Coolest bass lines using the fewest notes.

[BreadBin]

10 hours ago, lidl e said:

 

 

This has 2 bass lines. Both simple I'll grant you.

[SumOne]

I love simple basslines, one that springs to mind is the main bass riff from 'come together'. McCartney might have recorded 100s of quite complex basslines but those simple few notes are as memorable and impactful as any. 

[Paul S]

Pretty much the same all the way through.  Played this in one band, always went down well.

 

 

[Piers_Williamson]

If you ignore the intro...

 

 

[upside downer]

This fits the bill.

 

 

[Jay2U]

Lillington High. Just four notes, over and over. Yes it was me, joining them on stage...

 

[itu]

Sly & Robbie, anything from them.

[Reggaebass]

25 minutes ago, itu said:

Sly & Robbie, anything from them.

.he did have some with very few notes but he could also be quite a technical player 

Edited March 26, 2023 by Reggaebass

[Reggaebass]

Aston Barrett’s Bassline to natural mystic only has 5 notes but still a great one 

 

[Frank Blank]

13 minutes ago, Reggaebass said:

Aston Barrett’s Bassline to natural mystic only has 5 notes but still a great one.

Five notes played by a genius though...

[nilorius]

Not much, not few, but the bass line is really cool - RHCP - Californication.

[iconic]

 

[Shaggy]

Another great one very economical note-wise:

 

 

[Nail Soup]

Observation: two different interpretations of "few notes" going on here.

• Some mean not having many different notes - e.g Public Image has only four different notes, but played 8 to the bar in every single bar of the song.
• Some mean having lots of space between the notes - e.g Walking on the Moon which plays 3 notes followed by a huge gap.

[knirirr]

For the "not many different notes" interpretation, I offer this. Very relaxing after a jazz woodbine, I'm told.

 

 

[greentext]

so simple but crushes 

 

 

[Frank Blank]

1 hour ago, Shaggy said:

Another great one very economical note-wise:

 

 

Brilliant choice.

[Old Man Riva]

Forgot this. A fine three note riff by Big Dan…

 

 

[tauzero]

Most of this is three notes - there's a passing B on the verses.

 

 

And of course there's just three notes almost all the way through this, there's three passing Fs through the song and the occasional octave G in the outro:

 

 

 

[iconic]

never was so much owed, by so many, to so few.... notes. 

 

How he can make one note sound so funky defies me. 

[How1]

 

[Tokalo]

 

[Frank Blank]

 

[paul_c2]

Firstly, let's get the elephant in the room out the way (Another One Bites The Dust, Queen):

 

 

Then, if you'll allow me to indulge in TWO by the wonderful Tina Weymouth (Psycho Killer and Genius of Love):

 

 

[stef030]

awb pick up the pieces 

has it all