How can I make/improvise a good bass line?

[spintop90]

I'm pretty new to the bass, but since I'm a quick learner, I learnt how to play the bass very quickly. Anywho, yesterday I was jamming out with my friend who plays Electric Guitar, and he told me to improvise a bass line, and I did tried, but I just ended up embarrassing myself. He told me after that I should learn about the chords on bass or something like that.

So, how do you guys make up/improvise a good bass line?

 

[Rib 13]

There is no short answer........

knowing diatonic theory and chord construction are two of the biggest things that can help you....Knowing how to sing and how melody works is a very huge plus........there are also people out there that can do neither, have no clue of any of the notes on the fretboard, and can still come up with incredible basslines

 

[bholder]

It's good to learn the chords to the songs because that gives you the best "target" notes to "land on" on a downbeat in your riff.

 

[Drucifer]

It might be easier starting off if you learn a couple of songs to jam to. Like a blues song and a straight-forward rock song, then you can do some variations on the bass line but you're not making up an entire song from scratch.

 

[dreamadream99]

So, how do you guys make up/improvise a good bass line?

There is a simple two-step answer, but you're not going to like it.

1. You must become familiar with the musical style. Whether it is rock, funk, jazz, or country, you must spend a lot of time listening and playing it, till the conventions and standards of practice become ingrained, and you can muster that style on demand. For most of us, this part takes years. Decades, even. Bonus: your ear improves while doing this too.
2. Learn at least enough theory to master keys and chords. Learn the order of sharps and flats, and know the major and minor key signatures inside and out. Learn major and minor scales, then learn the harmonized scales built on triads and 7th chords. Know how to instantly spell all major and minor chords on demand.

Once you know the style, the key, and the chords, composing/improvising bass lines is a breeze.

 

[Russell L]

In addition, try picking out some lines by ear whether you understand anything yet or not. Gotta train that ear. Got to.

All of this takes time. Don't look for it to come too quickly or you will become frustrated. You must love the journey.

 

[BassChuck]

Can you play, "Mary Had A Little Lamb"? How about "Three Blind Mice"? Good. Now try "Happy Birthday". Keep going, can you listen to a melody on the TV and then sing it? If so, then play it on the bass. Think of your own melody, play it on bass. Listen to some music you like. Sing a melody that goes with that music. Play it on your bass. Keep going, and going, and going.
Theory (scales and chords) is great and you should learn as much of that knowledge as you can, but remember to use it as you learn it (that way you don't forget).
What you're asking will be a life long task. No matter how good you get, or how fast you learn, you'll be working at this.

 

[saabfender]

There is no short answer...

Hold my beer.

Do it a lot. Improvise your parts to the exclusion of playing the parts on the record. Yes, you'll stink at first but you'll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Try all kinds of things. Some will sound great (possibly by accident), some won't. Do more of the things that work and less things that don't.

It's like songwriting. You'll need to do a ton of it to get anywhere.

 

[lfmn16]

You can do it the easy way and get a good teacher and practice hard, or you can do it the hard way and learn by trial and error.

 

[RyanOh]

I'm pretty new to the bass, but since I'm a quick learner, I learnt how to play the bass very quickly. Anywho, yesterday I was jamming out with my friend who plays Electric Guitar, and he told me to improvise a bass line, and I did tried, but I just ended up embarrassing myself. He told me after that I should learn about the chords on bass or something like that.

So, how do you guys make up/improvise a good bass line?

Wow didn't you get the bass for Xmas? You're pretty quick

I would learn some basic music theory, it will be a huge help:
1. Major scale, minor scale. How to play a major and minor scale in any key on the bass. They are patterns, not hard.
2. Know the actual note names on the bass. Not "2nd fret, fat string" -- it's F# on the E string.



After that, you can start thinking about playing in the same key as your friend. You know the notes in the scale, you know what chords/hotes he's playing, and you can start making choices about a bass line.

 

[Netoow Rotciv]

It's good to learn the chords to the songs because that gives you the best "target" notes to "land on" on a downbeat in your riff.

i totally agree. scales are nice, however learning the chord tones will really provide clarity with your lines. and you also don't have to think about as many notes. for instance, if you just focus on the 3rds of each chord and approach those 3rds, you can already sound very melodic.

 

[buldog5151bass]

Think of the down beats as the target/goal, and then figure out how to get there. Many great bass lines are repeated short patterns.

 

[BassplayinBob]

learn 2-3 cover songs, start to finish in a style that you like. Master those, now learn another 2-3 songs, so on forth. After you've learned 20-30 covers, you are going to see patterns, phrasings and you can "steal riffs" from the songs and make them your own. Cover songs are a great way to learn.

 

[eukatheude]

Start easy, get a drum track or metronome going and start playing a simple, 1 note 1 bar rhythm. Then slowly add to it by ear, while keeping track of what you started with. Rhythm is more important than notes, so keep playing that same note as long as you need/want to. Focus on getting a good sound. Tap your foot. TAP YOUR FOOT.
Start using octaves/fifths to make it less monotonous.
Once you can do that, do the same thing but starting with something slightly more complex. Choose 4 notes that sound good together, and do the same thing adding roots and fifhts. Try keeping the same rhytmic pattern, and start expanding it ie. make it 2 or 4 bars long and repeat it until it never sounds wrong. Add in thirds and you've almost got a radio song. Et cetera.
Music theory is a big help, but if you start thinking only in terms of theory it's gonna sound boring.
Oh and always record and relisten to yourself.

 

[MalcolmAmos]

The electric Guitar, told me to improvise a bass line, and I did try, but I just ended up embarrassing myself. He told me after that I should learn about the chords on bass or something like that. So, how do you guys make up/improvise a good bass line?

OK from the top. Music is made of melody - what the solo guys/gals sing or play, then harmony - what we as beginner bassists play - then rhythm comes into the picture. I'm going to speak to harmony and rhythm.

Harmony first. If the melody line (treble clef) and the bass line (bass clef) sound good together we get harmony. This happens when both lines share some of the same notes.

Simple way to do that is to first know what chord is active at this point in the song then play some of the notes of that chord. If you do not know what chord is active hitting some it's notes in your bass line is hit or miss at best.

How do you know which chord is active? Two ways of doing this; sheet music or your ears. As the songwriter has already picked the chord that will harmonize most of the job is already done. All you have to do is play notes of THAT chord. OK which ones? Right at first - the root and fifth note of that chord - to the rhythm the drummer is laying down. IN 4/4 TIME - the root on the first beat than the 5 on the third beat.

As a beginner I bet your ear has not kicked in - so play from sheet music until it does kick in -- a year or so down the road.

Roots first, then the fifth, the eighth is a safe note after the fifth. After that the correct 3 and 7. Minor three gets a b3 and so will the dominant seven b7 or minor 7.

Don't find many 2's and 4's in the chords we normally run up on so.... we've talked about the R, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. That leaves the 6 and 8, both of those will flow with any major progression. R-5-8-5 or R-3-5-6.

All you now need is where they are on your neck - in the keys you normally play in.

Good luck.

 

[MrLenny1]

Take lessons. There is no magic pill, it's a lot
of work.

 

[doug calkin]

I'm pretty new to the bass, but since I'm a quick learner, I learnt how to play the bass very quickly. Anywho, yesterday I was jamming out with my friend who plays Electric Guitar, and he told me to improvise a bass line, and I did tried, but I just ended up embarrassing myself. He told me after that I should learn about the chords on bass or something like that.

So, how do you guys make up/improvise a good bass line?

Years ago I used to turn on the radio, college, rock, public jazz station and work at jumping in and hanging on. It forced me to work hard at listening, being in the moment. Unfortunately now commercial/college stations are mostly owned by clear channel, so more commercials, no late night stretched commercial free. Though youtube is useful, if you have a mixer, you can plug your music source and your bass in and get a good level blend so you can hear yourself. Try to quickly catch the key, lock in on familiar chords as many bass lines can be instantly created off your chord notes, focus on using repeated intervals(memorize interval/finger positions) keep it simple and lock in on the percussion. Also as others have mentioned, pick a couple blues based numbers to practice to, That's a good start. Good luck.