Writing FROM the BassLine?

[Michael Stanley 2112]

I think I have only written two of my songs where I started from a bass line, but I think I might have a reasonable answer.

If you like the bass line and want to base a song upon it, I think it's fair if we refer to the bass line as the "featured part" of the song? That's the term I'm going with.

When you feature the bass part and want to set to building upon that, I would think "vocals" first and then, guitar.

If you have no lyrics, obviously you can forget about the lyrics, initially. Think of the guitar parts' as "accents" to the bass line. Decide which part of the bass lines need to be enhanced/accented and base your chords there.

I hope that helps.

 

[LBS-bass]

This seems like a good idea, but beyond the root note, it all gets a little bit muddy for me to think about.

Let me put it this way:
I’ve come up with a BassLine, for instance, that is, let’s say,

A A, B, C,D, D

… My question is how would one come up with a chord sequence on a guitar or piano etc that would effectively go over this and under the melody (perversely coming up with melodies from chord sequences is relatively easy for me -Go Figure!)

I think that for me, I would have to decide where I'm hearing chord changes in my head and then fill in those chords from the roots. Depending on where you're playing these notes, the A and D could be the first two chord changes with the B and C doing a walkup to that second chord.

You have to establish a structure for the changes in order to write a song. The bassline can lead you to the structure but ultimately you still have to decide where you want the changes to be. A-D is a nice 1-4 beginning to something.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Yep but traditionally people also like to bend/break rules too

Don’t we now..LOL!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Yep BUT how d’ya go about the opposite..?

I never said you couldn’t do it, as a horse can push the cart it’s behind. IMO (and I’m not asking anybody to agree with me), it’s more efficient to work off the melody line than add a melody line off of a bass riff.

 

[LBS-bass]

I never said you couldn’t do it, as a horse can push the cart it’s behind. IMO (and I’m not asking anybody to agree with me), it’s more efficient to work off the melody line than add a melody line off of a bass riff.

I've done both. This song was written from the bass line:



It is pretty clear to me as a writer listening to that line where the chord changes should be. Yes, you (I) could have decided to put in a chord change with every note, but the line contains notes that define part of a chord throughout the first two measures, and then switch to notes that define a different chord in the first measure, etc. It wouldn't groove if every note represented a chord change.

I think if you're having a hard time coming up with a chord structure based on a line like this, you might want to listen for your natural rhythms and overall groove and start there. It's very natural for this chordal structure to change the way it does based on the bass line. The notes in the line guide you to that.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I've done both. This song was written from the bass line:



It is pretty clear to me as a writer listening to that line where the chord changes should be. Yes, you (I) could have decided to put in a chord change with every note, but the line contains notes that define part of a chord throughout the first two measures, and then switch to notes that define a different chord in the first measure, etc. It wouldn't groove if every note represented a chord change.

I think if you're having a hard time coming up with a chord structure based on a line like this, you might want to listen for your natural rhythms and overall groove and start there. It's very natural for this chordal structure to change the way it does based on the bass line. The notes in the line guide you to that.

No problem with chord changes. In fact puting chord changes to bass lines is quite easy. The rub is the melody line which often is stuck in a box rhythm, meter and modal wise. Let me ask, how do you know what the Iambic Pentameter is going to be of prose that isn’t written?

As I’ve said, now for the 3rd time, you can do it from the bass line up, it’s just not as efficient IMO.

 

[LBS-bass]

No problem with chord changes. In fact puting chord changes to bass lines is quite easy. The rub is the melody line which often is stuck in a box rhythm, meter and modal wise. Let me ask, how do you know what the Iambic Pentameter is going to be of prose that isn’t written?

As I’ve said, now for the 3rd time, you can do it from the bass line up, it’s just not as efficient IMO.

I never said it was efficient. He asked how to do it. My assumption is that he's got a line he wants to write a song around.

Sometimes inspiration comes from various places - for this particular song I woke up with the line in my head, so that came first. What almost never comes first to me is a melodic lines; that also flows from the structure of the changes for me. So far I've never found myself lost for a melody, so there's that.

 

[HelpImaRock]

We have a similar style of writing. I come up with something cool sounding and figure out what it is later. So I'm with you on this process. My perspective is don't be married to anything. A guitar line might be the bassline. The bassline might be the guitar line. Or the vocal melody.

No matter what instrument you write from, you'll have to sit down with it on guitar or piano and figure out the changes. You might not end up having a rhythm part just hammering out chords, but you'll need to use something as a guide for the song to come together.

 

[merseymale]

I think I have only written two of my songs where I started from a bass line, but I think I might have a reasonable answer.

If you like the bass line and want to base a song upon it, I think it's fair if we refer to the bass line as the "featured part" of the song? That's the term I'm going with.

When you feature the bass part and want to set to building upon that, I would think "vocals" first and then, guitar.

If you have no lyrics, obviously you can forget about the lyrics, initially. Think of the guitar parts' as "accents" to the bass line. Decide which part of the bass lines need to be enhanced/accented and base your chords there.

I hope that helps.

Yes, it sort of does help, but what chords would go with those basslines?

Perhaps if somebody took an existing bass pattern, maybe something famous like money by Pink Floyd, say and then started building chords which might not have anything to do with the ones Roger Waters picked for this song then when “talking through the process“ much would be learnt

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Yes, it sort of does help, but what chords would go with those basslines? ...

I'm sorry. I'm not sure I understand this question. "What chords" would depend upon what key you're playing in, etc.

If you'd like, send me a (preferably) .wav file and I'll see if I can come up with some ideas?

 

[Malcolm35]

This seems like a good idea, but beyond the root note, it all gets a little bit muddy for me to think about.
Let me put it this way:
I’ve come up with a BassLine, for instance, that is, let’s say,A A, B, C,D, D

… My question is how would one come up with a chord sequence on a guitar or piano etc that would effectively go over this and under the melody (perversely coming up with melodies from chord sequences is relatively easy for me -Go Figure!)

So you come up with a 1-2-3-4 [I-ii-iii-IV) chord progression. If it sounds good and moves the song along from rest, climax back to rest I see no reason not to use it.

Question now is how many notes of each chord will you use in your baseline?
Just roots or R on one and a five on three or R-5-8-5, etc. The answer depends on what sounds good.

First things first. Which key are you going to use?
What are the chords in that key?
What chord progression do you like.
And then what chord notes will fit.

Sorry for the delay in answering, just got home from the hospital.

 

[Joe Nerve]

Pretty much everythng I write is bass first. Though these are by no means formulas of any sort, there are 3 things I do that work very well for me.

--One is just jamming with my recorded bass lines until something clicks.

--Another is listening without playing, and imagining what I could hear a guitar doing.

--The 3rd, and one I use most often is trying to find something that comliments - but fills in the spaces left by the bass. I try to play something COMPLETELY different... to open the song up and give it dimension. My best example is with this video which is in my signature. I tried a bunch of different things, and on about the 3rd day of trying THIS guitar just sort of emerged. I of course wanted the bass to take lead here.



This is another. I liked the bass groove. Took a while to come up with a guitar groove that complimented it, without following it. I don't love this song . Don't think I ever posted it before, but anyhoo...

Its another good example of what I'm talking about.

 

[merseymale]

I'm sorry. I'm not sure I understand this question. "What chords" would depend upon what key you're playing in, etc.

If you'd like, send me a (preferably) .wav file and I'll see if I can come up with some ideas?

Thanks for your kind offer
I do appreciate it, but because I’m kind of wanting to know what the process would be so I can rely on myself I just wanna know if you’d have the line 1st first how would you come up with chords?

For instance say your BassLine was
‘A#, B C, D’ then how would you come up with chords for that… That kind of thing?

 

[merseymale]

I never said you couldn’t do it, as a horse can push the cart it’s behind. IMO (and I’m not asking anybody to agree with me), it’s more efficient to work off the melody line than add a melody line off of a bass riff.

Quite understand that, but I rarely come up with melody lines or chords when I’m noodling on my Bass. I kind of just come up with rhythms and patterns and if I come up with a good one I think to myself “wow I wish I knew what chords went with this!”

 

[merseymale]

I've done both. This song was written from the bass line:



It is pretty clear to me as a writer listening to that line where the chord changes should be. Yes, you (I) could have decided to put in a chord change with every note, but the line contains notes that define part of a chord throughout the first two measures, and then switch to notes that define a different chord in the first measure, etc. It wouldn't groove if every note represented a chord change.

I think if you're having a hard time coming up with a chord structure based on a line like this, you might want to listen for your natural rhythms and overall groove and start there. It's very natural for this chordal structure to change the way it does based on the bass line. The notes in the line guide you to that.

I think the vocals sound very Kate Bush like

 

[merseymale]

No problem with chord changes. In fact puting chord changes to bass lines is quite easy...

T H I S sounds promising!
Would you care to share how YOU would go about doing it, please?
Thanks in advance.

 

[merseymale]

I never said it was efficient. He asked how to do it. My assumption is that he's got a line he wants to write a song around.

Sometimes inspiration comes from various places - for this particular song I woke up with the line in my head, so that came first. What almost never comes first to me is a melodic lines; that also flows from the structure of the changes for me. So far I've never found myself lost for a melody, so there's that.

YUP!!
I often come up with BassLines that never see the light of day because I wouldn’t know what chords would go over the top of them…

 

[merseymale]

So you come up with a 1-2-3-4 [I-ii-iii-IV) chord progression. If it sounds good and moves the song along from rest, climax back to rest I see no reason not to use it.

Question now is how many notes of each chord will you use in your baseline?
Just roots or R on one and a five on three or R-5-8-5, etc. The answer depends on what sounds good.

First things first. Which key are you going to use?
What are the chords in that key?
What chord progression do you like.
And then what chord notes will fit.

Sorry for the delay in answering, just got home from the hospital.

I’m sorry to hear you’ve been unwell.

Thanks for taking the time.

How you’re describing it here is how I write songs usually BUT I’m trying to do the opposite of what you’re describing by playing the bass first because I’ve got many ‘lines that never get used
However if I ever get chord sequences I’d like then I don’t have a problem coming up with melody or BassLine instinctively

Get Well Soon

 

[merseymale]

Pretty much everythng I write is bass first. Though these are by no means formulas of any sort, there are 3 things I do that work very well for me.

--One is just jamming with my recorded bass lines until something clicks.

--Another is listening without playing, and imagining what I could hear a guitar doing.

--The 3rd, and one I use most often is trying to find something that comliments - but fills in the spaces left by the bass. I try to play something COMPLETELY different... to open the song up and give it dimension. My best example is with this video which is in my signature. I tried a bunch of different things, and on about the 3rd day of trying THIS guitar just sort of emerged. I of course wanted the bass to take lead here.



This is another. I liked the bass groove. Took a while to come up with a guitar groove that complimented it, without following it. I don't love this song . Don't think I ever posted it before, but anyhoo...

Its another good example of what I'm talking about.

maybe I just have to keep trying over and over again every type of chords I think I can think of and with enough practice I could do it as instinctively as you seem to…

Thanks for posting.

 

[Michael Stanley 2112]

Thanks for your kind offer
I do appreciate it, but because I’m kind of wanting to know what the process would be so I can rely on myself I just wanna know if you’d have the line 1st first how would you come up with chords?

For instance say your BassLine was
‘A#, B C, D’ then how would you come up with chords for that… That kind of thing?

Okay. That's a bit more specific.

Depending upon the timing of those notes, I would probably accentuate the B and the D (or just the D). It's difficult to say without hearing it.

I have always been one to play by feel. It needs to feel good to me (I don't particularly care if it's "musically correct").

One of the greatest examples (to my mind) would be Jimi Hendrix.

For the converse, I would bring up Joe Perry. Joe is one of the greatest guitar players still alive. He has sold a ton of records with Aerosmith.

Right after they reunited, I got a chance to call into one of those late-night radio shows.

I started off with: "Mr. Perry, I'm a huge fan. I have all of your solo albums."

His response was: "You're the one?". Joe didn't do all that well on his own (and he was mindful enough to be able to joke about it).

When Joe was on his own, he made his music far too "correct"; especially considering his heavy blues influence.

Long and short: If you have the ability, record a bass track, play it in a loop, and just throw a bunch of stuff (different chords in different places) up against the wall and see what you think sounds good.

Do you have the ability to post the bass line for all of us?