How to write better bass lines?

[activa44]

I know it's late, but I'll jump in...
I think two things are getting slightly conflated here.
Knowledge
Creativity
In my opinion, knowledge of theory is very valuable for starting at a place where you can "color inside the lines." You at least know that the notes you play will fit. It's like a painter choosing a color pallette before beginning a painting. Knowledge also includes knowing what all the notes on the neck sound like-- being able to hear a melody and visualize it on the neck without actually having a bass in your hands. This comes only from lots of practicing, even if it's simply sitting on the couch with a bass and trying to copy the melody of every TV commercial jingle that comes on. You also want to copy whatever ideas your favorite bassists come up with. Do it by ear, no matter how long that takes. It gets easier the more you do it. You specifically asked about bass parts which complement guitar parts. Listen to your favorite bands and study how the various bassists approach this issue. You really have to be patient and use your ears. If it takes six hours to figure out four measures, so be it.
Now, creativity...
With knowledge of the fingerboard, a developed ear and a "database" of bass parts in your head, you'll be surprised how easily new ideas will come to you. Turn off the analytical part of your brain, and let them rise to the surface, which will happen even while you're going for a walk, driving, etc. At this point, you can either "color within the lines" (above) or not! It's up to you. You will find your own voice, which will be a new composite of your favorite bassists' voices.
I really hope this helps. Good luck and have fun!

I really have to try playing more of my favourite bassits' lines. I always saw them more as an ideal influence rather than playing their stuff (mainly because of different tunings). I'll keep a bass in E then.

 

[activa44]

I’m kinda feeling my way into composition so I can understand where you’re coming from. I personally found that learning a moderate amount of theory helped me a lot by giving me building blocks that I could play around with. I am not an expert by any means, but it allowed me to sit down and play with, say, chord tones, and find out what sounds good and what doesn’t. It also allows you to have a name for something that you’ve learned so you can recall it when your learning others lines/riffs.

I also had a bad music teacher that made me swear off music for over a decade, so I can understand why you might not want to spend money on a teacher. Instead I’ll give you a few things to look into that helped me. You don’t need to become an expert in them but to be able to have a bit of an understanding unlocks a lot.

1. Know your chord tones, and learn two or three shapes for them. There are 2 main chord types in rock music, major and minor. On the bass these notes are always in a relative position to the root note. So if you know a couple of shapes for each type of chord and the root note, you now have three different notes you can choose from for each root note.
2. Learn the degrees of the scale. There are 8 notes in the major scale and pretty much all note theory is referred to in reference to these numbers. For instance a minor scale is a major scale but the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes are flattened (one fret lower). If you understand this then you won’t have to memorize fret positions nearly as much, but a set of shapes that are related to the chord shapes you already know.
3. Don’t be afraid to experiment. Writing music is creative and some of the best sounds are things that aren’t “correct”. The only way to stumble onto these kind of ideas is by playing around to see what works.

A way to think of it is that 1 and 2 are lego bricks and 3 is where you start building.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot! I'll try to learn the chord tones and some scales then.

 

[dave_p]

study walking bass.

 

[Jens Telemark]

Some theory, some thievery, a sense of humour and the willingness to fail over and over and keep going.

 

[ryco]

As my ol' Union guitar teacher - who taught bass '70s - explained:

"Theory is used to describe what you've played after you've played it"

It's not "rules -- it's labels and labeling what lines, intervals, and devices you hear.
Gets more into "rules" for three and and four part harmony voice leading. Those rules, or recommendations established over a long period of time, are suggested because some harmonization doesn't sound so great -- unless one actually wants that sound.

 

[bobauslewing]

nice, Invunche is one of my favourite bands...

I'm playing in a band that makes kinda similar music (hc/crust/death metal). Lot of my music writing skills i learned in this band and i definitely still have a lot to learn.
I learned basic music theory before and in the process. As many here have written, I think it helps a lot to know why some notes work better than others when creating music.

Maybe my approach helps you:
Mostly, our singer and guitarist brings in initial ideas and riffs for a new song. First I try to copy the guitar riffs, leaving out fast note runs or articulations, just basic riff idea. Then i focus more on the drums to find a way to connect the melody and rhythm. Then usually we try bring in structure into the song together. Only then i think of what else I can bring into the song. In more intense parts i try to stick close to the guitar riff, only maybe add some passing notes. Sometimes the guitar riff is really simple even in a fast part, so here I try to add extra melodic accents, mostly arpeggios or chord tones.
In slower or more rhytmically accented parts I try the same mostly, but always in mind to also step down or even stop playing to have more balance in the song.
3 extra things I have in mind a lot:
- Often our songs, and songs i like, are quite repetitive. So I add little variations in every, 2nd, 4th... repetition. Helps me a lot to not get lost.
- I try to complement the singer's voice melody, either by playing the same or do some call-response technique. I personally like that a lot.
- When I'm at home, practicing, i mostly try to overplay everything and challenge myself to my technical ability. Then I leave out most of it again for rehearsals. I find it easier to leave stuff out than invent new stuff on the spot.

I use this approach also when playing along to songs of other bands as well.

I hope some of this helps or inspires you, all the best and have fun!

 

[DrBnz]

It would really help to have a basic understanding of theory. There are great videos to give you the basic understanding of theory. Go watch one and then give this a try, just as an example. Without a bass in hand go watch "Stevie Ray Vaugan - Texas Flood" bass cover. Now this is a great example cause its so slow that most can follow and comprehend whats going on at the same time. Now pay attention to the chord symbols at the top as well and note that he's hitting the root on time, but then it seems that he's just randomly playing notes in between. Now stop the video and analyze what those notes are and recognize them what what they are. So what are they.... root / 3rd / 4th / 5th? and some of them that just seem to be out of place, but they are a chromatic lead into the root so they can stay. Just analyze and watch what he's doing. And then realize when he hits a 1 - 5 (for example) that he didn't have to hit "THAT" 5. He coulda gone anywhere on the fretboard and played that 5. Or any note within that scale for that matter. Knowing pentatonic helps about now when you're hunting for those other (available) notes. You can go a long ways just understanding that. Now let the video run and watch him do it. Simple, right???!!!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hi everyone.

I've always been fascinated by bassists that don't just follow the root note, but play different stuff instead, giving making their style (and song) more memorable.
Lately I've been listening to some underground punk and metal music, the least underground of which is Rudimentary Peni, and the others being Invunche, Dawn of Humans and Kuka'ilimoku (I'll provide examples further on). Even trying to figure out what they play by ear is an excruciating task to me (Peni and Dawn of Humans in particular) and I suppose that is because I know no music theory.

I highly doubt these musicians (as raw and unpolished their music might seem) know nothing about theory.
So here's what I'm asking you: is there any essential tip (or bit of theory) that I should know, to help me write more original (and different from the guitar) bass lines?

Here's the aformentioned examples:






(here in particular, listen from 9:20 onwards, I've been trying to play that)


(least important example, honestly)

This may get me banned…Steal them. Seriously. There is no shame in borrowing/ building off of someone else’s ideas. I mean musical logic principles not necessarily note for note copies.

This may get me banned. Steal them. Seriously, no shame is ‘borrowing someone’s ideas.