Building Basslines

As a Bass Player, you have a very unique role: As both the Harmonic foundation and as the Timekeeper in any band, you are required to keep the music flowing and moving.

One of hardest challenges that any Bass Player faces is that of creating quality, creative Basslines that function in the style of the song while keeping the harmonic quality of the music first and foremost.

It can be difficult to consistently come up with great Basslines that haven't been played to death before. Most of us don't want to play the same line for every song, so we have to come up with new lines to match each new song.

Part of the ability of Building Basslines comes with time, but there are some things you can do to help the process along.

In the following articles, you'll find many different ways to look at Building Lines, from not only a Harmonic viewpoint, but also from a Rhythmic and Melodic one.

Since there are so many different things to take into account when coming up with creative new lines, I've written separate pages for even the smallest individual concepts.

I will consistently be adding new things to this site and page, so keep checking back for new exercises and articles when you feel the urge :)

Working with Time: