Reggae chord scale breakdown??

[phaneo]

Ok so I am trying to analyze the chords being played and the bass line over them to figure out what is going on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOsUZUlGiLo

To me it sounds like the guitar is playing A, G and the bass is playing an Amin scale over that. So is it an Amin7 Because G is the flat 7 of the a scale. This may make no sense I really don't know how to articulate this. I just want to start analyzing bass lines in Reggae songs since the guitar chords are so simple and the bass lines drive the tune. I have a staple reggae style line I always play and want to develop a better feel for it.

Thanks

[MalcolmAmos]

Don't do any Reggae, so take this with a grain of salt. When I'm listening and trying to come up with a bass line I listen for the tonal center and then assume a I IV V or i iv V until proven wrong. The tonal center is usually easy to identify, individual chords, perhaps not and a safe bass line then is the major or minor tonic pentatonic ----- for me ----- understand the bass and I have been playing together for less than a year.

Yes I hear A as the tonal center. I assume the chord progressions would be basic A D E. Now the question is with Reggae music will it be major or minor, i.e. are the chords A D E or Am Dm Em. If this was country you could bet the ranch it would be major, not sure about Reggae.

Major ..or minor
A C# E or A C E ---R-3-5-3 or R-b3-5-b3 -- perhaps R-b3-5-b7
D F# A or D F A
E G# B or E G B

If it is minor a Am7 (b7) is used all the time. I'd flesh out a minor Am Dm Em or E - throw 7th (b7) in all you like and see how it goes. Like you mentioned the Am pentatonic could be the solution. Let us know what you end up with.

Good luck.

[phaneo]

Thanks Malcom,

I lived in Tyler for a few years at one time. Used to play a little blues at a small bar off the loop.

I'll keep working thee out and keep you posted.

[COOL AND DEADLY]

Many reggae basslines use pentatonic minor, minor, or major. Guitar chords will sometimes use fill notes to create different voicings. Reggae is more about feel and tone, rather than note choices, IMO. When learning any style or genre try to immerse yourself in the music and if possible, the culture. I would get aquainted with the timeless riddims like Real Rock, Answer, Satta, Stalag, Far East to name a few. These are repetitive and hypnotic. Many bassists want to variate the lines throughout the song, but this usually kills the hypnotic groove. I think it's essential to develop this discipline before trying to work variations (like Family Man's) in. Variations and elaborate fills usually end up putting bass notes where the space for the other instruments is needed. As far as note choices are concerned, minor pentatonic is probably most prevalent, but certainly not the only choice. Ed Friedland's book Reggae bass is an excellent source of info as well as real reggae transcriptions and a cd.

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by phaneo

I lived in Tyler for a few years at one time. Used to play a little blues at a small bar off the loop.

Mineola, here. As you know lot of musicians hidden, or should I say hiding, in these piney woods. Lot of musical history here as well. Course the Louisiana Hay Ride in Shreveport had a lot to do with that.

FYI - The Light Crust Dough boys' museum moved to Quitman a couple of years back. Some of the original Dough boys were from this area. Action Sound, Kelly Barber, moved from Liberty City to Hawkins just recently and John Defoore is still teaching music in Mineola.

[Chris K]

Main bass pattern in single notes:

a c b a__ d e

at 1.14: d dc de a c b a__ d e a d_______

at 2.20 and 3.23: e e e___ d dc de____ a ca c d

at the end: d e

Chords: Am - G in the rhythm guitar (upper strings only). Together with the note e in the bass, this creates Em7.

[phaneo]

Originally Posted by Chris K

Main bass pattern in single notes:

a c b a__ d e

at 1.14: d dc de a c b a__ d e a d_______

at 2.20 and 3.23: e e e___ d dc de____ a ca c d

at the end: d e

Chords: Am - G in the rhythm guitar (upper strings only). Together with the note e in the bass, this creates Em7.

Thanks Chris

I got the bass line really easily, I just don't see how you can make Em7 out of it. Still over my head

[Chris K]

No sweat, man...

G = g - b - d

Em7 = e -g - b -d

So if anyone plays the G chord and you put an e under it on the bass , it becomes Em7. You might also call it G6. The notes are identical, but common practice is to name chords in such a way that they indicate the ground note intended. An alternative way to write it down would be G6/E or even G/E.

I could explain motives to choose between those, but then this post would turn into a lesson in harmony.
Not exactly what you need to play reggea

[Kevin.Kevin]

Alot of the time when playing reggae, you want to think of the bassline as another melody as well. Don't think just harmonic support, think it's own kind singable tune. But generally if you want to get into chord scales it's mostly diatonic, and very very rarely playing anything more complicated then a dom7 chord (root 3rd 5th b7th).

If you were going to be taking a solo, i'd stick witht he key centre. If the tune is going Amin to G, then you are looking at a ii to I chord progression. so A dorian, and Gmaj, which are both the same scale (basically).

Try to stop thinking tho. Just keep it diatonic and it will be fine. blues scales tend to work, but from a bass point of view, don't solo? I ahve a friend who alwayus says "no room for bass solo's in reggae music" and to an extent he's right. But i played a pretty decent one on my reggae bands myspace http://www.myspace.com/skillshinedubs . The chord progression is Bmin and Emin occasionally going to that V chord with an F#7. My solo is pretty diatonic (and occurs after the bridge, which is more diatonic chords in Bmin). I remember thinking it was lame and not my best work but after repeated listening i think it fit the tune better then the "jazzier" solos I did on other takes.

[phaneo]

Nice work Kev! I dig it