Can't come up with basslines

[Nicolas Moreno]

It also helps to listen to different types of music. Don't just listen to rock. listen to some jazz, funk, latin. You'll start learning how to impart a different texture to songs. I sometimes use the mixtures of Latin and walking bass lines in sections of songs or in fills, but wouldn't be able to if all I knew was eigth-notes on the root. Remember, the bass adds the texture, the "feel", the mood, to the music. Explore.

I actually listen to a lot of jazz and funk, I just don't feel competent enough to apply any of the stuff I learn from it

I have the opposite problem. I can come up with a tricky/catchy bassline no problem, but coming up with the rest of a song is very difficult for me.

Have you tried to "write" or jam collectively on ideas? That's how my band approaches writing 'our' songs. BL/songwriter comes in with an idea-- usually he has the words and basic form of a song down. He might have something in mind as far as parts for the other musicians, but in general we just make up parts and play along until we all like what we're hearing. That's the song written.

Technically we do, problem is none of them play bass and the only one who could help me (drummer) is lazy and doesn't participate when we're writing songs

Rythmically and melodically you want to complement the melody (counterpoint!), and harmonically outline the chord changes and avoid parallel fifths (half joking here, for the theory nerds, but seriously).

For rock, lay into the back beat, i.e. lock with the drum part, emphasizing roots and fifths on the dominant beats, which frees you to play any kind of passing notes/runs/fills in between.

For my money, learning and practicing arpeggios (major, minor, augmented, diminished, half diminished, with major/dom 7ths, all inversions) is critical. Scales are important of course, but don't sleep on arpeggios as fundamental building blocks for bass lines.

I originally came up with the song doing arpeggios on my bass, but then I turned that into the guitar part and screwed myself over because I didn't want both guitars and the bass all doing the same which has now led to this predicament

 

[Nicolas Moreno]

Seeing as you've written the parts for everyone else, why not have one of them write the bass part, to add a fresh perspective?

Furthermore, you could always consider playing the guitar, and singing instead - if that's where your talent really is.

Being the songwriter is not a bad problem to have.

Anyway, regarding Shoegaze / post punk, if you want to focus on playing the bass on the recordings / live, you could do a lot worse than to learn a bunch of bass parts from particularly the first couple of albums by Ride, and also Slowdive. They should definitely inspire you in the right direction.

Right now I'm taking most of my inspiration from MBV, slowdive and a few of the bands from my city. While I've always been interested in singing I can't pull off doing both at the same time and I'm not the BL so it's not like I can kick out our current singer to do it myself haha. On the other hand (being a guitarist) while guitar is fun, I'm not too good at it and I love bass way more (+ there is no way our guitarists are giving up their spots)

 

[logdrum]

I think all the basslines have already been created. Just use the right one for your composition. Lyrics are the differentiator.

 

[JimmyM]

I absolutely suck at music theory, I can play scales instinctively but I can't put a name to any of them and I don't know how to use them.



I started paying about 4 years ago but I only really started practicing seriously and playing live last year. My main problem is that, whatever I play always ends up sounding like someone else's song, and when it doesn't it's usually pretty basic and uninteresting or just playing root notes lol

Sounds like you’re progressing just fine. Everyone does that at first.

 

[AndyLES]

Start with the roots of the chord progressions.

Now, think of what you want the bassline to do - will it stay steady and groove to the riff, while locking strictly with the kick, snare, and hat? If so, maybe a simple root note chug will do. (Think "Paranoid," by Black Sabbath).

But say you want it to be more melodic - is there space in the arrangement? If so, try call and response (think, "Detroit Rock City," by Kiss).

Or, if that's not an option, try leading tones, passing tones, simple arpeggios (an ascending Major triad is a tried and true rock motif).

How's your grasp of basic theory? (Major scale modes and cycle of fifths in particular.)

 

[AndyLES]

I absolutely suck at music theory, I can play scales instinctively but I can't put a name to any of them and I don't know how to use them.



I started paying about 4 years ago but I only really started practicing seriously and playing live last year. My main problem is that, whatever I play always ends up sounding like someone else's song, and when it doesn't it's usually pretty basic and uninteresting or just playing root notes lol

Everyone does this! It's normal.

 

[_Tay_]

You can always keep it simple.. Play the same root notes but add in some rhythm along with the drum beat. Stopping and letting the notes play out makes quite a difference, finding the groove so to speak.

 

[KidAmnesia]

Record the guitar harmony and vocals or any lead melodic idea (it can be a celphone recording with an acoustic guitar). Listen to the recording and try to sing a bass line over it. When you come up with an idea that works, memorize it and then learn to play it on the bass.

 

[JRA]

I can play scales instinctively but I can't put a name to any of them and I don't know how to use them.

seems to me like you need to know more. so, getting lessons and opening books, and viewing online resources wouldn't hurt, but none of that will get you the bassline that you need right this minute. you'll need a muse for that!

you can probably come up with something on this first attempt --- you can modify/replace it later when you know more.

good luck with your writing efforts and your basslines!

I actually listen to a lot of jazz and funk, I just don't feel competent enough to apply any of the stuff I learn from it

think "rhythm."

 

[brianrost]

The third alone makes a chord major or minor
The seventh makes a chord "stable" or "unstable"

That is true because with triads there is no seventh

However, you can have major third with minor (flat) seventh and minor third with major seventh.

In other words: Cmaj7, Cmin7, Cdom7 (major third, minor seventh), Cmin maj7 (minor third, major seventh). If the chordal instruments play triads or "power chords", playing the thirds and sevenths allows the bassist to suggest seventh chords.

The OP did mention "enhancing harmony" after all.

 

[brianrost]

blending two genres (playing a reggae bass line under a c/w song for example. (I've never done this, but I bet someone has.

Bellamy Brothers in 1982 is the earliest one I can think of



Willie Nelson does it even better in 2005

 

[Jeff Hughes]

You might be filling up the arrangement with notes to the point that there is no room for anything other than a simple bass line.

Write the bass groove first and then build around it.

 

[mambo4]

That is true because with triads there is no seventh

Triads are beside my point.
Only the 3rd makes a chord quality major or minor, the 7th does not.

 

[Nicolas Moreno]

you can probably come up with something on this first attempt --- you can modify/replace it later when you know more.

this actually made me realize something I didn't really think of before, I can always change the baseline later, for all I know the entire song might sound different by next year so I can always work on it later.

 

[Mrtoodamnsabre]

i wouldnt worry about chords and chord progression or the drums or being in sync wtih this instrument or that instrument too much, if something you play is off it'll sound off or dead. your ear will really more or less pull you towards certain tonalities when playing along, the sort of way you can kinda hum a low pitched bass line along with something you're listening to. all you really have to do from there is figure out what key the song is in and go from there. treat it like dealing with 2 melodic instruments, especially if there is no rhythm guitar player. you're in a place thats pretty hard to mess up in, especially if you're composing the other parts. you're not doing hour long jazz improvizations that change keys or anything, mostly you're dealing with what ammounts to be 2 or 3 minute pop or rock songs that likely don't have key shifts. do what vibes with the song the best or pulls the song into a new direction, bass really does sorta dictate the emotional pull of a song.

theres a lot of theory rules that work for some genres, the way people hammer on roots and fifths in rock songs sorta works for that genre, the way bass walks scales between chord progressions in jazz etc, the way motown has a sort of counterpoint melody done by bass etc, but for the most part all of these approaches are unified by being in key, none of them are "more correct" or "sound the best" or are "the most sophisticated"


but figuring out the scales is easy, write down the notes of the chords you play and see whats flat and whats sharp and piece it together, you can do some pretty fun things if the guitar part is more simple like dragging the guitar line into a different compatable key changing the entire feel of the part.

if you're a multi instrumentalist i highly reccomend doing recording session recording jams, you and the band jam without a bass for the first track and then you and the band jam with the bass as a second track overdub. gives you time to feel out the song and not feel pressured to do instant composition on it, and if you dont like the second take you can scrap it and do it again

 

[Willie5String]

After months of being a cover band I finally convinced the rest of my bandmates that we should start writing our own songs. I already had a few ideas in my head and I started writing the parts for guitar, drums and even the lyrics, but I just can't come up with a decent bassline to go with it all. Is there no alternative other than sticking to the same 4 notes? How do you come up with basslines, and why is it so much easier to write guitar parts?

Any and all tips are appreciated

Start out with playing along with the drums on the root, maybe add some rests or leading notes, such as if the kick is playing 4 on the floor play 1-2-1/8 rest-&4. If that sounds good, try it in octaves, or maybe a fifth, or other chord tones. If I am trying to do something fancy, I might use 1/4 notes and a moving rest 1/8th note pattern where I start on the & of 1, then in the next measure move to the & of 2, then next measure & of 3 and rotate through that.

 

[2thAche]

So when you play these songs in your head, there is no bass line? If you can't do it in your head, track the other parts, throw them to MP3 and listen. Your brain should start to generate something at least to start with. All you need is a seed to start with, then you can sit down and expand.

Beyond that there is alot to talk about but your mind should generate the seeds....

 

[flannel cat]

One thing that i like to do if I am writing a line is sometimes i move 3 frets up and use a pentatonic from there i like the results..Say my root is G major i move 3 frets to A# and pull some notes from there.
It works 3 frets down too. Seems to sound ok and its a little different.

I am a humble student trying to learn what i can but music theory is a struggle for me. but i dont give up.
play from the heart, your ear will tell you what works.
Learning the bass is so much fun! All the best!

 

[Nicolas Moreno]

So when you play these songs in your head, there is no bass line? If you can't do it in your head, track the other parts, throw them to MP3 and listen. Your brain should start to generate something at least to start with. All you need is a seed to start with, then you can sit down and expand.

Beyond that there is alot to talk about but your mind should generate the seeds....

I sat down and listened for a while to the mp3 on repeat and I finally managed to come up with something... for the first song. I guess I'll have to do that again for the other one until I can find another bassline in my head.

On the unrelated topic of recording and mp3s, whenever I record something on audacity it sounds like its an octave lower for some reason?

 

[N4860]

Lots of good info from others here. I'll just add that writing music is kind of like learning an instrument or anything else. You will start out as a beginner and get better at it as you do more attempts.

One thing I like to do is to sit down and try to write something every day. And I'm not talking about writing a full song everyday, just something like a small part like a riff or a chord progression.