Theory Confusion

[bass_player16]

Hey everyone, I was just wondering if someone could tell me how exactly it is I would go about making bass fills for a song my band is writing. Like would I just play the 3rds and 5ths of the chords they are playing, well and root note, or is there more I can do without making it sound terrible and over done?
Thanks for your help in advance.

[bassicinstinct]

Experiment - that's what rehearsals are for.

[bass_player16]

Originally Posted by bassicinstinct

Experiment - that's what rehearsals are for.

lol Yes, This I know but I was just wondering if there is any specific things i should be thinking about other than what key the part is in?

[Feda]

You could start learning the scales..That gives you a heap of oppertunities.For information about scales and other music theory just do a quick search

[cassanova]

Feda is dead on balls accurate with what he said about the scales.

Learning both major/minor scales and arpegios in all 12 keys will provide you with the knowledge to know what notes you can lay down over the chord changes.

Check out Jazzbo's thread on scales and also do a search in this forum on the circle of 5ths, and intervals. You'll see how they all intertwine with each other once you start learning about it.

[Dave Holland]

Learn the Cmaj7 scale, then the A minor scale...... (the "relative" minor)
See the relationship?
This applies to all keys....
Great starting place to begin to understand melody making!
Have fun.

[bass_player16]

sweet guys..thanks for the info I'm gonna go and do some scale learning now lol..thanks for the help again!!

[Tash]

Another thing to lock in your head is that playing chord tones is not what makes a good fill. Judiscious use of non-chord tones with carefully resolution is. so make sure you expiriment with playing "off" notes (example over a Cmaj chord, which contains CEGE you may try playing CGD and then resolving to the E on the last beat of your fill). This creates a dissonance that makes your bass line really stand apart from the song, then you blend right back in again when you resolve. That's the point of a fill.

[bassist66]

There is a lot you can do...as mentioned, if you know your major and minor scales, you are good to go, just as long as you know what key the song is in. A lot of people here like to talk about memorizing modes and such, but you don't exactly have to. All a mode really is is just a scale played starting on a different note. Also, you can play other tones that aren't in the scale or in the chords (passing tones) just to make things interesting. For example, if your band is in the key of G, and is playing a 4th tone chord (C) and is moving to a 5th tone chord (D), you can play something like C C C#C# D D. The C#s aren't in either chord, but it smoothes out the transition from one chord to another.

[bassjus]

I think the most important thing is to learn how things realte to each other, rather than just a bunch of memorization.