Imagine this: You’ve just been pulled up on stage at a jam session to play a song on bass. Except you don’t know the song that’s being played. That doesn’t seem to matter to anyone else though.
They’re still expecting you to create a bass line that works.
This kind of thing happens all the time – at jam sessions, or even more intimidating, in studio sessions, where a delay in coming up with a bass part could cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.
That’s why it makes sense to have a few different methods to create bass lines on the fly. That way, you’ll never be stumped and you’ll always be able to come up with something.
In the last lesson of Bass Lines From Scratch, we talked all about the 2 most important elements of great bass lines.
Today though, I want to share four methods of getting started with creating your own bass lines – even if you’ve never done it before.
Check out the lesson here:
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FREE: Get The Bass Lines From Scratch Checklist
Use this quick quiz to 'test' your own bass lines to make sure they're world-class. If not, the checklist will show you exactly what you need to do to improve it so your bass lines are as good as they could possibly be.
You'll also get all the tabs, notation and practice tracks from the entire Bass Lines From Scratch Series.
Notice how messy this whole process is. You saw me make mistakes, change my mind, forget what I just came up with – and that’s fine! This is all the parts of making basslines that you don’t see. Most of the time, you just hear the finished product without seeing the dozens or hundreds of drafts that came before.
Now are these the only methods available to create your your own bass lines? Definitely not! There are many more you can experiment with.
If you’re not sure where to start though, these will give you a solid foundation to begin.
I’ve you’ve created your own bass line though, how are you supposed to know if it’s any good?
One way is to use the Bass Lines From Scratch Checklist. If you can answer yes to the questions on the checklist, you can be sure that you’ve created a bass line that you can be proud of.
To download it, simply fill out the form above and I’ll send it straight to your email inbox – 100% free. It’s a great tool to take your bass lines to the next level.
As always, if you have any questions, just leave a comment below. I’d be happy to help out however I can.
Good luck with the lesson and happy bass line making!
Cheers,
Martin Euser says
Luke: excellent lesson, and all that for free. Unbelievable!
You are providing a great service to bass players.
Luke McIntosh says
Thanks so much Martin – I’m glad you think so! I hope you enjoy the rest of the series just as much.
Newbilong says
Really helpful. Thanks Luke.
john Ralph says
Thanks Luke, was really struggling with my own bass lines, this has really helped me, got loads of practising to do
Luke McIntosh says
You and me both John! Glad to hear I could help though.