many of the chord's tones as you think fit this song. We are paid to sound the root on the 1 beat, anything else is gravy. Use as much gravy as you think best. Nothing wrong with just roots. R-5-R-5 will play a lot of bass. When that gets easy throw in an 8 or a 6. I love R-3-5-6 for a generic major chord bass line.
See an Am7 chord coming up in the song - R-b3-5-b7 is a safe bass line. Again use as many of those notes as you think will fit the song.
Here is what all that R-3-5-8 stuff is based upon.
Chord Formulas
Any of Ed Friedland's books are great for how to write bass lines. His
Building Walking Bass Lines is one of the better books on the subject. Any time spent at
Online Bass Lessons at StudyBass.com is time well spent. Be sure to pause here.
http://www.studybass.com/lessons/common-bass-patterns/
Have fun.
