Double Bass Need hel with Bass solo lines

[RURUBASS]

Hello people. My name is Ruru and I just started playing bass 2 months ago. I had learnt many songs and I can play some songs easily. I also just started to play by ears and has "dechipered" some of my favorite songs.

However, I found it to be difficult to "improve" or making my own bass lines. I could listen to some songs and play it just by my ear, but I couldn't make my "own" version of it. You know it would be very cool if I could jam around randomly at a song and it would still make the harmony. I also tried to look for backing tracks on youtube, but I just end up playing the root notes and randomly pressing at notes that sounds so poopy. I took a bass lesson from my friend and he taught me about arpeggios and scales, but I just couldn't apply it. If someone can give me some basic tricks on making my own lines, I'll appreciate it. Thanks.

 

[neddyrow]

start by singing/humming the notes of a bass line in your head or out loud and then try to play those notes. use the scales and arpeggios for that key or notes you know as a starting point. try other notes that may work. its a bass line, so it should be repetitive. start simple and make repetitive lines that work and as you get comfortable, make them more complex.

what i have been doing lately is asking the guitar and mandolin player what they are playing. i usually make a simplified version of that and repeat.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Hello people. My name is Ruru and I just started playing bass 2 months ago. I had learnt many songs and I can play some songs easily. I also just started to play by ears and has "dechipered" some of my favorite songs.

However, I found it to be difficult to "improve" or making my own bass lines. I could listen to some songs and play it just by my ear, but I couldn't make my "own" version of it. You know it would be very cool if I could jam around randomly at a song and it would still make the harmony. I also tried to look for backing tracks on youtube, but I just end up playing the root notes and randomly pressing at notes that sounds so poopy. I took a bass lesson from my friend and he taught me about arpeggios and scales, but I just couldn't apply it. If someone can give me some basic tricks on making my own lines, I'll appreciate it. Thanks.

The trick is to understand what the chord changes of the song are, what notes sound good when played with those chord changes, then knowing where those notes are on the bass.

 

[jloehrke]

I have found Building Jazz Bass Lines
(a book by Ron Carter) very helpful.

 

[Who da Ville]

Two months isn't very long, and it sounds like you're progressing at a reasonable rate.

It'll pay dividends in the long run if you stick to the basics, like endlessly practicing all scales up and down the neck. After you get good at this, try varying the rhythm, and octaves of the notes. You'll find that as your ability to perform these basic exercises improves, your ability to come up with innovative bass lines also will magically improve.

Finally, if you'e not taking music lessons start taking any lessons that may be available in your area. You need to learn basic music theory to build good bass lines, and the best way to do that is to take lessons. I banged on my acoustic bass guitar without lessons for 2 years, and had enough fun to keep me interested. But then, after only a few months of lessons under a guitar player that was good at explaining music theory, the door opened into a lifetime of improving my abilities and making real music.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Stick with arpeggios until you do get it, and can play them fluently - they ARE the notes that define and sound best with a chord.