Medium difficulty Reggae Bass Lines

[Huw Phillips]

Hi, all I can see is pay $29.00 to someone for a course, is there not a thread with multiple comments and advise ?

Sorry I see it now I didn’t on my phone

 

[jenniplease]

You know there are types of reggae: one drop; dub step; rock steady, etc.

True! There are different sub-genres of reggae but more accurately there were eras or trends. Still great to know the history and progression.

One Drop is not a style but a groove and I think you mean Dub as opposed to Dub Step!

Rocksteady was the bridge between Ska and Reggae. It’s slower than Ska but faster than reggae and lyrically it was often about rude boy life rather than Rasta politics.

Roots reggae is the more politically conscious style of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh etc including hand drumming and themes from Rastafarian culture.

Dub is more of a studio art but super interesting. Then theres Lovers Rock, rockers (think Sly & Robbie) and of course all the genres that followed Reggae as Jamaicans kept innovating and moved on.

I highly suggest Donstrumental on YouTube for some great resources and history!

signed, a Jamaican

 

[HotelX]

This is a good list of commonly used basslines in reggae. No tab on this link, but its a good starting point of "standard" reggae riddims. Some of the links don't work anymore, but most do. You might be able to search for tab on these, some maybe not.

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this is the way. Learn these and you’ll be well prepared

 

[ihixulu]

While riddims are indeed the backbone for a lot of reggae, I'd also point out that there is a long tradition of what I would call song oriented lines, melodic lines that didn't end up getting versioned. Check out Familyman's lines on Zimbabwe (off the Survival album), Bad Card (Uprising). I think he played on the "Blackheart Man" album by Bunny Wailer which has some incredibly rich, heavy, funky, melodic lines. The title track and Dreamland are cool, Bide Up is just a killer song.

Burning Spear's "Mek We Dweet" and "Appointment With His Majesty" albums feature pretty intense lines, workouts. And check out Earl Falconer's work with UB40. He steps out a bit on his lines, always inventive and funky.

Oh man... I could go on...