Characteristics of Bass:
Harmony and Rhythm
Harmony
When Discussing Harmony - we are concerned with what actual notes are being played in the bass line
Remember that The Bass Note is defined as being the lowest sounding note - So by definition the bass is a part of the harmony - the lowest part
When Discussing Harmony - we are concerned with what actual notes are being played in the bass line
Remember that The Bass Note is defined as being the lowest sounding note - So by definition the bass is a part of the harmony - the lowest part
For example, the Bass note to for this C Major Chord is C because that is the lowest note sounding
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In this example of piano music, the bass note is the notes lowest in the staff at any given time - in this case it changes each beat
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In Hey jude, the Bass is in the bottom line. Notice how the note only changes when the actual chord changes (see chords over the staff) This is not very Harmonically Complex - we don't actually get all that many notes - just one note per chord **** Also a Good example of how we can see a complete song - Melody (top) Harmony (middle chords) and Baseline (bottom)***** |
So - How do Bass Players or Composers decide Which Note to put in the Bass line?
We must assume that you can't just put ANY note in the bass and it will sound good.....
Example
If we have a C Chord , We can't have an F# as the bass note
Simple Answer / Rule of Thumb:
Generally , the bass note will be a note that is contained in the chord
If we are talking about triads , The bass note will usually be the 1 3 or 5
(in a C Maj Chord, 'C' , 'E' , or 'G'
Check out the Hey Jude Music - The Bass Note always matches up with the chord over top - When the Bass note is on the 1 it is known as the Root
Of course there are exceptions to this rule - but in popular music especially - for simplicity - the bass note is generally the root or the 3rd or 5th
We must assume that you can't just put ANY note in the bass and it will sound good.....
Example
If we have a C Chord , We can't have an F# as the bass note
Simple Answer / Rule of Thumb:
Generally , the bass note will be a note that is contained in the chord
If we are talking about triads , The bass note will usually be the 1 3 or 5
(in a C Maj Chord, 'C' , 'E' , or 'G'
Check out the Hey Jude Music - The Bass Note always matches up with the chord over top - When the Bass note is on the 1 it is known as the Root
Of course there are exceptions to this rule - but in popular music especially - for simplicity - the bass note is generally the root or the 3rd or 5th
In 'All of Me', the Bass note is always the same as the Chord Root
What about in other Styles?
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In Jazz music, we see a walking bass - this means the bass is constantly moving harmonically - i.e. many notes per chord. We can see in this example how even though the chord stays the same for the first 4 measures, the bass player is playing many notes. In this case, he is playing notes that are outside / not contained in the chord, but since he is constantly changing, he doesn't stay on the 'wrong' note long enough for it to register as 'wrong' because he immediately switches to one that sounds better. The walking bass is based on constantly changing notes . It is much more harmonically complex than the sustained notes in the pop examples |
Rhythm
Rhythm is concerned with ONLY the rhythm of the bassline
If we can imagine taping out the rhythm of the bassline on our desk or on a drum (i.e. no notes just the rhythm) this is the aspect rhythm is concerned with
Notice how Simple / Repetitive / Steady these Walking Basslines are
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Now contrast that simple / repetitive rhythm with these more disjointed examples..
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Rhythmically, we are always listening for simplicity and repetition (walking bass examples) , or lack there of (Funk Examples)
Check out these Pop Examples - Their Synth Bass is almost void of any rhythm - as they are just sustained notes (these would be known as 'Pads')
Check out these Pop Examples - Their Synth Bass is almost void of any rhythm - as they are just sustained notes (these would be known as 'Pads')
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Go Back to our analogy of tapping out the rhythm on our desk or a drum - with these Sustained examples, we wouldn't have very much to tap out, or wouldn't beat on the drum very much compared to our funk examples or even jazz walking bass examples
They actually try to fool us by putting so many layers over top of the bass note that we almost can't hear it - but its there!!
They actually try to fool us by putting so many layers over top of the bass note that we almost can't hear it - but its there!!
Types of Basslines
Identifying Styles of Basslines
Since we are concerned with the rhythmic and Harmonic qualities of the bass line, with a series of questions (questionnaire style) we can narrow down just WHAT type of baseline we are dealing with
Rhythmic ?'s
Repetitive OR Non-Repetitive
Very Few Notes per Chord OR Many notes per Chord
Steady On Beat OR Melodic
Harmonic ?'s
Repetitive OR Non-Repetitive
Very Few Notes per Chord OR Many notes per Chord
Guide:
Sustained
Rhythmic: Repetitive, Few or Many , Stead on Beat
Harmonic: Repetitive, Few Notes/Chord,
Walking
Rhythmic: Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord, Steady on Beat
Harmonic: Non-Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord,
Riffed
Rhythmic: Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord , Melodic
Harmonic: Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord,
Notice how the differences are minuscule and maybe only different in one of our questionnaire categories
If the Bassline does not fit into any of these categories.....
it would be known as an IMPROVISED bassline. These other baselines have a set of rules and characteristics to follow, in other words they are composed or predetermined or written.
HOWEVER
the bass player could just be making it up as he goes a long, or spontaneously composing. This means there will probably be little repetition and not very many trends in that line, so it wouldn't fit into any of our categories.
Rhythmic ?'s
Repetitive OR Non-Repetitive
Very Few Notes per Chord OR Many notes per Chord
Steady On Beat OR Melodic
Harmonic ?'s
Repetitive OR Non-Repetitive
Very Few Notes per Chord OR Many notes per Chord
Guide:
Sustained
Rhythmic: Repetitive, Few or Many , Stead on Beat
Harmonic: Repetitive, Few Notes/Chord,
Walking
Rhythmic: Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord, Steady on Beat
Harmonic: Non-Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord,
Riffed
Rhythmic: Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord , Melodic
Harmonic: Repetitive, Many Notes/Chord,
Notice how the differences are minuscule and maybe only different in one of our questionnaire categories
If the Bassline does not fit into any of these categories.....
it would be known as an IMPROVISED bassline. These other baselines have a set of rules and characteristics to follow, in other words they are composed or predetermined or written.
HOWEVER
the bass player could just be making it up as he goes a long, or spontaneously composing. This means there will probably be little repetition and not very many trends in that line, so it wouldn't fit into any of our categories.
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Class Examples:
Under Pressure - David Bowie
Give it Away - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Fly me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
Home At Last - Steely Dan
Under Pressure - David Bowie
Give it Away - Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Fly me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
Home At Last - Steely Dan
BassLine Homework
Due Next Tuesday : Typed
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Give the Following information for the song list:
- Genre/Instrumentation - BassLine Questionnaire ?'s - Type of BassLine After Completing these for all the songs, answer the following Question: Did you notice any trends or correlation between genre/instrumentation and type of bass line? -What were they? -Can you speculate why this would happen? (i.e. What if you superimposed a different type of baseline over that song, would it be as good? As effective?) |
Song list:
1. Take a Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed 2. I Want You Back - The Jackson 5 3. Billi Jean - Micheal Jackson 4. I Wish I Knew - Blue Mitchell 5. Let's Get it On - Marvin Gaye 6. All I Do - Stevie Wonder 7. Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan 8. Are you My Woman - The Chi-Lites 9. Bill Withers - Lovely Day 10. Haven't Met you Yet - Michael Buble 11. Landslide - Stevie Nicks **** If you are confused , or can't pick a category, or it sounds like it could fit in multiple categories, describe what you are hearing and why you think it fits in multiple**** |