So, I will now relent and post up several snippets, links to thoughts, ideas and tutes I have written here at fp in the past.
If you want to move from chord to chord with the bass leading the way, you might apply the same rule moving by a note that is a scale tone a way from the target chord.
So moving to the Dmin from the G you use a C in the bass line (a tone below the D) andmoving from the C to the Aminor you use a B (a tone above the A):
[MP3]http://www.bandcoach.org/fp/audio/hipHop2.mp3[/MP3]
Add 7ths and 9ths to your chords for more interesting sounds. Add some strings playing pizzicato and arco (plucked and bowed) and you begin to get a lush sound that can't be beat:
[MP3]http://www.bandcoach.org/fp/audio/hipHop3.mp3[/MP3]
That's Aminor9 (ACEGB) - G9 (GBDFA) - Dmin9 (DFACE) - CMaj9 (CEGBD)
Tie notes together that are the same to make the movement more smooth in strings if you wish or just voice it (vertically arrange the notes) as sounds best to you.
the 6th chord was popularised by the writers of Tin Pan Alley at the start of the 20th century. It was mainly used to ensure that each chord had 4 different notes. this was because all minor chords were rendered as minor 7ths (1-b3-5-b7). Rendering a major chord as a 6th (1-3-5-6) meant that the sonority was the same throughout a piece of music because a major 6th chord is a minor 7th chord in 1st inversion, e.g.:
C6 ~ CEGA
Am7 ~ ACEG
This was done to avoid the harshness of the Major 7th chord, something that was later embraced.
11ths are used where you would use a chord V, as are 13ths; i.e. they have a dominant function
Any low sound will do: take a cool lead synth and play at the right pitch and you will have rich, warm bass sound that may work.
Bass notes themselves are centered around two ideas:
- harmonic: what chord is playing and what notes are in the chord
- melodic: how can I make my bass line interesting from a rhythmic and melodic point of view
Harmonic rhythm usually changes slowly in dance music: 1 chord per bar or several bars. This means that you can play the same note under the(se) bar(s). Arpeggiating the chord (playing each note in the chord 1 after the other) can provide some melodic relief from what would otherwise be a monotone bassline.
The melodic flow of your bass line can provide a strong counterpoint to your main melody. Scale runs, skips of larger intervals (4ths and bigger) provide the means of creating this melodic movement. Add a strong rhythmic line and you create a bassline that is compelling and impelling, pushing the song forward.
Sync with kick.
Use root notes (naming note for the chords).
Use the note a semitone or tone below the root note as an accented offbeat note then go back to the root:
G-G-G-G-G-G-G-F-G-G-G-G-.... or
G-G-G-G-G-G-G-F#-G-G-G-G-....
Use Octaves: B-B'-B-B'
Use the 5th above or the 4th below: A-E'-A-
E-A
Only use the 3rd if you are sure you can use it as a passing note:
A-A-AABC-D-D-DC-B-A-...... or
A-A-AABC#-D-D-DC#-B-A-......
Bass line theory is a bit more complicated than that, but in a nutshell, there are three techniques that hardly ever fail:
- Every time there is a kick there is a bass note.
- It can be long or short
- It can be the same note whilst it is still the same chord
- A note from the same chord can be used instead of the root (naming) note of the chord
- Play on the one (the first beat of the bar)
- Short or long duration
- Same note as long as the chord stays the same
- A note from the same chord can be used instead of the root (naming) note of the chord
- Play a more rhythmic line that syncs with the kick but has additional notes to the kick line
- Short or long duration
- Same note as long as the chord stays the same
- A note from the same chord can be used instead of the root (naming) note of the chord
- scale runs or non-chord notes to join up the chords
[MP3]http://www.bandcoach.org/audio/bass-line-examples.mp3[/MP3]
I've been playing bass since 1977 and the above three techniques have made it possible for me to be successful whenever confronting new music in the studio or live. One of my favourite tricks when working with a drummer I don't that well is to stand where I can see his kick foot and nail what he is playing on the kick.
there are more, just search "bass line bassline" and username = "bandcoach"
