Have you learned any scales? I started working in modes, to give myself new bass lines. They can be looked on as scales that take their notes from other scales, such as E phrygian having the same notes as C major.
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How not to play the same over and over again
- Thread starter javi_bassist
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Think about what you played before and play something else. Easy.
First you have to learn the piece inside and out, in multiple keys. Then you can play with variations.
Whenever I am reaching out in a new direction with bass guitar, I like to warm up by spending time studying songs that I know I already like. I’ll sit down and figure out challenging bass lines in a variety of genres for a while as a way to explore new rhythms and riffs and I always come away inspired with a few new licks of my own to start fiddling around with.
I hate to admit this, I never thought of this. I need to practice like this!
Listen to music, whether it's old or new to you. The room for vocabulary is basically infinite!
Good musicians borrow; great musicians steal
Good musicians borrow; great musicians steal
I mostly diversify what I am listening to and learning. I do mostly Open Mics and Blues jams but listen to more Funk, Soul, R & B players and try and create my own style from that into my existing repertoire.
I like to take a song and attempt to play it in another players style to create those new exciting lines and break out of the rut.
I like to take a song and attempt to play it in another players style to create those new exciting lines and break out of the rut.
drumvsbass
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This might be the outlier of any of the advice here, but why not?
Work on your pentatonic vocabulary.
Understand that you don't need to use the G pentatonic anything just because you are in the key of G whatever.
Most popular (not all) music is in a static key center.
This doesn't mean you have to 'solo' in that key, or that you have to stay in a key during the solo.
Try soloing using the Eb major pentatonic (or even a C blues scale) over a tune in
G MAJOR
but just for one bar.
Yea, you got some sour notes in there but what else? Interesting, inspiring colors as you went,
OUTSIDE. Now this will sound amateurish if you just kind of beam in and out to the alien world without connection, but lets say you slide into the C blues scale (Try from a B, the major 3rd of G up to the C) rip a killer blues lick that resolves back to the G major (Try that B again. Coming up to it from the Bb, the 7th of the C blues scale)
Similar if you wanted to use the Eb major pentatonic (yea I know it's related but it's also different) You might transition from D (the 5th of G) up to Eb (here I would usually try to exploit the Bb in Eb major BECAUSE it grinds against B, the major 3rd of G because I'm a jerk
) and then any resolution will sound nice back to G as it's the 3rd of Eb major.
So, the idea isn't to play outside all the time, as that sounds a lame as playing inside all the time, but to seamlessly slide between different colored worlds back into normalcy. This is how a solo (and music) breathes. Expressions of tension between different major and minor key centers.
Adding chord changes to this concept one might think it would become complicated, but it actually makes it easier to plot your moves. You can step pretty far if there is a dominant chord and function moving beneath your feet, making landing almost anywhere 'in key' satisfying.
Try that C blues lick over the V chord
| Amin7 | *D7* | Gmaj7 |
Also, high grade Ethiopian coffee and bong hits will allow you to write gibberish like this in merely a few minutes. I should have stopped at 'Work on your pentatonic vocabulary....'
Work on your pentatonic vocabulary.
Understand that you don't need to use the G pentatonic anything just because you are in the key of G whatever.
Most popular (not all) music is in a static key center.
This doesn't mean you have to 'solo' in that key, or that you have to stay in a key during the solo.
Try soloing using the Eb major pentatonic (or even a C blues scale) over a tune in
G MAJOR but just for one bar.Yea, you got some sour notes in there but what else? Interesting, inspiring colors as you went,
OUTSIDE. Now this will sound amateurish if you just kind of beam in and out to the alien world without connection, but lets say you slide into the C blues scale (Try from a B, the major 3rd of G up to the C) rip a killer blues lick that resolves back to the G major (Try that B again. Coming up to it from the Bb, the 7th of the C blues scale)Similar if you wanted to use the Eb major pentatonic (yea I know it's related but it's also different) You might transition from D (the 5th of G) up to Eb (here I would usually try to exploit the Bb in Eb major BECAUSE it grinds against B, the major 3rd of G because I'm a jerk
) and then any resolution will sound nice back to G as it's the 3rd of Eb major.So, the idea isn't to play outside all the time, as that sounds a lame as playing inside all the time, but to seamlessly slide between different colored worlds back into normalcy. This is how a solo (and music) breathes. Expressions of tension between different major and minor key centers.
Adding chord changes to this concept one might think it would become complicated, but it actually makes it easier to plot your moves. You can step pretty far if there is a dominant chord and function moving beneath your feet, making landing almost anywhere 'in key' satisfying.
Try that C blues lick over the V chord
| Amin7 | *D7* | Gmaj7 |
Also, high grade Ethiopian coffee and bong hits will allow you to write gibberish like this in merely a few minutes. I should have stopped at 'Work on your pentatonic vocabulary....'
It's only my personal observation.
There are very few bass guitar tutorials that try to prepare a new (any) bass player for the hard work of the bass player in any band.
There are lots of tutorials that teach a lot of secondary "stuff", tricks, etc., but not what's important for a/any bass lines in this/that Music style.
You might consider studying some Motown tunes. There's a lot of bass lines that are master classes in using scales and approach notes with complex and interesting rhythms. Once a student gets to a certain level, I hand them I Want You Back by the Jackson 5. Doesn't matter what style of music you're focusing on, that song is worth learning for EVERY bass player.
Also, I read your "Hello everyone!" in the voice of Review Brah.
There has been some good advice so far. Believe it or not, for me the turning point in this regard (moving more freely and purposefully across fingerboard) was working on a guitar course Visual Guide Tones from Dana Rasch. So much so that I reviewed it:
Based in Bass: Alien guidance
Based in Bass: Alien guidance
I'm listening to a very nice track with Michael League from Snarky Puppy.
I wish I had SO MUCH patience to play the same over and over again.
I wish I had SO MUCH patience to play the same over and over again.
This is a very complicated question. It takes a lot to get to the point where you are completely confident creating new material on the fly.
First of all, creating basslines for music you have heard a lot, is different than creating basslines for an unknown piece of music.
As mentioned, it is a vocabulary issue. A toolbox issue. Everything you learn can contribute. As far as I am concerned, the thing that helped me do this the most, was learning theory. Once I understood the why behind Scales, Keys, and chords, I was able to fill in the blanks and create variations.
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This is a good signpost from @dreamadream99:
The word 'Variations' is the clue. Variation comes in many forms - changing the notes is just one of them. Something that helped me a lot was looking into the composition process - how to identifiy themes/motifs and melodic development and from there being able to recognise the 'essence' or foundation of the music. Whatever we do has to maintain some relationship or link with the foundation or we put the whole thing at risk of collapse through wandering around aimlessly. From that perspective the Snarky Puppy example from @Whousedtoplay is a great example. The foundation is a simple (only 3 notes) melodic (you can sing the tune), harmonic (states a V-I movement) and rhythmic (syncopation against the downbeat creates the forward motion) motif that they never lose sight of (I changed the key signature to make more sense of how I was hearing it):
There are variations in timbre and dynamics, and lots of blue notes are thrown in but the 'hook' persists. Sometimes there is no need to change the notes - interest, contrast or movement can be created with just tone, dynamics, articulation or errangement (who plays what and when). And sometimes it is the right thing to change nothing!!
On a different note it is worth listening to something like Dvořák Symphony #9. Yes it is more complex than the SP jam. but the idea of developing and maintaining threads and connections between motifs and themes are really clear from start to finish. Even the ever-popular 'Largo' that we all know gains meaning when heard in context:
I really like your expression, "wandering around aimlessly."
I've been getting my message across that any bass-line (simple/complex) is a serious COMPOSITION process.
My 2 cents:
It's valuable to practice new and different things; but on the job, it's often most effective (and at times our bass playing "duty") to employ formulas that simply *work*... And repetition can create a hypnotic state, which lots of listeners -- and dancers -- tend to love.
Also, if you're boring and predictable, it can mean that you're being supportive of your singers and soloists. They might have a hard time relaxing and creating if you're back there, trying not to do the same thing over and over. I worked for several years with a very good singer who would get rattled if I threw in an unexpected inversion.
"No practicing on the gig!!"
Anyway, you know better than I do what your situation is-- what will work and what won't.
Just something to consider...
It's valuable to practice new and different things; but on the job, it's often most effective (and at times our bass playing "duty") to employ formulas that simply *work*... And repetition can create a hypnotic state, which lots of listeners -- and dancers -- tend to love.
Also, if you're boring and predictable, it can mean that you're being supportive of your singers and soloists. They might have a hard time relaxing and creating if you're back there, trying not to do the same thing over and over. I worked for several years with a very good singer who would get rattled if I threw in an unexpected inversion.
"No practicing on the gig!!"
Anyway, you know better than I do what your situation is-- what will work and what won't.
Just something to consider...
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