Bass Playing?

Question:I have a sound knowledge of scales, chords and such like and can play them fluently up and down the neck. However i struggle to create fluent basslines that i could actually use to accompany a song.

What is the way forward to take me to the next level?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have a sound knowledge of scales, chords and such like and can play them fluently up and down the neck. However i struggle to create fluent basslines that i could actually use to accompany a song.

What is the way forward to take me to the next level?

First off, get a basic knowledge of chord progressions for the songs you want to accompany. It is ESSENTIAL that the rhythm section know far more about the structure of the song than the rest of the group.

Once you have that much, just play any notes in each scale while that chord of the progression is being played. Mostly, you'll want to stay around the I, III, IV, V, and VII of the overall key that you're in. As you continue to play, you'll start to notice certain intuitive changes that occur. Certain notes NEED to resolve upwards, and others downwards. The longer you play, the more it will become obvious which notes these are. (I could back this up with specific music theory, but I'm not sure if it would help?)

In terms of practice, I highly recommend playing along with any music recordings you can find. Try to first find the progression of the song by playing one note at a time for each chord (basic and boring, but good to acknowledge first). Once you have that, experiment with ways to embellish these single notes.

Good Luck!!!

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I see that you've expanded your question to request the theory behind it... well... I'll try!

Really though, its not the kind of thing you can teach out of context. Music theory works on the premise that you already understand the more basic levels. So this is going to be like teaching Pre-Calc to someone who's been working on algebra (no offense of course... at least you're making an effort to improve, so keep it up and before to long, you'll be able to fully appreciate the "Calculus" level of music theory!)

In four part writing, the bass line is what will determine the inversion of a chord. Inversions are very powerful tools. They can make the same chord sound like several completely different creations. The effect of a bass guitar in a rock band doesn't have quite that much impact. But it does still control the overall feel of the piece, and that's why I've brought up this idea.

Next is to understand the reasons chords move in the direction they do. The most simplistic, yet possibly also the most powerful, basic chord progression is I, IV, V, I... variations exist with other chords filling the positions, but the progression involves the idea of "Tonic/Pre-Dominant/Dominant/Tonic". Each of these chord categories has special properties. Certain notes in each chord are EXPECTED to end on certain other notes. For instance, the leading tone of a dominant chord always moves back to the tonic.

Thats probably confusing as all hell... so I'm going to try to simplify...

First off, the leading tone is the VIIth of the key you're in. It's called the "leading tone" because it leads you back to the Tonic, which is the Ist of the key you're in. If you're in a position where you have a V chord moving to a I chord (aka a Dominant to a Tonic) then the leading tone (3rd of the Vth chord as well as the VIIth of the key) must move to the tonic.

Got it? no? hmmm... let's use a specific example

Chord progession will be:

GM, CM, DM, GM
(not very rock-ish and pretty mundane, but there it is!)

So I'm discussing the last two chords, so lets just focus on them with a chordal breakdown by note:

A |____| D
F# |-----> | B
D |____| G

Now, the leading tone in this case would be the F#. That's because we are in the key of G (we're doing a I, IV, V, I progression, so the first and last chord also represent the key in this case). In a G scale, the 7th scale degree is an F#! So that's your leading tone!

So now what do we do with it? Simple! Towards the end of the V chord, play the F#... then as soon as the progression changes into the I chord, change your bass note to the G (aka the tonic!). And there! You've raised the leading tone!

If you want to see why this is necessary, try to find a song with this progression (i can't think of one off the top of my head! sorry!)... then play along with it... try playing like... an F# leading down to a D. It will sound... well... ok... its not going to sound like COMPLETE ****. But your ears will be a little confused by it, to say the least.

But you see, that's just one specific situation. The VIIth of a key often times resolves to different notes WONDERFULLY! The reason it MUST resolve upwards there is because of the overall chord progression.

I could go further for another 100 pages describing specific circumstances that require specific action, but it wouldn't really help you. I only included this to give you an idea of what I'm talking about. For all practical uses, you're going to need to learn to hear these things (maybe without even understanding them!). If you play enough, it will become instinctual and you'll be doing the right thing whether someone tells you its correct theoretically or not. So for all practical purposes, learn this kind of thing through practice! most importantly, practice with other people, or with recordings! playing by yourself will not let your ear fully understand how you are interacting with the music.

Get going! I hope this has helped!

Play along with someone playing guitar!
Or bear a guitar riff in mind when playing. Think of a drum beat that might suit the bassline.
I've just started learning Bass, and know a few scales.
But as i play drums in a band, i've noticed it's the runs in between in a song that give it the hook, if you like.
Adapt parts of the scales to make a bassline, then just add a run down the strings/fretboard to make a punchy sound.
I think the key thing is to keep it simple, then when you get more confident you can get more extravagent.

i agree with jake and as well i could back it up with theory but theory is very complex and i don't think it would help to much at your level (no offense)

You have to know your patterns and then lock in with the kick drum.