So, i've been playing bass for a while, and while playing songs are fun, i've been getting bored of playing music that someone else has written, no matter how good. I want to try making up my own bass lines, starting with rock and hopefully getting to the point where i can write funk bass lines, but i can't seem to produce anything. I don't really know where to start, i was thinking maybe i need something to go off of, like chords or something, but im not sure. I know no one can tell me how to write music, but i was wondering if there was something i could do to start, or practice somehow.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Making up/writing bass lines?
- Thread starter facepalmmaster
- Start date
i'm only talking for myself here but theres 2 ways i write a bassline
1. a melody hits me and i must play it befor my guitar player does
2. work fills around the root notes
1. a melody hits me and i must play it befor my guitar player does
2. work fills around the root notes
Hear the line you want to make.
Sing the line you want to make.
Play the line you want to make.
It isn't really that simple, but that is pretty much how you do it.
Sing the line you want to make.
Play the line you want to make.
It isn't really that simple, but that is pretty much how you do it.
I have to go for the "create a chord progression that is structurally sound and interesting, then write your bassline" path.
There's no one way to write a bassline, but IME it helps to have:
1. Played a lot of music over the years and have really studied the lines
2. Learned even a small amount of theory and know why certain notes sound good with certain chords
Those two things have helped me a lot over time, but even still it's not always enough. Sometimes I just lack inspiration and nothing good ever seems to come out of me.
1. Played a lot of music over the years and have really studied the lines
2. Learned even a small amount of theory and know why certain notes sound good with certain chords
Those two things have helped me a lot over time, but even still it's not always enough. Sometimes I just lack inspiration and nothing good ever seems to come out of me.
Ed Friedland's book: "Building Rock Bass Lines" is definately worth a look. Lots of practical tips on writing your own lines with some great backing tracks to try your efforts with.
Hope you find this useful. Report back how your getting on.
Mark.
Hope you find this useful. Report back how your getting on.
Mark.
I say this all the time, sorry guys I know you get tired of hearing it, but, it is a fact.
The bass line and the melody line should share like notes. When they do you get harmonization, that's good. Now how many like notes? One per measure gets harmonization, so just roots work. Two like notes per measure would be better. So root-five works. Three or more would be great if you have room. OK which ones after the root and five?
The 8 is always safe.
Followed with the correct 3 or 7.
The 6 is neutral and adds color.
The 2 and 4 make good passing notes. Don't accent them or stop on them and you'll be safe.
That takes care of all 8 notes in the scale (7 scale notes + Octave). Help yourself to those 8, just use them wisely.
When you are comfortable with those 8 then the second octave 9, 11 and 13 can come into your bass line IF you are playing melodic. If you are playing accompaniment bass, the first octave is sufficient, the solo instruments will provide the second octave.
Have fun.
The bass line and the melody line should share like notes. When they do you get harmonization, that's good. Now how many like notes? One per measure gets harmonization, so just roots work. Two like notes per measure would be better. So root-five works. Three or more would be great if you have room. OK which ones after the root and five?
The 8 is always safe.
Followed with the correct 3 or 7.
The 6 is neutral and adds color.
The 2 and 4 make good passing notes. Don't accent them or stop on them and you'll be safe.
That takes care of all 8 notes in the scale (7 scale notes + Octave). Help yourself to those 8, just use them wisely.
When you are comfortable with those 8 then the second octave 9, 11 and 13 can come into your bass line IF you are playing melodic. If you are playing accompaniment bass, the first octave is sufficient, the solo instruments will provide the second octave.
Have fun.
Thats what i was thinking. The only problem is that i'm 17 with no way of finding a decent band that i know and are close to me, so i have no way of getting a chord progression from a guitar player, and figuring out a chord progression myself has been a struggle. Any suggestions?
For number 1, i think ill have to wait. 6 months doesnt seem like it will help as much as 5 or more years
. For number 2, do you know any good websites or guides on that subject, thats something i was meaning to learn anyway. I think i have the inspiration part, but we'll see 
If you're interested in working on creating grooves, check out this video from a fellow TB'er...
I hope this helps to get you started.
I hope this helps to get you started.
hey, man.. I've been playing for several years (not in a band though)--mostly learning songs and bass-lines written by other musicians, brushing up on technique, some theory here and there, etc... but I've hardly ever put time into writing my own stuff (songs, riffs, solos, etc), and while I've gotten to be a much better bass player over the years, like you, I still have trouble when it comes to writing or jamming out something off the top of my head.
A few things that have started to help me with the writing/creative-aspect of bass-playing:
-Starting simple... don't worry about trying to add in tons of different notes right away at the beginning. Just pick a few notes to work with, initially, and focus on developing a riff that is convincing rather than complex... I find it otherwise difficult to create a bassline that doesn't sound erratic and disorganized when I go nuts with too many notes at the beginning. Once you develop a solid introductory riff/part of your song, believe me, you will naturally have a much easier time trying to build on it's complexity, change things up or make it more interesting.
-Rhythm and feel... I can't start to develop any kind of riff or bassline without having some rhythmic "feel" or sense of the beat going on in my head. Unfortunately I don't have a drummer to practice with... but I've found that as long as I can establish a rhythm or groove in my head or be able to tap my foot to whatever I'm playing, a lot of the initial "writer's block" that I'm having goes away. Having this mental-rhythm is so important to me because it helps me stay organized while I'm trying to come up with a convincing hook/bassline, and furthermore, I've found that it helps me choose better: which notes to play at a certain time in the riff (especially when trying to work in notes that are outside of the song's key or "dissonant" most of the time), as well as changing the time-signature and working in fills or different note durations + dynamics.
These 2 things have really helped me shred some of my writer's block and start to think more independently & creatively. There are numerous other useful-general tips and pieces of advice that I could throw into this message (chromaticism and leading-tone concepts, tritone substitution and dissonance, etc. if you want to read a little further on your own), but I don't want to overcomplicate things in 1 post + I don't really feel like writing a novel, here (nor am I even qualified to haha). And keep in mind that everyone learns differently, so I can't guarantee that my tips will give you the same results, especially because I'm still learning myself. But I'm always happy to help out a fellow Jersey-native and hope that it might be of at least some value to you. Best of luck
A few things that have started to help me with the writing/creative-aspect of bass-playing:
-Starting simple... don't worry about trying to add in tons of different notes right away at the beginning. Just pick a few notes to work with, initially, and focus on developing a riff that is convincing rather than complex... I find it otherwise difficult to create a bassline that doesn't sound erratic and disorganized when I go nuts with too many notes at the beginning. Once you develop a solid introductory riff/part of your song, believe me, you will naturally have a much easier time trying to build on it's complexity, change things up or make it more interesting.
-Rhythm and feel... I can't start to develop any kind of riff or bassline without having some rhythmic "feel" or sense of the beat going on in my head. Unfortunately I don't have a drummer to practice with... but I've found that as long as I can establish a rhythm or groove in my head or be able to tap my foot to whatever I'm playing, a lot of the initial "writer's block" that I'm having goes away. Having this mental-rhythm is so important to me because it helps me stay organized while I'm trying to come up with a convincing hook/bassline, and furthermore, I've found that it helps me choose better: which notes to play at a certain time in the riff (especially when trying to work in notes that are outside of the song's key or "dissonant" most of the time), as well as changing the time-signature and working in fills or different note durations + dynamics.
These 2 things have really helped me shred some of my writer's block and start to think more independently & creatively. There are numerous other useful-general tips and pieces of advice that I could throw into this message (chromaticism and leading-tone concepts, tritone substitution and dissonance, etc. if you want to read a little further on your own), but I don't want to overcomplicate things in 1 post + I don't really feel like writing a novel, here (nor am I even qualified to haha). And keep in mind that everyone learns differently, so I can't guarantee that my tips will give you the same results, especially because I'm still learning myself. But I'm always happy to help out a fellow Jersey-native and hope that it might be of at least some value to you. Best of luck
For number 1, i think ill have to wait. 6 months doesnt seem like it will help as much as 5 or more years
TB has some good threads if you dig around enough. There's also this website:
http://playbassnow.com/
He also has a Youtube channel that I highly suggest you subscribe to. I spent a good year watching his vids and learning his lines. It helped me tremendously.
As far as theory is concerned, I HIGHLY suggest you take a chordal approach as opposed to a scalar one whenever you decide to start learning, and especially put emphasis on practicing your arpeggios once you get going. I can tell you now that the process will at times be boring and tedious, but even after just a month of working on the stuff you'll start to see some tremendous improvement on your playing. And again, focus more on chords first before delving into scales.
get a drummer, or at least a simple drum machine
a friend of mine has a Korg Pandora Mini, it´s just fine for practice .. the drummer´s better though, as you can interact with him while he´s able to pull out some fills and variation
must-have:
very basic theory knowledge (major + minor scale is enough to start with)
nice-to-have:
recording gear (a mic / mobile recorder catching both bass and drums) ... listening to it afterwards may give some more inspiration
- start with a rather simple beat
- choose a root note to start with ... if you don´t like it anymore after 3-4 bars, choose another
- figure out what kind of progression(s) sounds good while the beat carries on ... if you don´t like it, you know what to do
- put a few more notes here and there
=>
i found that to be a lot easier than just sitting down and creating lines all alone in your room
a friend of mine has a Korg Pandora Mini, it´s just fine for practice .. the drummer´s better though, as you can interact with him while he´s able to pull out some fills and variation
must-have:
very basic theory knowledge (major + minor scale is enough to start with)
nice-to-have:
recording gear (a mic / mobile recorder catching both bass and drums) ... listening to it afterwards may give some more inspiration
- start with a rather simple beat
- choose a root note to start with ... if you don´t like it anymore after 3-4 bars, choose another
- figure out what kind of progression(s) sounds good while the beat carries on ... if you don´t like it, you know what to do
- put a few more notes here and there
=>
phayes1007 said:
i found that to be a lot easier than just sitting down and creating lines all alone in your room
When accompanying we play chord tones - so - we gotta get comfortable with chord progressions.
Let Google find the progression for you. Google these words, Guitar chords, "name of the song". For example:
Guitar chords, "cold, cold, heart". Gets you this Invalid Link Removed
A7-D-D7-G This song is in the key of D and the D is your I or tonic chord, the G is the IV chord and the A7 is the dominant seven or V7 chord. Those three chords have written a zillion songs. Call up your favorite songs and I bet 3 to 4 chords will be all you will find, not a step for a stepper. If you get more than that move to a song with a simpler chord progression to learn on. When you can keep up with those simple songs then go back and work on the harder songs.
Gotta understand chord harmony to function as a bassists. OK what bass line for Cold, Cold, Heart? Roots and fives with chromatic walks to the next chord. Start with just roots, when that is comfortable add root on the 1 beat and 5 on the 3 beat. Chromatic runs to the next chord. Target the next root, miss it by 1, 2 or 3 frets then walk to it one fret per beat and be on it for the chord change. Timing all that is the hard part.
Now call up some video on the song being played. will be a friend.
Have fun.
Writing a song with only a bass and no ideas about chords or chord theory rarely happens, and will be a struggle. learn how to harmonize the major scale, get a guitar or a keyboard and start stringing chords together.
I just mash my left hand down, and then I mash my right hand down, and eventually I will usually come up with something I like.
Seriously though, it's really kind of like that. I'll start out sometimes with an idea of what I'd like a particular song or riff to sound like. Try and hear the whole thing in my head. And then I'll work off of that. It might even be like a snapshot of a band or player that's influenced me, then I'll formulate an idea of the progression and feel of the notes, and then just work the hell out of that structure. Sometimes it works well and I end up with a song. Sometimes it doesn't, and I end up drunk. Generally speaking though, the songs tend to write themselves. At least that's how it works for me.
Best answer I think is just to play what you feel, and push things in the direction.
Take compositions by people whom you like and respect, and play through those. You're going to get some of that on you, be eventually you'll discover some things about yourself, and you'll develop your own individual flavor. That helped me a LOT.
Practice with a metronome.
And work with other musicians that will push you to be a better player.
Seriously though, it's really kind of like that. I'll start out sometimes with an idea of what I'd like a particular song or riff to sound like. Try and hear the whole thing in my head. And then I'll work off of that. It might even be like a snapshot of a band or player that's influenced me, then I'll formulate an idea of the progression and feel of the notes, and then just work the hell out of that structure. Sometimes it works well and I end up with a song. Sometimes it doesn't, and I end up drunk. Generally speaking though, the songs tend to write themselves. At least that's how it works for me.
Best answer I think is just to play what you feel, and push things in the direction.
Take compositions by people whom you like and respect, and play through those. You're going to get some of that on you, be eventually you'll discover some things about yourself, and you'll develop your own individual flavor. That helped me a LOT.
Practice with a metronome.
And work with other musicians that will push you to be a better player.
Learn what notes are in chords and always know where the 1 is. When a chord change is coming up try interesting routes to get there with passing tones. Have fun.
The video linked in #10 is very inspiring. Practical insight into ways that even clumsy beginners can create and develop new ideas. Cheers Doug Ross!
^^^ This! Though I completely lack #1, I found #2 very easy to pick up quickly and really help me over my first plateau in writing music. If you find the right material, simply a couple of hours reading can make you go "oh crap! that makes total sense! I've been thinking about this all wrong!"
