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Writing Bass lines
- Thread starter Jeff Gambone
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- creating bass lines
I have been writing bass parts for a year and a half. For the first three months, I played on the one almost entirely. I don’t write the songs. The other two band mates do.
One day, the guitarist sent me an article on Paul McCartney. I read it, and, relevant or not, after that along
with some prayer, things just clicked. I’ve been writing some fun bass parts even the guitarist and drummer like, ever since.
I’ve only been playing bass for five years. I listen to the new song repeatedly (ad nauseous) and will finally hear and/ or feel the bass part or a portion of the part in my mind way before I can play it, but sometimes I have to hammer it out like an aluminum ashtray in shop class.
I break the song into verse, chorus, bridge like learning a cover song. There are only three of us, so I usually play a lot of notes and will add a little bit more during the lead to fill it. Also, if the bass needs to be simple, as in ‘on the one’, I keep it very simple. Listen to what your heroes are doing, what your writers are doing, saying, and singing, give your right brain plenty of rein and the bass part will happen.
The genius of Paul McCartney’s basslines
One day, the guitarist sent me an article on Paul McCartney. I read it, and, relevant or not, after that along
I’ve only been playing bass for five years. I listen to the new song repeatedly (ad nauseous) and will finally hear and/ or feel the bass part or a portion of the part in my mind way before I can play it, but sometimes I have to hammer it out like an aluminum ashtray in shop class.
I break the song into verse, chorus, bridge like learning a cover song. There are only three of us, so I usually play a lot of notes and will add a little bit more during the lead to fill it. Also, if the bass needs to be simple, as in ‘on the one’, I keep it very simple. Listen to what your heroes are doing, what your writers are doing, saying, and singing, give your right brain plenty of rein and the bass part will happen.
The genius of Paul McCartney’s basslines
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I personally just make a line, then do lots of fills depending on my bandmates or who I am playing with. I play blues mostly and shoegaze.
Some examples of the styles I tried to take inspiration from when making basslines
I mean yeah Burnside's sun and Joe Ayers def fill heavy but I somewhat adopted this style feel it really keeps it tight.
IDK just my experience and 2 cents.
Some examples of the styles I tried to take inspiration from when making basslines
I mean yeah Burnside's sun and Joe Ayers def fill heavy but I somewhat adopted this style feel it really keeps it tight.
IDK just my experience and 2 cents.
Cover the chord and make sure you use leading tones to show the band what direction the song is going in. ... Chromatic lines work very well as leading tones. ... Avoid big stretches unless it's repetitive. ... And active jump is good when repeated and a jump up to the tenth works if it's leading somewhere. ... A jump from the one to a six is a good move because it suggests the four. ... Every note is related to each other note and it comes down to recognizing it's relationship at the moment it's played that makes killer bass lines. ... The bass leads and drives the band by the lines we play.
I try to find the right balance for the song. It's usually about 80 percent intersection of the root and kick, and about 20 percent bringing something new to the piece that wouldn't exist without the bass providing it. It doesn't have to be busy. It just has to create movement.
So there is a dirty little secret about writing, interesting, catchy, slick, sleek, or otherwise “good” basslines:
firstly, the song has to allow it
if you find yourself saying “man, I’m good at bass, and I’ve written really cool basslines before, but sometimes I just can’t find one!” The reality is that for a lot of songs- for a lot of arrangements - the best bassline is entirely unremarkable, and indeed the best call is to play roots as long notes or as a kick pattern etc etc. For an interesting bassline to emerge, first and foremost the arrangement has to allow it, to leave room for it and to have the appropriate levity and tempo and space.
When you look at players or bands, who seem to consistently have great, or at least distinctive basslines, generally their style is going to allow for it one way or another. Cake? Very polished and clean grooves just BEGGING for a good bassline. Talking Heads? Could you write music more intentionally restrained if you tried? RHCP- flea has been allowed to take the torch and run with it, and as much as there’s some dirty punky grungy looseness to the whole thing, there are parts. All the Jamerson hits? He’s typically the ONLY one getting busy, aside from maybe the singer themselves.
at the end of the day, even a very good bassist is going to have to have a very good band- or at least a very restrained band- to even allow the possibility of a particularly interesting bassline..
now of course I’m sort of implying making a busy bassline work as the topic..
As far as those little understated things, it’s almost kind of easy to trick yourself into it, and again the trick is restraint. Give yourself more space, play less notes, play less long notes, repeat more, and see what comes out. Think about the song while you’re walking around. LISTEN TO THE SINGER AND GUITARIST. LISTEN TO THE SINGER AND GUITARIST.
You’ll never write a good bassline for a song you don’t know intimately
It doesn’t get said enough, but the bass is a part time MELODY instrument. What counter melody wants to come out? Find the heart of the percussion role and if the melodic role in any song, and the good stuff is in there.
firstly, the song has to allow it
if you find yourself saying “man, I’m good at bass, and I’ve written really cool basslines before, but sometimes I just can’t find one!” The reality is that for a lot of songs- for a lot of arrangements - the best bassline is entirely unremarkable, and indeed the best call is to play roots as long notes or as a kick pattern etc etc. For an interesting bassline to emerge, first and foremost the arrangement has to allow it, to leave room for it and to have the appropriate levity and tempo and space.
When you look at players or bands, who seem to consistently have great, or at least distinctive basslines, generally their style is going to allow for it one way or another. Cake? Very polished and clean grooves just BEGGING for a good bassline. Talking Heads? Could you write music more intentionally restrained if you tried? RHCP- flea has been allowed to take the torch and run with it, and as much as there’s some dirty punky grungy looseness to the whole thing, there are parts. All the Jamerson hits? He’s typically the ONLY one getting busy, aside from maybe the singer themselves.
at the end of the day, even a very good bassist is going to have to have a very good band- or at least a very restrained band- to even allow the possibility of a particularly interesting bassline..
now of course I’m sort of implying making a busy bassline work as the topic..
As far as those little understated things, it’s almost kind of easy to trick yourself into it, and again the trick is restraint. Give yourself more space, play less notes, play less long notes, repeat more, and see what comes out. Think about the song while you’re walking around. LISTEN TO THE SINGER AND GUITARIST. LISTEN TO THE SINGER AND GUITARIST.
You’ll never write a good bassline for a song you don’t know intimately
It doesn’t get said enough, but the bass is a part time MELODY instrument. What counter melody wants to come out? Find the heart of the percussion role and if the melodic role in any song, and the good stuff is in there.
Two things helped me to construct bass parts for original songs:
Music theory. I would recommend the full college course to all bass players. But if you do not have the wherewithal, money, or time to do so, at the very least strive to learn enough theory to understand keys, scales, chords, and chord progressions. This will give you the vocabulary to construct appropriate and fitting lines, without wondering if the notes you choose are correct.
Bonus points: after you tackle this for your genre of choice, expand your toolbox. Take on other genres that are not necessarily your favorite.
- Listen and play the most well-known songs in your genre of choice.
- Music theory
Music theory. I would recommend the full college course to all bass players. But if you do not have the wherewithal, money, or time to do so, at the very least strive to learn enough theory to understand keys, scales, chords, and chord progressions. This will give you the vocabulary to construct appropriate and fitting lines, without wondering if the notes you choose are correct.
Bonus points: after you tackle this for your genre of choice, expand your toolbox. Take on other genres that are not necessarily your favorite.
Technically, you do want to play root notes, and most of the time, you want to play the root note when the chord changes - you want to announce "where we are", and then add some interest.
My suggestion is, before you go adding too many more notes, that you see if you can make the part interesting with rhythm. On a lot of recordings nowadays, every verse is the same rhythmic pattern, and every chorus is the same pattern. That makes the song....boring. If you change the rhythm, you help the song go somewhere. Part of creating cool rhythms is putting some octave notes in there - if you hit "1" when the chord changes, and hold it, playing the octave above with shorter notes to create rhythmic interest, you can often create a cool vibe with just the root note (in a couple of octaves). Once you have rhythmic patterns figured out, a leading note here or there, and an inversion at the right place in the song can make a cool bass line without being too busy. Don't overdo inversions - you use them to make a spot in the song different; if everything is different, you lose the "differentness".
I find Nick Symour from Crowded House to be a master of creative bass lines.
I believe part of his secret to going beyond merely anchoring the root notes and linking the chord progressions, is to occasionally copy the melody, harmonise with the melody, or counter-point the melody.
My other tip is: compose bass lines/riffs in your head before you touch the fretboard. If you just let your fingers do their own thing, they'll merely repeat familiar patterns.
I believe part of his secret to going beyond merely anchoring the root notes and linking the chord progressions, is to occasionally copy the melody, harmonise with the melody, or counter-point the melody.
My other tip is: compose bass lines/riffs in your head before you touch the fretboard. If you just let your fingers do their own thing, they'll merely repeat familiar patterns.
Focus on groove above all. And hummability. The bass may not be the “lead” instrument, but a simple singable line can often function as the song’s hook.
Don’t be afraid of whole notes. Also, silence. Find moments where you can lay out entirely — it can be hugely dramatic and impactful when you come back in.
Don’t be afraid of whole notes. Also, silence. Find moments where you can lay out entirely — it can be hugely dramatic and impactful when you come back in.
Depends on the genre of music and even what the individual band needs and wants
Then you gotta look at what the song needs
And your own skill level
Root notes locked in with a drummer are gonna be better, generally speaking, than 1000 notes that don't line up.
Then you gotta look at what the song needs
And your own skill level
Root notes locked in with a drummer are gonna be better, generally speaking, than 1000 notes that don't line up.
