I've been having trouble writing basslines lately. Melody and harmony is pretty easy but without bass it's just boring. Just playing the chord tones throughout the song is no fun at all, either. I've also tried writing countermelodies to play on the bass, but that makes it sound clunky having the bass and melody play together so close. Any suggestions on how to make some interesting basslines? Thanks guys.
alter the rhythm
make it go bum ba ba ba bum buh bum ba ba bum
learn to groove pleb
Play the root note of the chord, but also include some notes from the higher extensions in your bass playing as well.
That way, you can make a nice sounding melody for your bass, but still have the bass be a lock down for the other instruments.
Or skip bass altogether. Prince did it with Kiss and When Doves Cry.
>>60624092
desu I'd recommend listening to Lonserism by Tame Impala if you want to hear some bass lines that actually make use of the instrument.
>>60624431
^^^^^^^^
This desu, as well as Innerspeaker and Currents, by Tame Impala, and Beard Wives Denim by Pond. Hell, start listening to disco, primarily early Bee Gees, Heatwave, Chic and K.C. and the Sunshine Band. Disco Funk and Psychedelia are the epitomes of damn good bass lines.
Basslines, I think, answer simple questions with many many answers. When the melody gets active, the countermelody gets passive and vice versa. When a new bass note is sounded beneath the same chord, a new chord is implied.
What's the most aesthetically pleasing way to get from point A to point B?
>>60624092
i struggle with this more often than not.
this has pushed me to pick up guitar and keys, learn more theory and new things, but when i come back to the bass it's always challenging to come up with something good.
personally i find that it helps to just take some time off and listen to a lot of music. tons of great basslines are simple or subtle within their mixes, some others are more conspicuous or sublime; i think taking the time to appreciate them all is a great stimulus for creativity.
>>60624092
Get better, let theory be a tip and not everything that guides you. Use chromatic stuff, add simple runs. Learn fills and lines from the masters from your genre to inspire you.
And this>>60625902
>>60624813
don't you mean there are multiple possible basslines on top of a melodic structure, it's just up to you to find the most fitting one?
And yeah, A to B is the basis in basically all music with chord progressions (for bass). Try listening to some Jazz (upright)bass players if you don't really get that OP.
>>60625942
so now that we've actually replied let's just post bass
>>60625990
Precisely. I could say that you have to play your bass lines with "good rhythm", but I think that raises more questions than it answers. I'd prefer to say to maintain momentum towards where you're going.
For the specific note choices, I would argue that extensions played in the bass register have a more notable immediate effect than in alto and soprano on the overall character of the piece. And it would be a shame not to take advantage of this.
>>60624092
Being a bass player who composes a lot of his own music, I almost never write for bass. I write everything else, and bass comes last. Drums and rhythm guitar come first so I have chord structure and rhythm. Then I make the bass run through chords and root notes like that.
You need to know when root notes work just fine though. Most of the time, root notes are way better than any fancy shit you could do. But those times when you have some lee-way, like in genres such as JRock, you can do some fancy shit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EDvabyo620
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUOZjeDbRbM
These are examples where you can do slightly more, but even then, roots are your friends.
>>60626666
Nice quads, brah
>>60624092
do you even into melodic basslines? slash chords... inversions bro
