How do you construct\write basses?

[willdub1]

I'm talking about bass guitar\synth bass. Is there a technique or a mode that you normally follow or do you treat it like its a melody where you just see whatever works and go with it?? I'm talking about accompanying an entire song here\writing bass parts for a song....

[tapper mike]

See the chord play to the chord.

The bassline (almost) always follows the chord progression.


The first note for a bass in a measure is generally the root of the chord.

A driving bassline is commonly where the root of the chord it played continually through the measure. When the new chord occurs the bassline plays the root of that chord.

An alternating bassline is when the bass alternates between the root and the 5th.

A walking bassline is when the bass outlines the chord in step wise fashion.

You can also alternate between the root and the octave. As well play bass riffs based on pentatonic (both major and minor) as well as diatonic and the blues scale.


There is this thing called a "Vamp" where by the bass plays against the tonic chord even if other chords come along. Although usually a vamp means the chord stays the same through an extended section. Knowing when to lock down into a vamp even when it goes against the chord change and when to unlock from the vamp/riff framework to support the chord change only comes with a lot of experience.

[murnau]

i often start writing the lead only in combination with the single bass notes. then the bass note are the root for the chords.

[Aroused by JarJar]

I'm talking about bass guitar\synth bass. Is there a technique or a mode that you normally follow or do you treat it like its a melody where you just see whatever works and go with it?? I'm talking about accompanying an entire song here\writing bass parts for a song....

Did you already write the song, on acoustic guitar or piano for example, and are adding a bass part? If that's so then you're most likely going to want to follow Tapper Mike's advice.

You can start out with the most simple version: just mark the chord changes, (usually on the bar or half-bar, eg. beat three) with the root note of the chord played on the bass.

Play or sequence this then listen to it. Does it even need to be filled out? You can fill it out by repetition of the same note, what Mike called "driving". But this doesn't have to be literal repeats like a post-punk band du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du, du-du-du-du... It could be a gentle repeat on beat three, for example.


You can climb or descend the scale to the next root tone. If you do this you should be careful of the cheesey wandering-around effect. You can get away from this by giving the bass line a "shape". Say, it only stays on the root note of the chord or goes upward on the scale within each bar, but it doesn't walk down. So, stepwise when it's going up, and a drop when it's going down. Then you could contrast that in the chorus by a dropping down shape.

Hmm, I think I just described the bassline from Lady Madonna.

I think the best advice when you're starting out is that it's better to err on the side of too simple than too complex.

Now if you're starting out with a bassline, or the bass is the feature as it is in lots of electronic musics, that's a whole different ball game.

[Aroused by JarJar]

i often start writing the lead only in combination with the single bass notes. then the bass note are the root for the chords.

Heh- you posted while I was typing. Anyway- just like you said.

[jancivil]

If you were asking me, I approach the bass as pertaining to the musical idea.

- there are musics which proceed from the bass as primary and form material 'over' it or according to it. The harmonies or other parts-writing rely on it or refer to it.
- there are musics determined by 'chord progression' and the bass functions as bass functions in harmony; which isn't necessarily to say it's always 'rooting' the harmony but it is meaningful as bass qua bass and root is probably going to be frequent and 'essential'.

I did a thing recently where the choices I made for bass, and this definitely a bass part, were determined by the timbre of the percussion first (there was a consistency, a form, practically a melody to that); and to give a definite 'scale' for wouldn't help anything. And it didn't sound terrifically odd, considering. It sort of 'illustrated' things in the drums in a bass 'sound', without rooting it or providing harmonic anything. So, "just see whatever works and go with it" could happen. I would tend to say have more of a clue than that suggests, however.

The last bass part I 'constructed' was done after I had completed the lead, over finished drums and it worked to support that, the 'mode' being obvious. Generally I think of bass writing as melody writing essentially, whether that melody is primary or as counterpoint to... here it worked sort of in and out/around per the other part; counterpoint.

The thing to note here from my remarks is 'it serves the idea'; what is your idea? Is the music you're going to try and do going to be the same type of exercise always? Are you wanting to emulate a particular music, and what are your observations about bass in that music.

[radd]

Mine usually follows the lead's fundamental like:
G G | G | G G | Bg | G G ... (for a Gmin)

It's basically what a bass guitar player will do, follow the fundamental and change slightly on every 4/8 bars etc. no?