A Cry For Help - Improvising Bass Lines on the Fly

[Reggaebass]

14 minutes ago, PJ-Bassist said:

This is what I'm really working on right now.

For about 30 mins a day I've got a playlist of some super simple rock songs and I'm playing along, trying to figure out the key center and chord progression as quickly as I can.

Then I start to play along and just improvising.  Really simple for now, just roots and fifths but I'm just starting to play with some pentatonics for fills.

I found this a great read when I decided to step up my pentatonic knowledge, there’s some really good finger workouts too 😀

[Geek99]

I might get that 

thanks

[Stub Mandrel]

I'm working hard to get back my mojo.

I put on Planet Rock and try and play along to whatever comes on.

If I get stuck I pull the chords up on Ultimate Guitar.

If I 'click' I pull up the bass tab and try and learn the main parts properly.

No ones listening so if I just bash root notes to 'The Real Me' who cares?

It's great practice for (1) identifying the keys of songs and (2) learning to anticipate chord changes.

And yes it will amaze you how many songs are basically just I - IV - V so it's worth googling what that means!

[Soledad]

A lot of good tips here - play to radio etc all really good. Hearing the chord (the defining notes) and being aware of the common chord progressions. Also whoever said call the guitar player out, he is very likely just rolling out the stuff he does at home on auto 👍
Years ago a really good player told me about his trick to build the link between what you hear in your head and what you can play spontaneously. He regularly played tunes he knew in his head - classical bits, folk tunes, hymn melodies, pop song vocal lines. All this stuff takes you to note sequences you won't normally uset. This massively helps you find any interval on your bass that your head hears. Vocal lines (any top lines really) are good because they are built totally differently to bass lines. It's one thing that changed the game for me - really opened up the fingerboard and to think an interval and go straight to it in the efficient position... worth trying (and sticking at) IMHO.

[Guest]

Exactly. Bass is a visual instrument and the music you play on it is a series or repeating patterns (until you run out of strings/frets).

If the OP is wanting to be able to keep up during a jam then the two most important things to learn are good ears (what am I hearing?) and knowing the possibilities from what you’re hearing (what works over what I’m hearing?). You can improve your ears by picking a song, working out (any way you like, even looking it up) the chords for a song, then some basics as to what fits (and that will almost always mean chord tones at the beginning).

Bringing it together is hearing (for example) a G major chord and knowing what shape a G arpeggio (which is just a fancy name for a chord where the notes are played one after the other rather than simultaneously) looks like:

G on 3rd fret of E string, then

B on 2nd fret of A string and finally

D on 5th fret of A string.

You now have a code - every time you hear or need to play a major chord and there is at least one string above where you are now, and two frets available further up the neck from where you are, you will always be able to recreate this shape. It’s a little bit of learning that adds up to a lot of knowledge. There are then tons of exercises or variations to this that could keep you busy for months or even years, for example:

• Do the above for major (G,B,D), minor (G,Bb,D), diminished (G,Bb,Db) and augmented (G,B,D#)
• Learn the major shape above starting with your index finger, then with middle finger and finally little finger (of fretting hand)
• Add the 7th chord tone to the second exercise - so Gmaj7 (G,B,D,F), etc
• Once you have the three above down, run through them in all 12 available keys (for example, starting on C, then F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db etc - commonly called the cycle or circle of fourths, important because many chord progressions follow this pattern) - if this is boring and feels like an exercise, find songs in different keys and play along.
• Play the arpeggio starting on a different degree - so for G try G,B,D, or B,G,D or D,B,G or D,G,B. For each variation, link what it SOUNDS like to what it LOOKS like on the fretboard. This will not only improve your dexterity but will really lift your knowledge of the fingerboard.
• Whatever you, do make MUSIC. If it feels like you’re just playing an exercise then try it over a real piece of music. You only really need to practice it to learn the notes - from then on take that information and make music out of it.

Etc!

Expanding this to scales is something I would tackle later because as a bass player you really need to nail the chord tones first - and once you know them, scales are just the bits in between

It’s up to you how far you want/need to take it. You don’t need to become a muso or a theory nut to achieve your goals.

[BassPhil]

On 04/12/2018 at 22:41, ahpook said:

The guitarist will know what they're playing....why not ask them ? It's what I would do ! It's not supposed to be a guessing game

A few pointers like "We'll start with E then up to etc etc" will get you going and you'll not be so nervous of playing the wrong thing.

Keep at it - you have to learn how to jam and it can feel like everyone else knows what they're doing, but it's often not the case.

 

Sounds a bit like your guitarist is misunderstanding 'Jamming' for 'Can you guess what I'm playing..' which is a different game. I played with a guitarist like this once and what I did in the end was to prepare my own 'riff for use when jamming' and then led from the bass and let the guitarist keep up with me...musically makes much more sense really imho. Could be a nice intro to funk for them too - learn a nice funk line that you can set up and keep going and then let them lay something over the top. My favourite there would be Rain Dance Maggie - RHCP. 

JUST NOTICED THAT THIS IS A THREAD FROM LAST YEAR!!! Oh well....hope the last few months have gone better for you...?

Edited April 16, 2019 by BassPhil

[PatrickJ]

23 minutes ago, BassPhil said:

 Could be a nice intro to funk for them too - learn a nice funk line that you can set up and keep going and then let them lay something over the top. My favourite there would be Rain Dance Maggie - RHCP. 

JUST NOTICED THAT THIS IS A THREAD FROM LAST YEAR!!! Oh well....hope the last few months have gone better for you...?

Funny, I learnt that song last week for that exact purpose.

So I ended up quitting that band, partly because of the experiences and partly because of some things going on with my kid that meant I didn't have time for it.

However, I'm still working on those improvisation skills because they are important to me.   I'm learning a lot of Flea's grooves and fills - figured if I have to play Rock I'll play it as funked up as I can :). 

i'm also working on jamming to common chord progressions in pop / rock music to build my ear and listening skills.

[bazzbass]

when you are playing a cover, break it down so you understand what chord notes the bass is playing. After a while, all these riffs and runs will start to pop into your head when you're jamming.

I mean, it only took me 30 years to get to this point hehe

[dexter3d]

It's a lifetime process, there is no quick fix, no Mcdonalds. Even some professional musicians would feel uncomfortable with some of the stuff OP described and would demand some idea of the changes beforehand. Confidence comes from drilling the same changes 1000s, 10000s of times, in different keys, thinking in key centres, plus academic ear training, etc etc. If it's not in your muscle memory, you won't be able to play it well. That's the secret about improvisation