How do I choose which notes to play?

[dax21]

This is what I did yesterday! I plugged in, had the first few second of the song on repeat - played the part over and over with different notes and rhythms, then jotted it down in MuseScore and boom - I had written the first 10 or so bars down and I think it sounded pretty good. Nothing complex, just some staccato 8th notes etc.

The added benefit of midi is that it's pitch-perfect and it's easier to be certain which notes work well together and when you are out of harmony. With real bass it can sometimes be hard to tell, especially as you go up the neck and if your intonation is a bit off. It can all become a confusing mush.

Anyway I just heard the track and like most chiptune music, it's very chaotic without actual natural space for bass guitar so no wonder it's confusing. If you pay attention even the midi bass on it is doing what you tried, staccato 8th notes that do nothing but shift the root.
You can also try doing quarter note walking, think ska/reggae triads (root, third, fifth, root or other combinations) when it changes into those fast piano pedal notes.

 

[themickster]

I have been slowly working on trying to play a bass part to a piece of soundtrack that I enjoy.
It doesn't have notation or tablature, so I am going strictly by ear and trial and error here.

The piece is in C Major, it's quite speedy at 180bpm.

Thing is, I can go over a part a hundred times and I cannot seem to decide which notes to play. I feel like no matter what note I choose, it never seems to "click" nicely and doesn't seem to fit into the song even though it technically should fit.

Anyone got any tips as to how to compose a bass track like this? Should I just kind of go for it, maybe limit myself to a few specific notes/phrases/chords?

I have tried, for example, to choose only notes from B Minor 7th Flat 5th and that kinda made me gel more with the song, as an example.

Thank you!

Any tips are welcome.

Can post it in here? Someone might know how to work it out.

 

[Phaidrus]

EDM is one of my favorite genres, from JM Jarre to Aphex Twin and KAN3DA. But in this case of a hectic video game track, I‘d slow it down A LOT and make it a stoner track a la Sleep. Al Cisneros has the answer. You can always speed it up after you‘ve got it down.

 

[Jogobass]

Axiom Verge.

Boss no. 3 - Uruku.

The track, everyone:

Having heard it. I think the most suitable bassline would be a constant stream of 8th notes on the roots of the chords. But that's just my 2 cents. Or even just quarter notes in some places. Maybe double the synth bass, but not necessarily everywhere. Play with octaves for that disco feel.

 

[Katoosie]

Having heard it. I think the most suitable bassline would be a constant stream of 8th notes on the roots of the chords. But that's just my 2 cents. Or even just quarter notes in some places. Maybe double the synth bass, but not necessarily everywhere. Play with octaves for that disco feel.

That's what my ear is telling me, too. I got a near constant stream of 8th notes
I am actually writing it down as I write this.

Again, thank you everyone - I finally had some time this week so I have been able to sit down and enjoy some music and learning again. Thanks for all the tips so far - more are always welcome! Thank you!!!

 

[BobDeRosa]

I'm puzzled that only one mode of the C Major scale, and maybe the weirdest one, Locrian, works for you. If those chord tones (B, D, F, A) work, why wouldn't the D Dorian (D, F, A, C)? or the E Phrygian (E, G, B, D) or any other mode of C Major? They all use the notes of the C Major scale.

 

[brianrost]

I just put it into my transcription software and the bass is mainly pumping roots, very typical for the genre. There are a couple of spots where I hear simple riffs (3 notes?). I'd work out the roots and use that to develop a different line if that's what your intent is.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Start with one note you're sure you're happy with, and then find an honest way to get to the next.
Build a phrase like that, then leave it.
Then build another.

 

[kittywithabanjo]

I like to listen to a song before i touch my bass and more or less envision in my head, and or sing the line you think fits, then go to the instrument and pick it out.

 

[wiscoaster]

Hum along to tunes you're listening to on the radio. (It helps to pass the time when you're driving alone.) Hum what sounds to you like an appropriate bass part. Also pay attention to the drum so you get the beat. Eventually it becomes second nature to pick the right notes to hum. (I suppose the technical musical term is arpeggios for the song's key.) Then it's a matter of discovering what those notes are on your bass. (I suppose the technical bass pattern terms are one-four-five-seven-etc.) After a while your fingers kind of automatically seek out the proper string and fret position for the notes and patterns that seem right to go with the song. This is how you learn to improvise your own bass line to a song. You don't really need to read music, tabs or chords or understand modes. (Ducking brickbats from professional musicians, who I think sometimes get so wrapped up in details of music theory they miss the forest for the trees.) You just do it by ear and by feeling what's right. It only comes with practice. Lots of that. If it sounds good to you, it's right.

 

[Papageno]

The main tools for this are:
1. your ears -----> work on ear training
2. your brain -----> learn harmony and music theory

(there are plenty of resources online for both).

 

[Jeff Bonny]