DOCSLIB.ORG

Creating Bass Lines

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Creating Bass Lines Creating bass lines “But I’m a guitar player J, why would I want to do this?!” 1) It’s fun to be able to play a bit of bass when jamming with people. 2) It’ll help your song writing - when you write a song, you may want to write a bass line for it. 3) Even if you’re just creating a backing track, it’s going to be more inspiring to solo over if there’s a bass line. “Bassics” The role of the bass in most musical styles is to outline the chords and provide rhythmic drive, locking in with the drums. The 4-string bass guitar is tuned like the bottom 4 strings of a guitar, but every string is an octave lower. (In all the musical examples below, I’ve used guitar Tablature, so it’s easy to see how you can play them on guitar, but I’ve only written on the bottom 4 strings, which would equate to the strings on a 4-string bass guitar, meaning it’s easily transferable). All of the ideas and examples work just as well played on guitar. Root note The simplest type of bass line is just to play the root notes of the chords (example A). The rhythm could be based on the kick drum pattern, or a rhythm played by another instrument. In rock, it’s common to play constant quavers (known as “rock eighths”, eight notes = quavers) – (example B). www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz Task: Record a simple chord progression (it could be a song you know already), and try playing a “rock eighth” root note bass line underneath it Inversions You can play notes other than the root note for the bass line. For instance, if you have the chord progression G – D - Em, the bass could play G, F#, Em. (Example C). The D chord contains the notes D, F# and A (root, 3rd, 5th), so you’re playing the 3rd as the bass note (this is called a first inversion). Connecting chords together using inversions is one way to create melodic basslines (think Paul MacCartney). It’s worth knowing that these kind of bass lines often descend (but don’t have to…) Task: Here’s a list of the notes in each of the chords in the key of C major. Take a simple chord progression in C major (you could make up your own) and try connecting the chords together with a bass line that uses inversions. Chord R 3 5 C C E G Dm D F A Em E G B F F A C G G B D Am A C E B dim B D F www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz Walking bass lines Common in jazz, the basic rhythm here is crotchets/quarter notes. This will give you 4 notes to play in a bar of 4 beats. Jimi Hendrix’s version of “Hey Joe” features a chromatic walking bass line that connects the root notes of the chords (example D): A common walking bass line uses the following principals: Note 1 – the root Notes 2 & 3 – other chord tones / non-chord tones which resolve to chord tones using chromatic or diatonic stepwise motion Note 4 – stepwise motion to next root note (half or whole step) Here are the first 4 bars of a walking bass line for a blue sin the key of F, using these principals (example E): Walking bass lines are a very effective way of connecting chords together, and the concept can be used with other rhythms and be adapted to fit in any style of music. Drone/pedal bass In this type of bass line, the bass note remains constant, whilst the chords/riff being played on top change. Often the pedal note will be the tonic (root note of the key), or the 5th note of the key. In the following example, the bass stays on the tonic (we’re in the key of D) whilst the chords change (example F). www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz Examples: Van Halen’s “Jump” has a pedal C note under the main keyboard part. Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water” has a pedal G under the main riff. Ostinato (Riff) Often this will simply double the guitar riff. (Ostinato is the classical music term for a riff). Most times the riff will change to reflect the chord sequence. Some examples of riff-based bass lines include: Day Tripper (Beatles), Green Onions (Booker T and the MGs), Money (Pink Floyd), War Pigs (Black Sabbath), Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) etc. In blues/rock n roll you’ll often get a riff-type bass line based the arpeggio of the chord (example G). What next? Ø Apply one of these ideas to a simple chord progression. Record the chords, and then work out a bass line (play it on your guitar) that fits under the chords. Ø Then try a similar process with each of the other ideas. Ø Use these ideas in real musical situations – when you’re jamming or recording music! www.aucklandguitarschool.co.nz .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A. Types of Chords in Tonal Music
    1 Kristen Masada and Razvan Bunescu: A Segmental CRF Model for Chord Recognition in Symbolic Music A. Types of Chords in Tonal Music minished triads most frequently contain a diminished A chord is a group of notes that form a cohesive har- seventh interval (9 half steps), producing a fully di- monic unit to the listener when sounding simulta- minished seventh chord, or a minor seventh interval, neously (Aldwell et al., 2011). We design our sys- creating a half-diminished seventh chord. tem to handle the following types of chords: triads, augmented 6th chords, suspended chords, and power A.2 Augmented 6th Chords chords. An augmented 6th chord is a type of chromatic chord defined by an augmented sixth interval between the A.1 Triads lowest and highest notes of the chord (Aldwell et al., A triad is the prototypical instance of a chord. It is 2011). The three most common types of augmented based on a root note, which forms the lowest note of a 6th chords are Italian, German, and French sixth chord in standard position. A third and a fifth are then chords, as shown in Figure 8 in the key of A minor. built on top of this root to create a three-note chord. In- In a minor scale, Italian sixth chords can be seen as verted triads also exist, where the third or fifth instead iv chords with a sharpened root, in the first inversion. appears as the lowest note. The chord labels used in Thus, they can be created by stacking the sixth, first, our system do not distinguish among inversions of the and sharpened fourth scale degrees.
    [Show full text]
  • Year 11 Music Revision Guide
    Year 11 Music Revision Guidance Name the musical instrument In the exam you will be asked to name different instruments that you can hear playing. If you do not play one of these instruments it can sometimes be quite difficult to pick out what each one sounds like. You will need to know what the different instruments of the orchestra sound like, what popular musical instruments sound like and what some world instruments sound like (sitar). It is worth you visiting www.dsokids.com or www.compositionlab.co.uk where you will be able to hear these instruments individually. Describing musical sounds For some questions in the exam you will need to describe what is happening in the music, in detail! If you are asked to comment on what is happening in the music you may need to describe what a particular instrument is doing, for example: ‘The left hand of the piano is playing ascending arpeggios’. The more detail you can provide, the better! Melodic movement You may be asked to describe what is happening in the melody of a song. Remember, this means the main tune. In popular music this is often the vocal line or in instrumental music it can be described as the instrument that has the main tune (the bit that you could whistle). It could move by STEP; this means it moves to the note next to it. It could move by LEAP; this means that the melody jumps from one note to another but misses some notes out in between. This could be a low note jumping to a high note or vice versa.
    [Show full text]
  • Figured-Bass.Pdf
    Basic Theory Quick Reference: Figured Bass Figured bass was developed in the Baroque period as a practical short hand to help continuo players harmonise a bass line at sight. The basic principle is very easy: each number simply denotes an interval above the bass note The only complication is that not every note of every chord needed is given a figure. Instead a convention developed of writing the minimum number of figures needed to work out the harmony for each bass note. The continuo player presumes that the bass note is the root of the chord unless the figures indicate otherwise. The example below shows the figuring for common chords - figures that are usually omitted are shown in brackets: Accidentals Where needed, these are placed after the relevant number. Figures are treated exactly the same as notes on the stave. In the example below the F# does not need an accidental, because it is in the key signature. On the other hand, the C# does to be shown because it is not in the key signature. An accidental on its own always refers to the third above the bass note. 33 For analytical purposes we will combine Roman Numerals (i.e. I or V) with figured bass to show the inversion. Cadential 6/4 Second inversion chords are unstable and in the Western Classical Tradition they tend to resolve rather than stand as a proper chord on their own. In the example below, the 6/4 above the G could be described as a C chord in second inversion. In reality, though, it resolves onto the G chord that follows and can better be understood as a decoration (double appoggiatura) onto this chord.
    [Show full text]
  • Figured-Bass Notation
    MU 182: Theory II R. Vigil FIGURED-BASS NOTATION General In common-practice tonal music, chords are generally understood in two different ways. On the one hand, they can be seen as triadic structures emanating from a generative root . In this system, a root-position triad is understood as the "ideal" or "original" form, and other forms are understood as inversions , where the root has been placed above one of the other chord tones. This approach emphasizes the structural similarity of chords that share a common root (a first- inversion C major triad and a root-position C major triad are both C major triads). This type of thinking is represented analytically in the practice of applying Roman numerals to various chords within a given key - all chords with allegiance to the same Roman numeral are understood to be related, regardless of inversion and voicing, texture, etc. On the other hand, chords can be understood as vertical arrangements of tones above a given bass . This system is not based on a judgment as to the primacy of any particular chordal arrangement over another. Rather, it is simply a descriptive mechanism, for identifying what notes are present in addition to the bass. In this regime, chords are described in terms of the simplest possible arrangement of those notes as intervals above the bass. The intervals are represented as Arabic numerals (figures), and the resulting nomenclatural system is known as figured bass . Terminological Distinctions Between Roman Numeral Versus Figured Bass Approaches When dealing with Roman numerals, everything is understood in relation to the root; therefore, the components of a triad are the root, the third, and the fifth.
    [Show full text]
  • Teaching Tuba Students to Be Complete Musicians Brandon E
    The University of Akron IdeaExchange@UAkron The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors Honors Research Projects College Fall 2017 Teaching Tuba Students to be Complete Musicians Brandon E. Cummings [email protected] Please take a moment to share how this work helps you through this survey. Your feedback will be important as we plan further development of our repository. Follow this and additional works at: http://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects Part of the Educational Methods Commons, Music Education Commons, and the Music Pedagogy Commons Recommended Citation Cummings, Brandon E., "Teaching Tuba Students to be Complete Musicians" (2017). Honors Research Projects. 577. http://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/577 This Honors Research Project is brought to you for free and open access by The Dr. Gary B. and Pamela S. Williams Honors College at IdeaExchange@UAkron, the institutional repository of The nivU ersity of Akron in Akron, Ohio, USA. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Research Projects by an authorized administrator of IdeaExchange@UAkron. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Running head: TEACHING TUBA STUDENTS TO BE COMPLETE MUSICIANS 1 Teaching Tuba Students to be Complete Musicians Brandon E. Cummings The University of Akron TEACHING TUBA STUDENTS TO BE COMPLETE MUSICIANS 2 Abstract The goal of music educators is to develop complete musicians who successfully learn and perform all musical concepts. One of the limitations of the band classroom is that performers are required to play a part that is specifically written with the needs of the ensemble in mind, and not the needs of the developing musician.
    [Show full text]
  • Intro Pdf. Version
    Vertical Harmony Concepts The purpose of this book is to familiarize the bassist with chord structures and to enhance his ability to solo intelligently and effectively. While many of these concepts can be applied to bass lines and fills, these exercises will focus more on soloing. The words "horn-like" are often used to describe solos that are fluid and graceful. To achieve this type of description, one needs to listen to, practice, transcribe and ultimately understand what a soloist is playing. The first step to understanding is knowing chord structures. As bassists, we typically aren't called upon to play chords. So why even know them? That is the question I get from many of my beginning students. Or, "just tell me the root, I'll figure it out from there" which usually means "I'll plod along on the root." We bassists are not only responsible for holding things together rhythmically; we are also the keepers of the harmony. If you don't understand how chords are constructed, how are you going to hold things together? Let alone solo? Playing root notes will only get you so far. Fortunately, knowing what it takes to construct a chord is easy, and by knowing the construction (quality), you should never play a "wrong" note. Intervals are what make up any type of musical structure. Everything you play will involve intervals. An understanding of intervals is essential for understanding music. An interval is the distance between two notes. In Western music there are twelve intervals. Each interval has a numerical identity.
    [Show full text]
  • Automatic Transcription of Bass Guitar Tracks Applied for Music Genre Classification and Sound Synthesis
    Automatic Transcription of Bass Guitar Tracks applied for Music Genre Classification and Sound Synthesis Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktoringenieur (Dr.-Ing.) vorlelegt der Fakultät für Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik der Technischen Universität Ilmenau von Dipl.-Ing. Jakob Abeßer geboren am 3. Mai 1983 in Jena Gutachter: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerald Schuller Prof. Dr. Meinard Müller Dr. Tech. Anssi Klapuri Tag der Einreichung: 05.12.2013 Tag der wissenschaftlichen Aussprache: 18.09.2014 urn:nbn:de:gbv:ilm1-2014000294 ii Acknowledgments I am grateful to many people who supported me in the last five years during the preparation of this thesis. First of all, I would like to thank Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gerald Schuller for being my supervisor and for the inspiring discussions that improved my understanding of good scientific practice. My gratitude also goes to Prof. Dr. Meinard Müller and Dr. Anssi Klapuri for being available as reviewers. Thank you for the valuable comments that helped me to improve my thesis. I would like to thank my former and current colleagues and fellow PhD students at the Semantic Music Technologies Group at the Fraunhofer IDMT for the very pleasant and motivating working atmosphere. Thank you Christian, Holger, Sascha, Hanna, Patrick, Christof, Daniel, Anna, and especially Alex and Estefanía for all the tea-time conversations, discussions, last-minute proof readings, and assistance of any kind. Thank you Paul for providing your musicological expertise and perspective in the genre classification experiments. I also thank Prof. Petri Toiviainen, Dr. Olivier Lartillot, and all the collegues at the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research at the University of Jyväskylä for a very inspiring research stay in 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • Intro to Figured Bass
    Introduction to Figured Bass Figured bass symbols describe the vertical structure of the chord! The bass is the foundation of harmonic structure. Figured bass symbols are used to indicate the bass positions of chords. The practice is derived from Baroque keyboard music where the player read from a part consisting of a bass line and some numerical symbols that indicated what chord was to be played. It was shorthand and, consequently, allowed an element of improvisation to enter the performance. The figured bass symbols represent intervals above the bass. The notes obtained by these intervals may be played in any octave. The figured bass does not indicate open or closed spacing. The system deals only with intervals (During its period of invention, the theory of chords was not yet invented). Figured bass was used as a means to notate improvisations, teach composition, and was the fundamental means by which composers such as Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven learned their craft. The following example illustrates the figured bass symbols for triads and their inversions only. Ex. 1 (a) (b) (c) 5 6 6 3 3 4 (root position) (1st inversion) (2nd inversion) The numbers in the above example represent the "general interval" from the lowest note in each chord to each upper note. The general interval, as you may recall, is simply the number of letter names from one pitch to another (remember to count the starting pitch as 1). In (a), C-E is a 3rd, C-G is a 5th, hence the 5/3 figured bass symbol. It is important to know that each figured bass number represents an interval above the bass.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 7 – Walking Bass Note Melodies
    Chapter 7 – Walking Bass Note Melodies To be completely honest, the concept of adding walking bass notes is much easier than you might think. What you’ll be looking for here are possible notes that match the chord you are working with using the notes found within a chord in various positions. There ARE other ways to do this, but I’ve found this is the easiest and still usually provides a nice series of walking bass notes. Step 1 – Find our chord tones, in other words – the notes that are required to form the chord in question. Let’s use the Am7 chord as one chord. We’ll be playing it like this though: 5x5555 Step 2 – We need to know our major scales. If you don’t know the major scales, don’t panic. I include them for you. The first thing we are going to do is develop walking bass lines using only the chord tones, or notes required in a progression. Our progression is going to be Am7 to D9 because they aren’t too familiar. D9 in this case is played like this: x5455x Because we are only working with the triad tones, we will be using the 1st, 3rd, and 5th tones. Back to our first step. We need to know the chord tones of both Am7 and D9. Am7 is A, G, C, and E. However, we just need to use the 1st, 3rd, and 5th tones. Those would be the A, C, and E. D9 is D, F#/Gb, C, E, and A .
    [Show full text]
  • The Augmented Sixth Chord
    CHAPTER24 The Augmented Sixth Chord Characteristics, Derivation, and Behavior The two excerpts in Example 24.1 are from different style periods, yet they share several features. In terms of form and harmony, both divide into two subphrases and close with strong half cadences. Further, the pre-dominant harmony in both examples is the same: an altered iv6 chord. Indeed, we hear not a Phrygian cadence (iv6-V), but rather some chromatic version, where the diatonic major sixth above the bass is raised a half step to create the strongly directed interval of the augmented sixth (+6). The new half-step ascent (#4-5) mirrors the bass's half-step descent (6-5). We refer to such chromatic pre-dominants as augmented sixth chords because of the characteristic interval between the bass 6 and the upper-voice #4. Listen to both excerpts in Example 24.1, noting the striking sound of the augmented sixth chords. EXAMPLE 24.1 A. Schubert, WaltzinG minor, Die letzte Walzer, op. 127, no. 12, D. 146 472 CHAPTER 24 THE AUGMENTED SIXTH CHORD 473 B. Handel, "Since by Man Came Death," Messiah, HWV 56 Example 24.2 demonstrates the derivation of the augmented sixth chord from the Phrygian cadence. Example 24.2A represents a traditional Phrygian half cadence. In Example 24.2B, the chromatic F# fills the space between F and G, and the passing motion creates an interval of an augmented sixth. Finally, Example 24.2C shows the augmented sixth chord as a harmonic entity, with no consonant preparation. EXAMPLE 24.2 Phrygian Cadence Generates the Augmented Sixth Chord Given that the augmented sixth chord also occurs in major, one might ask if it is an example of an applied chord or a mixture chord? To answer this question, consider the diatonic progression in Example 24.3A.
    [Show full text]
  • Walking Bass Line Theory Basics PDF File
    Walking Bass Line Theory Basics by Chris Fitzgerald Target Note: a note that is played with the intent to outline a chord in a chord progression, usually on the first beat that the chord appears within the progression. For beginning bass lines, the Root of the chord is the most common target note to play because it is the fundamental note of the chord. Approach Note: a note that leads into a target note in an aurally logical way. Approach notes usually occur on the beat before a target note. Harmonic Rhythm: the rate at which chords change in a progression. In 4/4 time the most common harmonic rhythms are one chord per measure or two chords per measure. It is common for the harmonic rhythm to vary within most chord progressions. When the harmonic rhythm of a progression of a song is two chords per bar, the bass player will often play a target note on beats 1 and 3, and an approach note on beats 2 and 4. The following is an example of a common bass line construction when the harmonic rhythm is moving at the rate of two chords per bar (Target notes are designated with "T", and approach notes are designated with "A"). Ex. 1 chord chord chord chord 4 T A T T A T ? 4 A A (Beat) 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 Since the root is the most common target note used in beginning bass lines, a bass line for the following progression could be constructed as follows: Ex.
    [Show full text]
  • The Death and Resurrection of Function
    THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF FUNCTION A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By John Gabriel Miller, B.A., M.C.M., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2008 Doctoral Examination Committee: Approved by Dr. Gregory Proctor, Advisor Dr. Graeme Boone ________________________ Dr. Lora Gingerich Dobos Advisor Graduate Program in Music Copyright by John Gabriel Miller 2008 ABSTRACT Function is one of those words that everyone understands, yet everyone understands a little differently. Although the impact and pervasiveness of function in tonal theory today is undeniable, a single, unambiguous definition of the term has yet to be agreed upon. So many theorists—Daniel Harrison, Joel Lester, Eytan Agmon, Charles Smith, William Caplin, and Gregory Proctor, to name a few—have so many different nuanced understandings of function that it is nearly impossible for conversations on the subject to be completely understood by all parties. This is because function comprises at least four distinct aspects, which, when all called by the same name, function , create ambiguity, confusion, and contradiction. Part I of the dissertation first illuminates this ambiguity in the term function by giving a historical basis for four different aspects of function, three of which are traced to Riemann, and one of which is traced all the way back to Rameau. A solution to the problem of ambiguity is then proposed: the elimination of the term function . In place of function , four new terms—behavior , kinship , province , and quality —are invoked, each uniquely corresponding to one of the four aspects of function identified.
    [Show full text]