Define a "good" bass-line.

[TheYoungBassist]

Does it matter if the line is simple or hard to play, too?

[ryco]

Interesting intervals - good use of rhythm & space.
"Simplicity is the art" = edit the line to as few notes as possible.

Now if I could only learn to do this!

[tekdiver500ft]

Not to me. What matters is that it fits the genre, feel, mood, and mode of the song, is in appropriate time, and is interesting when appropriate, and held back when that is right.

[Cloverfield]

In most cases, I'd say a good bass line is probably simple.

...Damn it.

[Soul Power]

If it's good.

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by TheYoungBassist

Does it matter if the line is simple or hard to play, too?

Most styles have their own bass line. Some are simple some are not. I'm going to call them simple and melodic, as a way of setting them apart. I'm Country and Country is simple. Less is more - explains it better.

Roots and fives plus chromatic runs to the next chord will play most Country songs. An R-3-5-3 is as "melodic" as needed.

There are three or four other "licks" you can fill in with, but, if you get more melodic than that you start getting fish eyes from the guys.

IMHO chord tones when accompanying and scales when you are taking a solo will keep you safe -- until you get the hang of what bass line fits your style of music.

That begs which chord tones and which scales. Again IMHO generic chord tones, i.e. roots, fives and eights at first. The chord's pentatonic scale will give you all the melodic notes you need. Major pentatonic over major chords and the minor pentatonic over minor chords.

Have fun.

[derrico1]

"Hard to play" can't really be the measure of quality for a bass line, or else as soon as you've practiced it enough to own it it would no longer be good.

For my money, a "good" bass line strikes a balance of the expected and the (rhythmically and harmonically) surprising that's appropriate for the context.

For "good lines" in pop songs, the balance generally tips heavily toward the expected (for example, "Folsom Prison Blues" or "My Girl). Or it might, like Pino's work on "Forget You," be essentially expected but with a few moments or measures of surprising phrases.

Even in pop/rock tunes built around a signature bassline (like "Money" or "I Want You Back"), through repetition the novel line becomes expected.

[puddin tame]

if it sounds good. anything else is musician wankery

[Tehrin Cole]

It depends on the piece.

A "good bassline"has to move the song,and depending on the genre this, movement can take many directions!
Keep in mind that,as a bassist your 2 main responsibilities are to:
1.Carry the rhythm.

2.Carry the harmony.
With this in mind,your attention is basically,split between the drummer,and whoever is carrying the melody. Without the melody(or lyrics),you don't know the song meaning,you don't understand the mood or the vibe!
A good bassline just has to fit,...whether it's simple,or difficult.

[XtheDeadPawn]

A good bassline is whatever you think it is. As for it being hard or not it depends on which one you like.

For instance I like the bassline in Slipknot's "Iowa" that is a easy one.
But I also like their track "Purity" now that one is a little hard.

My advice though? Don't try learning/covering other people use the time you have on this earth to create some basslines of your own.

Sorry the ending got a little preachy there.

[NoiseNinja]

This: YouTube - ‪SAVAGE ROSE a girl i knew‬‏

[JTE]

Like Duke Ellington said. "There are only two kinds of music; music that sounds good and whatever you want to call that other stuff." A "good" bassline depends entirely upon the song, the desired feel, the arrangement, and what the rest of the band is doing. Using my friend MalcomAmos' example, I couldn't come up with a better bassline to the Willie Neslon/Waylon Jennings recording of "Good Hearted Woman" than the simple 1/5 part that Bee Spears played on the record. I know, I tried for a long time to come up with a better line and failed until I learned to embrace the simplicity of it. But that's NOT to say that simple IS better inherently. The line to the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" isn't at all simple, but it's a great line for that song. It moves the harmonic and rhythmic function along, supports the singer, and is interesting without drawing attention to itself.

But then I love the basslines Jack Bruce came up with for "Badge" and "White Room" too. One is simple (mostly) and one is much more adventurous. But they do what they need to do in the context of those songs.

And whether it's technically "difficult" to play or not has no bearing whatsoever in music. It's the music that's important, not the instrument.

John

[Russell L]

It's the simple lines that I like best, especially if they're just a tad unpredictable and unique (e.g. "Down By the River," by Neil Young). And I agree with JTE sometimes 1-5 is all it has to be. But, it depends on the song, too. When we play "Feeling Alright" I throw in some funky stuff, but that's what the song is about anyway.

[The1bassist06]

Listen to some James Brown . Most of the basslines aren't that hard to play, but they lay a groove as wide as the dance floor.

[Joe Louvar]

Originally Posted by TheYoungBassist

Does it matter if the line is simple or hard to play, too?

Sure.

Define "matter"?