Best way to Solve this Problem, bassline and orchestration

[diijay]

Hi, guys I would like to make a bassline loop, same notes over different chords, besides this I would like above the chords to make an ostinato as well.

kEY: D major

Chords, Power Chords: D5 - C#5 - C5 - B5 (descending) THIS MUST STAY.

Think about the verse of this song:

I could make a bassline and an ostinato based on the pentatonic scale of D major, what would be your ideas?

Remember the bassline and the ostinato has to be a loop that will not change when the power chords changes.

If you are inspired which notes would you use for a string melody above the chord?

Style: POP. 7ths,9th,11th and 13ths are not that welcome here...

Thanks.

[Nystul]

The song you linked is a bit different from the chord progression you mention. The bass note of the strums does descend in that pattern, but the chords notes don't always follow it. Even though the bass line is the same, effectively it turns out to be extremely different. So I guess the advice would be different depending which one you are actually working with.

[jancivil]

yes. and basically this is canvassing for free tutelage in music; it would take some time to sort out. there might be someone here with no project that has no worries of time but you're looking for whole days of someone's life where you really should either pay someone or do what is going to be quite some work to sort yourself out here.

[tapper mike]

The chords for the verse are.....

D { A/C# | C | G/B |

It's not the whole song.

When playing a bassline agaist this time of motion many possibilities exist.

I'll develop a few samples and explain then as I have the opportunity. Work calls right now.

[diijay]

Hey guys, thanks for the answers, the chords are like mike said, he left the bassline as I said and on top he played A over D and C# and G over C and B.

In the first verse I think is more like intervals than chords, right?

I just wondering what would you guys do to arrange a song like that, your workflow.

[tapper mike]

The next part goes

B | A | B |B |

Then it's something like
f#4 | F# | GMA7 | G/A

Honestly first I get the chords down atleast in my head. It's better when I write them out. So I remember all the changes. Then explore those possibilities using tried and true methods.

I'll show some examples as time allows.

[diijay]

Thanks Mike, would be great to learn your methods.

[tapper mike]

Part One
Okay so lets talk about some generalities and then get in specifics and options.

The progression has four primary major chords. So how to we determine a key when we know that any given traditional diatonic scales only have three? Well I like to use the term.....Tonal Centers. If you look at the chord progression. D, A, and G all belong to the key of D major. D, C, and G all belong to the key of G major. Progressions have a tendency to resolve to the first or the Fifth. The last chord in the progression is G. If the song is resolving to the I then the key is accepted as G.

There is a special condition of which grew out of '40'a Gospel and soul that found it's way into rock during the classic rock era of the 60's and that is that a bVII chord can be treated as a dominant. You hear it all the time in songs like "Sunshine of you love" by Eric Claptom. And progressions themselves can be built by using the notes of the pentatonic scale.
All the chords root notes of Sunshine of your love are built around this principle. DDCD..DDCD...GGFG..A.C.G.

So the most important thing to retain from the above is that the rock structure is not dogmatic it's pragmatic. In rock there isn't just one way to construct the chords that form a progression. There are actually several schools of which you can draw from. How it sounds to your ears is more a function of familiarity. The more familiar you are with listening to songs that are constructed thru specific pragmatic methodologies (it sounded good) The more comfortable you'll be in writing in the approach.

The heart of rock and roll is the beat. The progression is the means not the end. But how you take the journey is often more important then the destination. In rock we take the journey by the progression.

[tapper mike]

Part Two
I'm not going to be getting into the various approaches to melody and there are several sometimes they are validated by the end product and sometimes not. The proof of the pudding is the eating. Either it works or it doesn't.

Now this idea of working or not working by trial and error may seem pointless. What we have is a guide in both the beat and in the harmonic movement. Just because you have a "Tonal Center" or a Generalized Key or a Progression and a fundamental time signature/tempo doesn't mean all the parts magically fit together.


a style is not solely derivative from the progression. Although some styles are keenly associated with the progression (such as the blues and the 12 bar blues progression, There are about 70 different 12 bar blues progressions and as well 4 bar, 8 bar, 9 bar and 16 bar blues progressions)

A style is not solely linked to the basic or underlying rhythmic structure. Both trad jazz and blues can have a "shuffle" basic structure rhythmically but because of the way the notes are constructed and emphasized the "beat" doesn't sound the same and the "feel" is different rhythmically.

An arranger can take a progression and apply different "feels" to a song by notating out who does what when and how hard as well as re arranging the harmonic motion but not necessarily the underlying progression.

When musicians work together without an arranger they become the arranger, It is about experience and experimentation. As much or more as it is about "theory" writing can be construed not only as theory in action or applied theory but taste and sensibility with some room for creativity.

[tapper mike]

Part Three
Music to me is not an art nor a science. It is a craft. Your persona is you. It's more then the sum of your experience or the sum of your genetics. Your musical experiences can help to shape, expand, and refine your musical knowledge and performance. The same holds true in your composition and arrangement of a song. Your experience and knowledge are only there as guides to the possibility and potential of your music. Just as you the person are not all things to all people your songs aren't either. Don't try to shove everything you know musically or have experienced musically into a song. Take only as much as you need for the song. Store the rest in the curio box you have in your mind. Your conscious or collective unconsciousness will let it out when the time is right.


As you are reading this you are listening through your eyes into your brain. Because you are consumed by converting the text into words and then processing the words your attention is focused on the words. Reading words is not the same as experiencing sounds. Playing sounds is not the same as listening to them as you are focused on reading then. In order to get a good grip on developing the mechanical muscle memory you need to practice the material so your body both remembers the process and refines the technique. You also need to listen to the sound not to simply read the printed structure. Reading, Listening, and Performing are three separate acts. If you want to internalize a given concept it usually takes all three or the most important two which are listening and performing.

[tapper mike]

Part Four
Review what I've already offered up especially part 3. Because if you're not getting the examples listed further down it's because you haven't got part 3.


A Qualifier.
I was involved with a dispute with a publishing house because while publishing a "How to Play" video that I didn't have permission from the publisher of the published music. It wasn't the intellectual rights of the actual performance although had I actually used a performance of the piece I could have ended up having a dispute with the record label. As such that has left me very bitter and not inclined to use actual published material that I don't have the rights for.


ERGO
I'm going to transpose the work and not use exact references to the music. Just an idealized concept that shares the basic principles of the harmonic motion.

Examples to follow.

[diijay]

Awesome, posts, thank so much.

I am sorry to hear that you had a problem with copyright,
if you'd rather we could use a song that is offered all the parts to a remix contest, so you can do whatever you want to.

Something like this http://www.shure-remix-competition.eu/

[tapper mike]

Okay sorry.

You asked a question earlier that needs an explanation.
How do they do that?

In a song there is a foundation. The foundation is not so much the chord progression but how it is realized through the foundational instrument and musician. This musician is considered the band leader. He leads the rest follow.
When you are performing a song in a band and you are not the band leader for the song you are an accompianist to the foundational instrument. Your role is to follow and support the foundation. Not to steal the foundations thunder so to speak. But to compliment it with your own playing. It's more then just knowing the chords and constructing any material that may fit the generic structure.

As one example. In the rolling stones. Keith Richards is the band leader. Everyone follows and supports Keith, not Mick. Mich Jagger is the frontman.
If Mich Jagger falls down (musically in a song) only Mick falls. If Keith Richards falls down everyone supporting Keith also falls down. The band leader is usually the person with the most personal drive (maybe not the smartest or best) of the musicians and generally provides the musical idea.

This is the thing about using backing tracks or trying to do it all yourself.
It's like masturbation as opposed to sex. If you do it all by yourself without any outside forces well....You have a lot of imagination and will need a lot of drive. If you use backing tracks it's like masturbating to porn. Because you aren't really interacting with what you see you are reacting. The show goes on with or with out you. Not all sex is great sex even with a partner. Sometimes it's just going through the motions. When you click with a partner (or a band) then it's more rewarding. Sometimes you have bands or band-mates that don't click with you or you don't click with them and not being with them is more enjoyable then being without them. When you are in a band that clicks they do thinks that you might not have thought of which support the song in ways you might not be able to no matter how many instruments you play.

Bands are great when it's great for the song. I wish I was in a band. Not now have been.

[tapper mike]

No, no remixes because technically that's still an infringement.

Instead I'll transpose and work with different bassline ideas. I can't wont stop you from applying the ideas and transposing back.

[tapper mike]

Okay sorry you have had to wade thru all this. I hope your patient and still around.

The first thing I did is make a backing track for you based on the chord movement but transposed up a step. I also applied a slightly different rhythm.
Not too different.

Now note. Some people treat over chords with the chord name first and the note that plays belows second. Some people and software companies do the opposite.

In this example B/D# means a b chord with a D# in the bass Got it?
Here is your backing track.
http://tappermike.com/kvr/backingforbass.html

Now lets talk about The One All beats have different significance in different situations. The One refers to the first beat on the measure.
You don't have to start on The One you can start playing before or after The One When you introduce notes that start after The Three(beat) they can be used as a "lead in" to The One It gives a little push. A lead in can be one or several notes that "Lead into" the chord you are about to play. Usually lead ins have a maximum of 4 but can be less. and in many cases are. When the lead in is only one note and it resides on The Four or after the four beat but before the one jazz guys refer to this as A Bump or Bumping It's not limited to jazz. Country, blues, rock and many other styles use bumping as well. The thing about Bumping is that you are not playing the target note you are leading into the target note.

http://soundcloud.com/tappers-examples/bumping

In this example notice how I use the lead in to push or "bump" into the next measure. I actually give a few different variations on the same theme. You can mix up measures you don't have to use the lead in on all of them.

Also notice I'm using the guide tones from the loweset note in the chord.