Bass and guitar in same key?

[Billy Lowe]

I play bass in a band and we are just starting out, I shared a riff I have come up with on my bass and the guitarist played a rhythmic riff over the top, do these have to be in the same key to play together or does it not matter what notes he plays on his guitar? cheers

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I play bass in a band and we are just starting out, I shared a riff I have come up with on my bass and the guitarist played a rhythmic riff over the top, do these have to be in the same key to play together or does it not matter what notes he plays on his guitar? cheers

Good question. Keeping it simple I'll answer it this way; both of you should draw your notes from the same scale/key. That way you do not have to worry about any of your riff notes clashing. An out of key/scale note MAY clash. Question now is; how bad? If it sounds good, it's good. If it does not sound good you probably have some notes that are out of key.

The answer to this question fully could take us hours, so I'm going to send you to How to get started? check out post # 6 then come back with specific questions.

People go out of key all the time, and it does sound good. But, if they go out they come back in to end the phrase, verse, song, whatever. So again, things normally work out best if everyone is using the notes of one scale/key.

Welcome to the bottom end.

 

[mambo4]

do these have to be in the same key to play together or does it not matter what notes he plays on his guitar?

Depends. Do you play down-tuned speed Metal?

But seriously

Whenever instruments sound good together, they are almost always in the same key.
A bassist should be able to play in the same key as others always.

 

[elgecko]

You better hope so!

...I think you mean playing in unison (AKA playing the same notes). You can or the guitarist can harmonize (AKA play different notes...hopefully in the same key!)

 

[Billy Lowe]

Depends. Do you play down-tuned speed Metal?

But seriously

Whenever instruments sound good together, they are almost always in the same key.
A bassist should be able to play in the same key as others always.

thankyou that post helped/ will help me tons! if we had a situation where it wasn't in key and it still sounds good, is that acceptable?

 

[charlie monroe]

If it sounds good, it is good

 

[Matthew_84]

There are no rules. Diatonic music theory is more of a guideline. Play what sounds good. Popular songs frequently play out of key chords and have key modulations and such. Jazz soloists often change the scale mode they're in to add some flare.

If an out-of-key-note sounds better than a note in the key, then play it. But you can always play it safe by trying the key notes first to see how good/bad they sound.

Edit to add: the techniques I listed in the first paragraph are really for more intermediate/advanced musicians though, in my opinion. If you're playing out of key notes because you don't know the notes of the key, then learning the notes of the key should be your first step.

 

[Rib 13]

I play bass in a band and we are just starting out,

There are no rules. Diatonic music theory is more of a guideline. Play what sounds good.

^This -- but I always recommend to know the rules before breaking them

 

[hrodbert696]

If it sounds good, it is good

Yep.

If it helps:

In western music, there are 12 notes total (A - A# - B - C - C# - D - D# - E - F - F# - G - G#). A sharp note (#) is the same as the note above flatted (b); thus, G# is also called Ab. For mysterious reasons there is no B#/Cb or E#/Fb. It then repeats from A again, but higher - called an octave.

A key is a set of seven notes. Going from one note to the next (like A to A#) is a half-step, and the different keys have different patterns for how they select their seven notes. Skipping a note is two half-steps, in other words a whole step.

So, a major key will start from any note you like - let's say A - and it will then go WWHWWWH (W - whole step, H - half step). So the key of A major will go A - B - C# - D - E - F# - G# - A (starting over again an octave higher). That's also the A major scale.

A minor key will go WHWWWHW from the starting note. So A minor goes A - B - C - D - E - F - G - A. That's also the A minor scale.

So to go back to your original question; yes, normally, you and your guitarist should be playing in the same KEY. That means that whatever notes each of you are playing, they should be selected from the same set of seven notes. But you don't have to play in unison, which would be playing the same note at the same time.

For instance, if your song is in the key of A minor, neither of you should be playing any sharp or flat notes. But you might be playing an A while he's playing a C or a D. Those notes are both in the key, and should harmonize nicely.

Having said that, as Charlie Monroe said - if it sounds good it is good. Rules are made to be broken, and lots of music does break the rules. Classical composers often put in "accidentals," notes outside the key that create a little tension by clashing with what you expect to hear. Blues adds the "blue note" between the fourth and fifth notes of the key. But you should learn the rules before you set out to break them, so that you understand what you're doing and why.

 

[SteveCS]

The whole concept of key is losing its importance over time. Harmonic distances, that to say intervals between simultaneous notes, are either discords or concords. Simply, they either sound very nice, nice, not so nice, bad or awful (and all stops in between). The ones at the Bad end (the discords) aren't really bad, they just create tension which can be resolved by concords. In days gone by there were a small number of very strict rules on how this was to be done, mainly based on diatonic or tonal key theory. These days those rules, whilst still perfectly good, have been expanded and built upon. People's ears have developed to be accepting of these new ideas so sticking to a key is far less important than it used to be.

The order of the day is "if it sounds good it is good", subject to the caveat "...but your audience might not agree..."

 

[zontar]

 

[Lownote38]

If it sounds good, it is good

^^^ This. Does it sound good? Yes? Leave it alone.