Playing melodic bass lines.

[stringthrough]

Listen to the Beatles, REM and other bands that used the bass not only rhythmically and harmonically but melodically. Steal, I mean borrows some of the bassist's lines and concepts and analyse how and why they were used in the context of the underlying chord or chord sequence.

 

[Tad]

I mostly play chord tone bass lines. How do you play a melodic bass line? I've never been melodic. Would like to see what I've been missing.

I understand there are a zillion ways we could go about this, I'm interested in what you do when you want to go melodic. Where do you draw your notes from?

• The melody?
  
• The tonic scale?
• The tonic pentatonic?
• Each chord's pentatonic?

Thanks

Mr. Malcom,

Take your favorite hymn, or the one you play the most, or play the best, etc. Look in the hymnal and learn through the verse and chorus on the treble clef transposed to the area of the neck where you usually play on your bass.

Look back at your chord sheet and notes of what you usually play for that hymn. I know you have these. I have read too many of your posts over the years to think that you don’t.

Meld the line that you usually play with the line that follows the treble/melody line of the hymn in a fashion that sounds good to you.

You know plenty enough about music and playing your bass to be able to do that and craft a good sounding, melodic bass line. Don’t sell yourself short, sir.

 

[bolophonic]

Theory is great for figuring out why something doesn't work, or getting past a sticky part, or how to communicate something to other people, but I hardly ever think of it when I'm writing either. I save that for later.

That is exactly how it works with the group of musicians I hang with. There are really powerful collaborations going on between people who grew up with theory and total artistic cavemen. I sit in the middle somewhere, so I can participate in conversations with both of them, but I am usually just trying to take notes when the big dogs start explaining things.

 

[Seashore]

That is exactly how it works with the group of musicians I hang with. There are really powerful collaborations going on between people who grew up with theory and total artistic cavemen. I sit in the middle somewhere, so I can participate in conversations with both of them, but I am usually just trying to take notes when the big dogs start explaining things.

My whole band is somewhere in the middle. We all take it pretty seriously but nobody went to school for it, just kind of picked up what we could. Anyway it's great being able to communicate with people. I also got to sit in for a while with a string quartet (as a vocalist) and I have to say, being the least knowledgeable person in the room was a wonderful experience.

 

[GreyBeard]

Listen to the Allman Brothers "Ramblin Man"

Very lyrical bass part.
early Chicago Peter Cetera "Beginnings" also very lyrical.


The bass in these 2 songs supports the harmonic foundation while adding a complete melody that has always made the song for me. (jmho)

 

[Hawaii Islander]

I play around with patterns on the fret board. I create at pattern that sounds good to me or has similarities to songs that I've heard. Then, I play that pattern on different parts of the fretboard and find interesting ways to connect them. After that, I try to link different patterns together in interesting rhythms to create a whole tune that I like to play and listen to. It is a way to take music from my head to the instrument. It's something I enjoy doing.

 

[IamGroot]

What exactly is a melodic bassline?

I think there would be many different interpretations.

In no particular order:

Paul McCartney bass lines...get the complete Beatles score book.

Modern Walking Bass Technique... an oldie but goodie.

Bach...I really like the Goldberg Variations but its a piano piece. So the melody and accompaniment trade off between the treble and bass clefs. Tough but worth it.

Bass and cello lines in symphony scores. Download Beethovens 5th and look how all the parts work.

Sam Most Jazz Improvisation. Its in treble clef but a great book. Plan to spend 6 months on it.

Lynyrd Skinerd bass transcriptions. .. some good stuff.

 

[overit]

Aston “Family Man” Barrett

 

[dreamadream99]

what [do] you do when you want to go melodic?

There is no secret formula to generating melodies. You have to have a melodic sensibility, and you get this by listening to and playing melodies.

Other pitched instruments have no problem with this. Their repertoire is melody-centric. They grow up playing melodies. The problem is, we don’t. We grow up playing roots and walking. We have little to no experience playing melodies. So you have to get some.

 

[fishdreams]

OP also talked about a conflict in locking in with the drummer.

The short answer to this: if you want to play melodically, prioritize the melody. Then have the drummer lock in with you. (Locking in with the drummer doesn't imply by definition that the bass follows the drums; the other way around, or better, somewhere in the middle, is equally valid)

 

[MVE]

Listen to the Allman Brothers "Ramblin Man"

Very lyrical bass part.
early Chicago Peter Cetera "Beginnings" also very lyrical.


The bass in these 2 songs supports the harmonic foundation while adding a complete melody that has always made the song for me. (jmho)

+1
Any Allman Brothers recorded in the Berry Oakley era has wonderful melodic bass lines.(But personally, I can’t stand that Ramblin Man song though. Lol)

 

[Spin Doctor]

What exactly is a melodic bassline?

That's my question. I see this asked a lot and I have no idea what it even means. You just play the bassline that serves the song. They're all melodic.

 

[BassChuck]

OK, but, always that " but' locking with the drummer and falling into a groove - like I have been doing - seems like another animal while doing melodies. My concern in playing melodies seem that I am walking away from harmony and the rhythm section.

Is that the case?

I do understand the post about adding the 9, 11 and 13th notes to get a melodic sound. But, this is still thinking in chord tones...

Little help please - on my thinking that melodic playing leaves the harmony to someone else. And how do you combine melody with harmony? In 30 words or less.
.
Thanks

"Locking with the drummer'' connotes certain styles of music. I'd venture to say that IF the primary goal in the rhythm section is to 'lock in', the possibilities for melodies is somewhat limited. (you might notice that with Mozart, Schubert etc, there is little concern about locking in with percussion... in fact there is very little percussion). In Jazz, while everyone needs to be on the same page tempo-wise, it isn't always the same as a dance band locked in. Rock music, by and large, is a world of 'locking in'. Although, you might visit "Sgt. Peppers' album with the goal of seeing where the drums and bass are locking. (but some people, then and now, claim that album 'really isn't rock...and perhaps it's not, so what?)
Worrying about the 9, 11, and 13, of the chord is moving in the opposite direction. How many times have you listened to music, enjoyed the melody and marveled over the number of times you heard a 13th?
You would benefit from some study of music history and theory. The short of it is, there never used to be any harmony (I'm talking 9th c. CE), just melody. Later (13th, c. CE) there were several melodies happening together, all working with the lyrics, not considering (primarily) the chords. A couple centuries later the vertical aspect of music became more important, and harmony was a considered part of music composition. From that point on, complexity of the harmony became increasingly important.
I suppose the take away from all that is that melody is it's own energy and life. Sometimes that energy comes from being a part of the harmony, sometimes the energy comes from clashes with the harmony.
If you want to create melodies, do so in the style that you're working in. Keep the harmony in mind, but don't sweat it, let the melody take you where it goes.

 

[Malcolm35]

Thanks for ^. I now see that I can add some melodic phrases when needed. Course I'll have to work on this as melodic has never been in what I chose to do.

But, I am needing something new to keep me going and melody should answer that need.

What I'm taking from all this; dance music stay with chord tones and lock with the kick.

Old time Rock is best served with chord tones to the beat.

Ballads will have spaces where melody could enter.

Improv is melody driven.

Praise will use 6 and even 7 of the chords in the key and they change quickly. Because of the chords changing so quickly this does lend itself to roots to the beat. And there are some songs just one root note at the chord change and nothing else until the next change happens works well. Praise does not fit into one mold.

And that pretty well gets anything I'd be playing. Again thanks guys I now have something new to work with.

 

[LeeNunn]

My idea of a melodic bass line is something that could be an "earworm." That's a musical idea that you can't get out of your head. I don't believe any formula can help create one. Instead, +1 to the idea of listening to lots of music and transcribing it (or at least being able to play it). All those ideas create a musical vocabulary that you can draw upon in the context of improvisation or composing bass lines. Being able to hear an idea in your mind just before you play it on your bass can take lots of practice, depending on the genre.

You might consider listening to Charlie Haden. His roots were in Old Time music, even though his reputation was in jazz. RIP.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

My idea of a melodic bass line

Many decades ago, I reckoned the bass line from "Lady in Red" (Pino) as a melodiously-beautiful line. Many years ago, I've transcribed it and played numerous it times with pleasure.
I remember another bass-line from "Nikita" - Elton John that I've transcribed and played many years ago. It had a lot of beautiful and clearly pronounced bass fills, but...
Here is what's strange.
I could not find any transcriptions for those bass lines.
Maybe, if you are in a good mood...

 

[LeeNunn]

I could not find any transcriptions for those bass lines.
Maybe, if you are in a good mood...

I had never heard either one, but I'll give both a shot. I was looking for a new tune to transcribe. Thanks!

 

[Whousedtoplay]

I had never heard either one, but I'll give both a shot. I was looking for a new tune to transcribe. Thanks!

David Paton on the bass.

 

[Rich Fiscus]

Listen to some walking bass lines in jazz. Or a lot of the bass work in old school prog rock. Or Bach’s

Or Bach converted to walking bass.

 

[40Hz]

Or Bach converted to walking bass.

Yes indeed! The classic! And a good example of what I think of when I think “melodic bass line.”

It’s not so much a solo as it is a pas de deux sort of dance movement with another instrument or voice in a song.

Suzan Vega’s Small Blue Thing is another example of a song that has what I consider to be a melodic bass line: