Making simple bass parts more exciting

[InhumanResource]

I'm playing with a rag-tag crew of musically proficient work colleagues and students to raise money for a local charity. The setlist of cover songs was provided to us by the concert organizer (head of the charity), and the songs are all fairly simple pop tunes. Two examples: You've Got the Love by Florence + The Machine (A♭m > G♭ > D♭), and What About Us by Pink as performed by the One Voice Children's Choir (Fm > D♭ > A♭). We have the freedom to make the songs our own, though without the ability to get everyone together to practice regularly, we are sticking structurally to the originals.

All that said, when you are playing a song that is written with very simple bass parts, what is your approach to making them more exciting or interesting as the song builds, with respect to the rest of the band? In the two songs listed above, the bass part is essentially root notes, and the songs are composed of three chords nearly the entire way through. There is a key change in "What About Us", but it follows the exact same structure that came before.

In theory, I know I can use the classic roots+5ths+octaves that always seem to work, but this can be overdone or get a bit boring. I know about chord tones and scale tones, but sometimes these just don't seem to fit (maybe I am placing them on the wrong beats? Is that a thing?). On the other hand, I have heard amazing bassists make simple progressions sound impressive while not sticking to just roots and 5ths so I guess I'm curious how to start making this happen.

Any advice or resources to check out on how to make simple songs more dynamic? Alternatively, should I just be content to play something easy while helping to raise money for a good cause?

Easy, you don’t. Pay attention to the drummer, nail everything, and learn to embellish together if you do at all.

 

[TeaTime]

Apart from whatever details, this sounds like a fun gig, with people you like, while helping others. That's a pretty sweet jam.

 

[hrodbert696]

Tasteful fills, in moderation, are an option. But another thing is that there can be a lot of subtleties to making simple lines really groove. Pay attention to things like note length and how you lock in with the drummer, whether you're right on top of the beat or just a little behind it, and little dynamic shifts.

For example, here's Sting's isolated bass on "Every Breath You Take." When you first listen to the song, it sounds like he's just pumping eighth-note roots. But there's actually a slight dynamic to it.



Much of the time each bar is not "bum-bum-bum-bum" but "buh - BUH - bum - bum," and once in a while it's "buddah -BUH - bum - bum." The slight variation gives the line more life than if it were just straight eighths the whole time.

 

[dfp]

Listen to the original artists’ live versions. A lot of actual really pro bands will have nice live arrangements that introduce a subtle dynamic shift here or there that wasn’t in the album version, for example have bass or something drop out at the 2nd verse, rhythm section out til first chorus, add some catchy punches at the top of the second verse, etc, kinda cliche in a lot of ways but simple tricks like that work well.

 

[Ostie]

Just be restrained and pick your spots carefully Be tasteful

For me there is nothing more annoying than a over busy bass player as a listener

One night on Gig I got bored and when playing Tom Petty Breakdown and following Drummer added riffs and licks sounded good to us

But when got off stage(was last song of set) a young women came up to me and said "You just ruined a Great song"

Well, that song is pretty much built around that bass line, so I kinda don’t blame her.

 

[JamesGrant]

Thanks for all of the advice, folks! "Making a bass line more interesting" can go very deep, as @JonathanPDX started his response with, so I appreciate the general tips. I did find this YouTube playlist on the topic, which seems helpful, but I also wanted to hear from the TBers with battle-tested experience.


Funnily enough, it's quite a strong group. While the majority of us instrumentalists and all vocalists—except the student choir—are educators, some of them are music teachers while others have played music professionally in former lives. I'm primarily an 'intermediate' bedroom player, though my teens were spent rocking small stages as a guitarist (with age came wisdom and with wisdom came bass) so we are fairly comfortable playing together.


Hmm...Likely what is driving this comes from my own fear of not meeting the standard of the more advanced musicians in the band and wanting to impress them and the audience, so they all know I am more than just 'that guy who knows about computers'. But it's a good point to consider. While I am not trying to do anything crazy that would annoy @Nebadon2000, I also feel a need to prove myself in the band. Not sure why, but there is probably a different forum for that!


Key takeaways from the current advice:

• Seek out live versions or covers that might shed some light on how it could be played outside the studio
  • Also learn stylistic vocabulary from other players to expand your options
    • Note: Just connecting this to reading/hearing about bassists learning Charlie Parker solos
• Learn all the parts to song to provide some inspiration for fills
• Especially learn the harmony to know whether a fill should outline the current chord or lead into the next chord
• Rhythm and articulation play a role here too
• Actively listen to try to understand where bass fits in with the other instruments
• Keeping it simple isn't a bad thing, especially if that's what the song calls for
  • And if playing it simple, take the opportunity to enjoy what's going on around you
• Sometimes the bassist is the rug that ties the room together, man, and others may be relying on that to stay on track
• Groove > complexity

Best way to impress? - nuffin’ to do with licks!

Be on time to everything - not ‘in the car park’ on time, but ‘in the room’ on time.
Dress smartly.
Have gear that works, don’t have crackly pots or duff cables.
Don’t noodle when people are talking.
If you are fit, offer to help carry things for folk during pack down.

Finally, play the tunes as written, no more, no less. People never think ‘oh man, I wish the bass player would add more notes in that famous song I like’!

Do these things and you’ll get called on again and again. Also - enjoy it and look like you are enjoying it, a smile is worth a thousand slap-pops!

 

[logdrum]

If you think you can then do so. Everyone is being too conservative and I think assuming you are a noob and don't sound too good.

However what to embellish is entirely up to you

 

[pklima]

I love playing repetitive two, three or four-chord songs where I can just have one groove with some syncopation, a lot of staccato, big rests every two or every four bars... leave some of the notes out of the verses to create a little variation and make the bigger sections sound bigger, and I'll be happy.

Of course syncopation and groove isn't needed or welcome in many songs. But one very simple way to make an 8th note root bassline interesting is to replace some of those notes with rests.

 

[Michedelic]

Just be restrained and pick your spots carefully Be tasteful

For me there is nothing more annoying than a over busy bass player as a listener

One night on Gig I got bored and when playing Tom Petty Breakdown and following Drummer added riffs and licks sounded good to us

But when got off stage(was last song of set) a young women came up to me and said "You just ruined a Great song"

But then, listen to what Chas Chandler was doing on the Animals tune that Petty swiped “Breakdown” from…

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Just be restrained and pick your spots carefully Be tasteful

For me there is nothing more annoying than a over busy bass player as a listener

Do you think on the following track the bass player, Francis Hylton is overly busy?
It's BLUEY's song, "Been There Before."
It's an easy-going, melodic song.
I've just lowered the overall band's volume and increased the bass guitar volume for our TB listeners.

 

[MrVentures]

In a jazz context, but Larry Grenadier just dropped some related words of wisdom:

​

 

[Whousedtoplay]

In a jazz context,

P.S. Your question was about simple POP music songs.
Jazz is a different animal.
From a distance, it's very easy to confuse those different musical styles, approaches.
And I see it happening at TB so often.
When a beginner bass player - specializing in rock/pop music - asks a question, "What other notes besides the root to play on the bass?" our "quarter-walking (Jazz) TB members start sharing their experience about JAZZ.
Apples and Oranges.

 

[MrVentures]

P.S. Your question was about simple POP music songs.
Jazz is a different animal.
From a distance, it's very easy to confuse those different musical styles, approaches.
And I see it happening at TB so often.
When a beginner bass player - specializing in rock/pop music - asks a question, "What other notes besides the root to play on the bass?" our "quarter-walking (Jazz) TB members start sharing their experience about JAZZ.
Apples and Oranges.

I totally get that and agree there are likely different approaches dependent on the genre/context. However, I think Larry makes a few points that span genres:

• "It's finding the space for your instrument and letting the other instruments have their space so that we can all collectively speak clearly."
• Some songs may need the bass to play root-oriented quarter notes so that instruments like the piano can explore but still make sense because the root is clear
• "Then there's other times where [the root is] kind of covered and then I could be more free to play in a different register or less root oriented, more upper extensions of the chord, more melodically or more rhythmically."
• "It's always dependent on what everyone else is doing"
• "How can we make the music more inspiring for everybody that we're playing with so that they enjoy playing with you and want to play with you some more?"

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I totally get that and agree there are likely different approaches dependent on the genre/context. However, I think Larry makes a few points that span genres:

• "It's finding the space for your instrument and letting the other instruments have their space so that we can all collectively speak clearly."
• Some songs may need the bass to play root-oriented quarter notes so that instruments like the piano can explore but still make sense because the root is clear
• "Then there's other times where [the root is] kind of covered and then I could be more free to play in a different register or less root oriented, more upper extensions of the chord, more melodically or more rhythmically."
• "It's always dependent on what everyone else is doing"
• "How can we make the music more inspiring for everybody that we're playing with so that they enjoy playing with you and want to play with you some more?"

All those "MOTIVATIONAL" statements are true and correct for "express your-self" Music (mostly, JAZZ.)
When it comes to that "simple, don't pay attention to, and just play something" Pop, Rock, Hip Hop, etc... Music, some other "rules and instructions" start taking over all those nice and inspiring statements.

I've seen a lot of "JAZZ-y" bass players trying to play simple Pop or Rock songs by "improving" the bass-lines by adding (and a lot) "cool noodling."
Youtube is full of them.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I love playing repetitive two, three or four-chord songs

One of my pet peeves about listening to other bass players is their "desire" to embellish the bass-line by adding some or more than, some "noodling."
And it's not about re-arranging, re-creating, re-composing(!) the bass-line along (as Rhythmic- Melodic Renovation) with (almost) the rest of the rhythm section, but just "adding more noodles" to the composed bass-line.
It's like, "I've found some space, let me fill it with bass-y noodles."

Let's say, I'm listening to the (cover) song, "Why Did You Do It?" and I'm amazedby a that simple repetitive bass-line.
(And I like that particular version of the song out of numerous ones.)
It's so simple that I need to "protect" myself from any attempts to "improve the bass part.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

it's... about re-arranging, re-creating, re-composing(!) the bass-line along (as Rhythmic- Melodic Renovation) with (almost) the rest of the rhythm section.

Here is what I mean by re-composing Rhythmic-Melodic bass-lines along with the band's rhythm section.



Or like a Greta Panettieri's interpretation of, "Parole Parole."
(I've searched the TB forums for any mentioning of that International Hit to no avail.)

Panettieri's version has offered some sense of "rejuvenation" to numerous renditions of "Parole(s) Parole(s)" as various Bossa Nova variations.
(Just tell me in what Key the song is, and I'm ready to play/noodle it.)



Also, I was pleasantly surprised by the "renovated" bass-line of "Paroles Paroles" from Zap Mama version.