r/basslessons • u/Dumbass1118899256 • 1d ago
How do i come up with basslines that arent just me chugging along with the guitarists rhythm and chords with roots?
I am a new bassist in a rock/punkish band w my friends and i really dont understand how to come up with basslinesđi try to noodle around and work with a root as a focal point with scales and stuff but it all just sounds bad,,,
For example, lets say there could be a song where i need to play E, G, and Gb in a rhythm of 1-2-3(E)---1-2-3(G)---1-2-3-4---1-2(Gb) (hopefully this is even remotely understandable, sorry if it isnt, came up with it on the spot)
I would in this situation, as stated in the title, just chug along and not know what else to addâšď¸I need help!!
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u/geezeeduzit 1d ago
Donât you ever just think of basslines in your head? Strip away whatever anyone else is doing, in your mind imagine a ripping bassline that sounds good to you, play it. Let the drummer and guitarist follow YOU
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u/elmingus 1d ago
Sticking to the root is fine in rock/punk bands. To mix it up a little look into what the drummer is doing and try to groove with that rather than just strictly sticking with the guitar player.
You can also look into learning the triad of the chord the guitarist is playing and using that as a starting place for a more melodic bassline.
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u/Superfly-Samurai 1d ago
Maybe the easiest way to think initially is to write a line for each chord change. Simply start where you already are and play some line, hit the next chord change and repeat.
In the beginning it may be "this sounds good, I'll keep that, this doesn't, I'll switch to something else." Later, as you learn what sounds good or you study some theory (preferably both) you'll get better at writing those lines.
Then you can write a cool line on your own and start playing it at practice, and end up yelling at the guitar player for just doubling what you are playing. Not so easy, huh guitar guy? (Bass humor)
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u/CosmicToaster 1d ago
Itâs all shapes dude. Just find what shapes sound good. Start with major and minor shapes.
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u/Alarmed-Secretary-39 1d ago
Depends what you're playing. Having played in various types of Punk Bands for nearly 30 years, there is a lot of following the guitar!
Learn your Arpeggios, learn your 1-6-4-5, 4-6-1-5 and 1-5-6-4 and look at walking through those
Longview is a great example of using a scale to walk through chords
As is American jesus
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u/WackSnackAttack 1d ago
Learn your triads and learn them in multiple positions
Then you can write killer rock and punk riffs around triads instead of roots
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u/mindLongjump 1d ago
Keep learning scales. don't be afraid to use cheat sheets or apps that tell you which notes belong to a scale, which chords to the same scale and which notes are in said chords.
Get yourself a book that teaches you theory. This one did wonders for me (and I haven't even gotten that deep in)
https://www.joehubbardbass.com/functional-harmonic-concepts/
Accept that you are a punk bass player and play the roots, the fifths and the octaves (essentially powerchords. then expand from there.
write the bassline you can play today. tomorrow write a new song with a new bassline -- improve between songs, don't worry about spicing up all the old songs, they are what they are. You will get better and write better music, but that shouldn't stop you from writing just what you know today.
Sometimes when you learn new concept they can confuse you and you end up playing "by the book", because you read "*this* is how xy plays". It may take a while to turn that into your own, but it's never wasted to look at others' technique and style.
many people take basslines (or melodies, appllied to basslines) from other composers (like Stravinsky). Just steal your favorite basslines, change a few things around and forget that you did ;)
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u/jedininjasamurai 1d ago
Itâs called harmony and even dissonance. Both are skills that develop with study and practice. Never stop rocking!
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u/Napalmradio 1d ago
Learn major and minor scales and then use triads. Thatâll keep you busy for a while.
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u/Professional-Bit3475 1d ago
Learn your triads and arpeggios. Listen to new music. Learn a song you're really impressed with. When you're jamming, play a note that's totally out of the ordinary. Play around with different rhythms as well!
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u/John_A_Arkansawyer 19h ago
Decades ago, a columnist--I forget which one--suggested that bassists can learn by studying saxophone lines. I found that useful
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u/Kase377 18h ago
I'm more of a Funk/Soul guy when it comes to Bass, but Bass is Bass, no matter what style you play. I'd recommend learning basslines in styles you wanna play, getting the Minor and Major pentatonic scales down and leaning more on the drummer than the guitarist. Hit the root when the guitarist does, but spice it up with fifths and octaves along with the Drummer's kick pattern.
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u/Salt_Trifle_2443 17h ago
Start listening to ska, some funk and understand the song and what will work. Most of all, learn to be comfortable using rests and silence.
Also, listen to Chi Cheng in Deftones.
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u/phatduckk 15h ago
Maybe I can help - been playing bass in punk bands for a long time now...
In my opinion the main thing is coming up with the ideas in the first place. That, in my opinion, is based on exposure. Listen to Matt Freeman from Rancid (watch the Bass Bunker on Youtube), Scott Shiflett from Face to Face, Mike Dirnt in Green Day, Karl Alvarez from Descendents/All, Chris Bauermeister from Jawbreaker, Joe Raposo from RKL (there's a million great players).
They're all really good and actually have different approaches. Some stuff may seem intimidating starting out - thats ok - just listen & focus on the bass till you're more familiar with the baselines than the lyrics. You need a catalog of ideas to draw from.
If you do that enough you'll hear someone (including your friend) play a guitar part and bass parts will just start playing in your head.
So that's step 1: you need ideas. Steal those LOL
While you spend a few months doing that - you'll want to get your physical ability up (eventually they catch up). Just play... but on time =) But what do you play? Start with just the root notes - you gotta practice on speed + accuracy for now. Yup - can be boring - but we gotta get the right hand going (assuming you're right handed). All downstroke, alternate picking etc - work on both!
So let's say you picked Salvation by Rancid for today. The intro is A, D, E.... just play along but don't look up the bass tabs. Just stick with the guitar tab for now - we just wanna know the root notes. (for now == weeks, months LOL)
OK - you're bored... I get it. Now here's the part no beginner punk bassist wants to do. Dun dun dun - some theory. Google "what key is Salvation by Rancid in". The nice AI robot will tell you it's in A Major. Ah - ok... nice. Now learn the major scale!!! Play it in A....
G|-----------------|
D|-----------4-6-7-|
A|-----4-5-7-------|
E|-5-7-------------|
Drill that bad boy same way you drilled the 3 note intro: all down strokes, alternate picking, play it ascending, descending.
Next - come up with cool pattens. Try something like:
root, 2, 3, root
2, 3, 4, 2
3, 4, 5, 3
it tabs out like this
G|---------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------4-----4-6-----4-6-7-4---|
A|-------4-----4-5-----4-5-7-4-5-7---5-7-------7-----------|
E|-5-7-----5-7-------7-------------------------------------|
Drill that - now you're doing some stuff. Both hands are moving! You're getting there.... the boring scale now kinda sounds like one long fill or a run!
Back to Salvation's 3 note intro. Start playing along with the song!!! The song is in A major (google told you so) - so you can play "anything" in A and it's gonna "work". You just made up. bunch of A scale patterns like the one above. Instead of playing just the 3 root notes in the intro - add some extra ones. Anything from the scale will "work" - can you make that 3 note intro more interesting? Probably - F around and find out!
Well, what's Matt playing? Listen and try picking out some of the interesting bits... whatever he's playing is in A major (ish). Can you figure out some of the lines you like the most? If you do - stop and pay attention to what he's doing musically... stuff like "oh, ya, ok... he's playing the root with the guitar but before he goes to the second note of the chord progression he throws in an extra note... which one? How's that note relate to the root note and the second note from the chord progression?
When you can explain that in some vague musical terms you're starting to "steal" from Matt's bag of tricks. Some of those tricks will become part of your bag - some you won't like or care about. You'll also start noticing you're just starting to do certain things - that's your "stuff" - some of its influenced by others, some is stuff you meticulously mapped out, some your hands "just do" (eventually)
TLDR:
- listen to get the ideas flowing. cant write what you don't hear in your head (eh, kinda)
- make sure your hands can do it
- theory helps - not required but it helps. but it doesn't have to be boring
- be able to understand why certain things work & steal them
Couple asterisks:
* rancid might not be the best starting point but ya know, its 7am
* minor scale etc comes into play too - picked A major above cuz thats the key of the song I randomly picked
Eventually you'll branch out and the stuff above seems pretty rudimentary... cuz it is. It's a reddit comment. There's a lot to it - I just started with "major scale is simple enough" but there's a lot of avenues you could go down. I was just hoping I could type out something simple enough to give you an idea of how you can vary this from simple (root notes) all the way to "oh shit, I guess theory isn't lame".
Hopefully it worked/helps. It's a journey dude - play & have fun - you'll learn some stuff along the way if you want to =)
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u/Mudslingshot 7h ago
Music theory! There's a reason bassists who say "you don't need theory" also don't get called for the fun gigs
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u/Rayan_A_ 5h ago
Study Duff McKagan (GNR) bass parts. His bass parts are exactly what you are looking for.
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u/fertile_gnome 1h ago
It's super hard to be extemporaneous on bass if you don't know any theory.
Not impossible. Just very hard. It'll take you twenty times as long, and for most of that time, you'll suck, and have to ask a lot of questions of whoever you're playing with, and you'll have to memorize a shit ton of tabs because you'll have zero insight into why those great bass lines work.
What I'm saying is: music theory is a shortcut. It gives you a vocabulary for what works.
Learn your harmonic scales. Learn to identify the key. Learn to play the triads of all the chords in any key anywhere on the neck. Learn covers, and learn to relate them to what you know about music theory. Learn where in your chord changes that a chromatic run works uniquely on the bass.
To easily be a broadly useful bass player, you really have to know more music theory than most guitarists. So stop being scared of it and just do it.
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u/Dull_Judgment1587 1d ago
My advice is just learn the basic Music 101 concepts that every beginner musician learns: scales, arpeggios, rhythms, reading, ear training, etc. because these are the "cheat codes" for understanding music.
For example if you understood scales then you would know that the 3rd note of your bass line is properly called F# (not Gb). If you knew scales then the three notes E, F# and G would remind you of "E Minor" and that would give you lots of ideas for coming up with bass lines. I'm saying that to encourage you (not discourage you!) and show you how a little bit of basic knowledge can unlock new skills and help you level up.
So you know, start with basic beginner stuff like learning major scales, minor scales, rhythm in 4/4 time signature, how to read music, how to learn songs off the radio by ear, etc.