Bassline Theory?

S

SergBeatz

New member
What scale degrees are usally played in a bassline and it what order i wiould ask 4 notes but i have difierent pitch sampled basses
 
SergBeatz said:
What scale degrees are usally played in a bassline and it what order i wiould ask 4 notes but i have difierent pitch sampled basses
Click to expand...

that question is unanswerable.
 
...it is like asking:

"what notes are usually played in a melody and in what order do you play them?"


---there is no answer to the question.
 
SergBeatz said:
What scale degrees are usally played in a bassline
Click to expand...
At least one. The root. And even that's not a given.

Try different things. Try just chord tones. Try chord tones with a few scale tones mixed in. Try an occasional color tone as a pick-up/grace note.

In most music, when the bass is not soloing and is in a supportive role, the bass' job is to outline the chord progression. That's why I say you want at least the root of the chord in there.

SergBeatz said:
...and it what order i wiould ask 4 notes but i have difierent pitch sampled basses
Click to expand...
Imagine how everone's songs would sound the same if there was an answer to this question.
 
SergBeatz said:
What scale degrees are usally played in a bassline and it what order i wiould ask 4 notes but i have difierent pitch sampled basses
Click to expand...
bass line theory below C5?
 
Ok, since these people are getting all aggro with you let me try and help. You're wondering which notes to play when? Well that's too hard to tell, of course. And even if I gave you a bassline, you'd just be reiterating something I wrote.

I think a bassline should reflect the rhythm of the percussion line while bolstering the bottom ends of your chord progression.

So, let's say your chord progression was:

I - IV - V - I

You'd want at least the root on the first beat of each bar, so if the key was C ... the roots would be: C, F, G, C. In between that you can do anything really that fits in key. You could outline triads like C, E, G; F, A, C; G, B, D ... etc in a rhythm that meshes with your percussion.

Style and genre also dictate what happens between those notes.

Now, this isn't the be all end all, you don't have to have the root of the chord on the strong beat (First beat), you don't even have to have the root. But generally, that's what most untrained ears would find the most "logical", I think.

Though I say **** it and go with YOUR ear.

The only other thing I would say is not to let your bassline get too cluttered or busy, especially in mainstream dance or hip hop. It's hard to hear fast moving runs and what not in the lower register and it usually ensd up just sounding muddy and garbbled.
 
try this... play 8 bars of your beat and play a bass along w/ it till you get something you like. It's that simple. People worry too much about what they should be doing. Just do what sounds right and your ish soundah much bettah
 
hey maestro,

i respect u for being polite to Serg beats .. whoever asked the qsn... and answering his questions.. simples qsns like these shud be answered simply like how u did maestro... others are just hating.... like they know everthing.. they simple forgot that they were struggling too with this one in the first place...

hey maestro,

i respect u for being polite to Serg beats .. whoever asked the qsn... and answering his questions.. simples qsns like these shud be answered simply like how u did maestro... others are just hating.... like they know everthing.. they simple forgot that they were struggling too with this one in the first place...
_______________________________________
 
Last edited:
*To me - it's like any aspect of creating your music... find your 'root' note, and determine whether or not adding more depth to the melody will distract listeners from your other instrumentation. Bass is deep - complex basslines are entirely possible to make, but a lot of times it'll sound like crap behind your original idea. Sometimes you keep em' simple... (one note even,) - other times, it fills in the blanks and depth is needed.
 
How about this very simple and obvious trick, to use if you use MIDI for your drums. Talking about RnB and Hip Hop here, but copy two or four bars of the drum track. Delete whatever notes made up the hi-hats and route the remainder to a bass sound. You'll probably not have the best melody but you have a head-start on rhythm. Remove some snare notes that sound too obvious or busy, nudge the other kick/snare notes to whatever notes sounds good on the bass, extend whichever notes seem like needing it and you have the seed for a bassline. It's worked for me a couple of times and can be a good unblocker.
 
johnzed said:
How about this very simple and obvious trick, to use if you use MIDI for your drums. Talking about RnB and Hip Hop here, but copy two or four bars of the drum track. Delete whatever notes made up the hi-hats and route the remainder to a bass sound. You'll probably not have the best melody but you have a head-start on rhythm. Remove some snare notes that sound too obvious or busy, nudge the other kick/snare notes to whatever notes sounds good on the bass, extend whichever notes seem like needing it and you have the seed for a bassline. It's worked for me a couple of times and can be a good unblocker.
Click to expand...

You can do this too, follow your kick drum and then add the bass line there. The bassline should accent the drums. Don't make it to busy. Hopefully more of the experience producers will chime in and help on this topic.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top