• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Writing Music and thoery!

O

one

Aug 21, 2006
334
2
Boston.UK
#1
Right, i don't want to be just another bassist who just plays the root note and follows rythm all the time and I would like to start coming up with some really nice riffs over the top of the rythm, but my theory knowledge isn't too great.
Background, i know my fretboard notes and i also know about 5th, 7th, octaves harmonics etc and i know how to make notes/riffs go together from this. I can and do write music, but just not on a 'high' level (i use the above knowledge and sometimes i go with 'if it sounds good use it') I have come up with some pretty nice things, but all i can seem to write is metal and i now play in a punk band. I am wanting to increase my theory knowledge to help write these punk lines(chris #2 style :D )

Basically there is a song my band has made and it is just begging for a really nice bassline over the top of it. The main chorus is GCB and i don't know how to expand from this. Do i make the riff from notes in the G(or C, or B) scale or do i need to stick to the right key (which i have no idea what the key is...)or what do i do?


help much appreciated,
Thanks

(i did search and didn't exactly find what i wanted with everything together that i needed to know, including the key. i was also unsure where to put this, so misc is it)
 
#2
Impossible to answer. We have no idea how the song goes, we have no idea what the writer wants to hear, we have no idea of what you can bring to it. My advice is to learn theory.
 
#3
OK... here's the basic 'chicken or egg' type question. Did theory come before composition? (answer = duh)

All 'rules of music' and theory, from any time period or style came after the music. One could write a fairly clear book on how to write Dixieland Music or 50's Rock and Roll, cause those styles have been done we know what they are all about. It would be harder to write that book on new music that is being created today.

So... by learning theory you'll be learning about stuff that has already happened, and happened often and well. Music created from that knowledge will sound pretty much like you would expect. That's not to say that learning theory is bad, there is much to be gained by understanding scales and chords and how people in the past have put them together to make music. All things new are made of old parts, just arranged in new ways.

But to be creative in new ways it might be just as good to record the guitar and drum parts of the songs and sit at home and jam by yourself until you find something that sounds good to you.
 
#4
one said:
Basically there is a song my band has made and it is just begging for a really nice bassline over the top of it. The main chorus is GCB and i don't know how to expand from this. Do i make the riff from notes in the G(or C, or B) scale or do i need to stick to the right key (which i have no idea what the key is...)or what do i do?
Click to expand...

A technique I use is when the music moves downwards in pitch, I go the opposite direction. a phrase from Sex Type Thing by STP springs to mind.

There are so many possibilities
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back