PLease help me write

[dustycobb]

I recently was asked to Jam with a couple people who are somewhat good musicans. The guitarist is quite good acutally and the dummer isn't that great. I play bass and the guitarist asked me to put together some bass lines for a song he wrote. The problem is I don't know how to do this and was wondering if anyone could help me with this process. I know how to play basically tabbed music but am not sure how to write my own. I've got the chords that the guitarist is playing and was wondering if anyone could help me start a bass line and what not.

Verse : C - Bm7 - G
Chorus : C - G - Bm7 - D
Verse : C - Bm7 - G
Chorus : C - G - Bm7 - D

Any help would be greatly appericated

[i like tictacs]

the simplest bassline you could do is whenever he hits a C chord, play a C. when he hits a Bm7 chord, hit a B. when he hits a G chord, hit a G. so on and so forth. that will get you started with the most basic of basslines. your really getting into some deep stuff here. there are tons of more complicated things that take a long time to learn - such as modes, all the scales, chords, when to play minor/major/dominant/half diminished, improv scales, intervals - 3rds, 5ths, 7ths and so on.

[dustycobb]

the simplest bassline you could do is whenever he hits a C chord, play a C. when he hits a Bm7 chord, hit a B. when he hits a G chord, hit a G. so on and so forth. that will get you started with the most basic of basslines. your really getting into some deep stuff here. there are tons of more complicated things that take a long time to learn - such as modes, all the scales, chords, when to play minor/major/dominant/half diminished, improv scales, intervals - 3rds, 5ths, 7ths and so on.

Thank you very much for the advice, I wasn't sure if that was how to start everything, is it also possible just to play something once I hit the root, something that sounds good and fits or does it have to fit one of genre's you listed above ?

[xero]

Well, if you really want a quick fix, root-fifth-octave is a way out of just following the bass note on the guitar. What you'll really need to do is listen to the guitar and drums and see what you can link together -- i.e. if the guitar hits a C when the bass drum hits, you can hit a C too. If the guitar is playing basic 8th note rhythm for a measure in C, play some 'loose' C along with the drums (again, root-fifth-octave to be very basic -- scale runs and slides if you have time ).

This is really one of those things where you need to hear what the guitarist and drummer already have set up and go from there. You could write the most amazing bassline ever and have it follow the chord progression you laid out, but it'll sound all over the place if you ain't with the drummer (at the very least).

Worst case you follow the guitar note-for-note -- but where's the fun in that?

[kopie101]

im not sure how much experience you have but try to just play what sounds good to you, then go back and see what you did

[Macht]

sometimes it's also good to do like the second not in a chord i.e. G chord, can play a b, but i mean it has to fit the song

[DrFartbrain]

It'll take practice...just fool around and, if shit starts to hit the fan, take the "Victor Wooten" route and try to be more melodic in your bass lines.

[bassman462]

ok what about when theres only guitar and i want to make it a little bit more complicated then just hitting each note on chord.

[i am sam2]

thats where your creativity comes in, not really something that can be taught or explained. when i first start to create my own bassline i listen to the guitar for a couple measures (if its something just made up on the spot) and then come in slowly, a couple notes at a time, experimenting what i think will sound good and i try to get in a good beat. then just play what I think sounds good...i only think about what the guitar player is actually playing when i get really stumped.

also, sometimes its helpful to listen to the guitar, and then hum in your head what you want the bassline to sound like, and work from there.

most important: there are no rules in writing music

[Bartender2424]

creating a bassline has a lot to do with the notes played and chords and such, but most importantly tell us about the guitar riff. It deff matters if its a jazzy song, funky song, etc. Tempos big also when creating bass lines. Fill us in brotha...

[bassman462]

well the thing is is its pretty basisc its soemthign my bro wrote that hes going to set up with his freind. and he keeps with like the A for like 3/4 of the verse and i want to know what i could through in there then it goes to D and then E so i walk down the A string.

[bassman462]

i found out soemthing. yanking the G and doubleing the A will sound good.

[bassman462]

ok i got songs mixed up but i gopt somehting going for a diff. song.