How do you play Reggae Bass?

[threshar]

I too play in a reggae & caribean band.

For reggae the biggest thing (imho) is rest. You must fight that urge to play more notes. This isn't rock where it falls apart when you stop playing for a measure. In reggae those rests really make the song come out.

Rest, Roots, Fifths. That is pretty much it.

And like any style and wanting to get into the themes & styles of it - just listen to a ton of it. Your brain will absorb it. I play in a caribean band like I mentioned, and I kept trying to write super funk stuff and kept failing miserably. Then I stopped and tried writing stuff in the theme of the band. And guess what? It all flows freely. My brain has enough ingrained that it just drips out of my fingers.

 

[seriousbob]

For reggae I just do this: Say out loud: And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and play the note everytime you say "and" instead of everytime you say a number. Works for me.

But if you start on "And" then...

 

[BurningSkies]

That's true if you use "reggae" as a cover-all term for Jamaican music. However, the original poster specified roots and Bob Marley, so I think it's fairly safe to assume he was thinking of reggae as the specific genre that followed on from Ska and Rocksteady.

Nope. I'm not just talking about Ska and Rocksteady when I say that there are other beats besides one drop. There's plenty of 70's roots and beyond that doesn't feature one drop. There's also plenty of modified one-drop-ish stuff, like the era of the flying hi-hat. Even the track Exodus isn't a straight one drop...

 

[BurningSkies]

And like any style and wanting to get into the themes & styles of it - just listen to a ton of it. Your brain will absorb it. I play in a caribean band like I mentioned, and I kept trying to write super funk stuff and kept failing miserably. Then I stopped and tried writing stuff in the theme of the band. And guess what? It all flows freely. My brain has enough ingrained that it just drips out of my fingers.

This is dead on.

I've started playing with a 'rock' band on the side, and they keep telling me I have to de-reggaefy my playing...and I thought I had!

Luckily, I can do funk OK...

But my own personal style that slips out the most is more of a Flabba thing with a bit of a Shakespear punch to it. It just comes out that way.

 

[dlloyd]

Nope. I'm not just talking about Ska and Rocksteady when I say that there are other beats besides one drop. There's plenty of 70's roots and beyond that doesn't feature one drop. There's also plenty of modified one-drop-ish stuff, like the era of the flying hi-hat. Even the track Exodus isn't a straight one drop...

Yes, and if you go back to my original answer, I said "Generally the drummer will be playing a one-drop pattern."

My main point was that the OP should listen to a lot of reggae, listen to the interplay between the instruments and learn from that. One-drop patterns, modified or otherwise, are something he can expect to hear a lot, particularly if he listens to the Wailers and similar bands.

 

[s.m.80808]

The bass player for this band is pretty good. I think his basslines are not the "standard" reggae sounding lines.

Link Removed

(not it isn't me)

Too bad the mix on those songs are kind of horrible.

 

[bassmasta05]

Well thanks tons guys!!! I wrote a list of about 10 key things reggae basslines envolve from your posts and the book I have. thanks!

For now I am just going to look to reggae riddims (basslines) and figure out the patterns and stuff. As soon as I start writing stuff, Ill give some more detailed questions. Thanks for the help and hopefully when I start writing music you can help more!



thanks

 

[WillBuckingham]

I play in a reggae band regularly and learned to play reggae from the guitarist (who is also an accomplished reggae bassist). In my understanding there are two main things to understand about reggae bass. The first is "bubblin". Bubblin' is basically a really slow 16th not funk groove, but usually with only the root and fifth, sometimes the third, and almost never a seventh. Usually when the bandleader wants me to do this he says "just bubble it . . . " You'll here this kind of thing in a lot of contemporary reggae. Check out Morgan Heritage for some of my favorite examples of bubblin' bass lines.

The other thing to get down is something that happens a lot with Bob Marley's music. I read something a long time about Family Man's "melodic bass" and I think that's what I'm talking about here. In this case, you play the melody or a shout chorus in the song note for note, before the melody even starts. Then when the vocals come in with melody you'll be playing unison with the melody. Or sometimes you play a line (and it has to be exact, no messing around with it) and then the whole band comes in and plays the bassline in unison. Checkout "Rebel Music" as a good example of this.

Another thing to know is that a lot of times one of the guitarists will play "pick bass" where he doubles the bassline an octave up. I always try to lock in and play the exact same line as the "pick bass" when this happens.

The most important thing to remember with reggae is that for the most part it's minimalist music. Every instrument has a clearly defined role and very specific place in the music and if anyone steps out of this role it takes away from what - for me - makes the music beutiful and meaningful. Anyway, I'm no expert, this is just from my personal experience. Good luck!

 

[bassmasta05]

thanks a lot. I guess a lot of guys are suggesting using a lot of roots and fifths, it came up in my book too.

As for what morf said, do you have a basic reggae rythem that you could post here in tab form or something and explain it? Like what the bassist did to make the rythem reggae style? You dont have to, for my book has tons of reggae basslines, but the book doesnt go into detail as to explain how the bassline is made.

thanks though.

 

[s.m.80808]

I think the best way to make a bass line from "scratch"would be to trust your ears and listen to the context of the song.

Try humming a bass line and then playing it.

Maybe try playing along with bass lines from songs you like a little at a time. There is no shame in learning a song one note at a time through repetition by ear at first. Eventually you should be able to hear songs and make sense of them straight away. This skill really helps if you ever play in a situation where you don't know the songs before hand and have to learn them on the spot. (it happens)

 

[FunkSlap89]

Anyone who is in a reggae band is so lucky... I wish there were talented enough musicians around here play reggae. What I've noticed recently is that you can usually find the best musicians in 3 genres: Jam Band, Jazz, and Reggae.

 

[morf]

I think the best way to make a bass line from "scratch"would be to trust your ears and listen to the context of the song.

Try humming a bass line and then playing it.

Maybe try playing along with bass lines from songs you like a little at a time. There is no shame in learning a song one note at a time through repetition by ear at first. Eventually you should be able to hear songs and make sense of them straight away. This skill really helps if you ever play in a situation where you don't know the songs before hand and have to learn them on the spot. (it happens)

This guy's got it. I just learnt things that way from my bass instructor with I shot the sheriff played in many different ways...


--------------------------------------
------------------5--------------------
--------5--3-3-6----------5--------5----
--3-3-6-------------3-3-6---3-3-6----------

Play that twice then move onto:

---------------------------------------
-------4-4------------------------------
--5-5------4-4-7-7--------5-------5-------
---------------------3-3-6---3-3-6------

Then

---------------------------------------
-------7-7------6-6-----------------------
--5-5------4-4------------5-------5-------
---------------------3-3-6---3-3-6------

Then

-------7-7------6-6----------------------
------------------------------------------
--5-5------4-4------------5-------5-------
---------------------3-3-6---3-3-6------

And finish by:

---------------------------------------
--5-3------------------------------------
------5---3--5-3---------------------------
------------6----6-3----------------------

Play each note with the same rhythm (you can speed up/slow down as you like), start by saying 1 and 2 and 3 and 4, play one note for each "and" you're gonna say. That's what hes taught me so far, its helped my sense of rhythm for reggae alot. I wasnt too good with it tho.

 

[bassmasta05]

thanks tons!!! In fact, my book has this bassline in it, your version is a bit different i think, but thats ok i guess.

I will try playing it but I have to go. Do you know if there are any reggae elements put into that song? (im sure there are, but could you name them? like certain reggae chord structures or something)

thanks

 

[WillBuckingham]

you can usually find the best musicians in 3 genres: Jam Band, Jazz, and Reggae.

Can't tell if this is a joke or not, but if you're serious, you need to get out more . . . I'm so sick of people on this forum who live in the middle of nowhere making ridiculous generalizations about music from whatever excuse for a music scene might exist where they live.

EDIT: Sorry for being so hard on you in my original post . . . Didn't realize how young you are. I just meant keep your ears and mind open and avoid making ill-informed blanket statements about other people.

 

[QuintrKD]

I recall one brief mention of staccato notes. A techique that I picked up from a Paul Baloche DVD in regards to Music Styles is to rest the palm of your striking hand on the strings just above the bridge and then to percussively strike or pop the strings with the thumb of your striking hand. Tweak your bass and treble to get the desired resonance and tone. You will recognize this technique when you get it right!

 

[BurningSkies]

...

The man here wants to learn how to play reggae music. Understanding of the genre is important for that and if you're a beginner you need to start with basic rhythm. So go screw yourselves.

Also, there are reggae songs that need such rhythm pattern for bass. Take out your Bob Marley books and check instead of rolling your eyes pathetically.

No need to get bent out of shape about this. You suggested that our friend here play bass on the upbeat. Playing on the up on reggae is a chop, and while I've heard guitars and keyboards, even marimba play a chop, I've never heard a bass do it in reggae music.

If you have a good example of a bass line in reggae that does so, please show.

 

[Mystic Michael]

I'm new to the forums, and well, I signed up because I want to learn how to play reggae style bass.

Dial up a big, thick, round tubey tone. Roll off the highs & high mids on your bass and play strictly fingerstyle near the end of the fingerboard.

In reggae, the beat that really counts is "3", so if you accent anything, accent that. Don't get too busy - remember: in reggae, less is more. Don't push the tempo either, let the drums and guitars do that. If anything, lay back and play just a bit behind the beat. Leave lots of space - so that the notes you do play will have ultimate authority.

Then, just let the groove have its way with you, mon...

MM

 

[Zachass]

A lot of Regge basslines use triads to outline the chords. No need to get too complex, just use those triads and focus on the rythym.

 

[BurningSkies]

I just did... I posted the whole song tabbed above... playing on the up beat is definately the first step to playing reggae, and it is imo necessary he tries simple exercise to get the feeling right...

I'm starting to get really tired of you people rolling your eyes at simpler techniques or at whatever ways other people play their instruments. I'm surely allowed to play my bass the way I want to, and looking down on simpler stuff (which you probably went through at some point) is not helping the guy out.

OK. You caught me. I was ignoring your tab when I replied. Why? Because I even bothered to take my bass, play what you have up and also play it with my metronome. As far as I can tell, if you play this as an upbeat it doesn't make much sense in the context of I Shot the Sheriff, and there are really only brief glimpses of the original bass melody in the tab, and where recognizable doesn't appear to be in the proper place if trying to come close to replicate Familyman's feel. I get the feeling that something is lost in the translation from what you're meaning and what you're saying.

No one's trying to confuse the OP. Everyone has been pretty much on the same page and no one has been throwing around insults. No one's even posted anything complex nor looked down on anything simpler.

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

I just did... I posted the whole song tabbed above... playing on the up beat is definately the first step to playing reggae, and it is imo necessary he tries simple exercise to get the feeling right...

I'm starting to get really tired of you people rolling your eyes at simpler techniques or at whatever ways other people play their instruments. I'm surely allowed to play my bass the way I want to, and looking down on simpler stuff (which you probably went through at some point) is not helping the guy out.

Sorry - this is just plain wrong - it's not a simplified version of anything - it's just not how reggae bass lines are played!

Rhythm Guitar - yes - bass - no!

Play what you like - but don't kid yourself it's Reggae!!