You don’t need to know a million scales
or modes to make your own bass lines.
You only need 2 things and in this lesson,
I’m going to show you what they are and
how to use them.
Hi I’m Luke McIntosh from becomeabassist.com
and in this lesson, you’re going to learn
the Instant Bass Line Formula that will let
you create your own bass lines that are guaranteed
to work.
It’s super simple so you can start doing
it today.
[Video Intro]
Today’s lesson is a quick one.
We want to make our own bass lines that are
going to work with whatever song we’re playing,
right?
The last thing you want to do is make the
music you’re playing sound bad by using
dodgy notes or dodgy rhythms.
Like I said at the start though, you only
need 2 things to make your own bass lines.
Those 2 thing are the root notes of the chords
in the song and the rhythm of the kick drum.
If you have these 2 things you can be the
one who connects the harmony of the song - the
chords - with the rhythm of the song.
This is exactly what the bass does - it creates
a bridge between the chords and the rhythm.
That is one of our main functions.
Without you playing the bass part, the song
just won’t work as well.
So how do you find these things?
Well the chords is easy enough.
If you’ve got a chord chart, the root notes
are just the notes of the chords.
If it says E, you play an E. If it says G
minor, you play a G!
It’s that simple.
If you haven’t got a chord chart, you can
simply ask whoever you’re playing with what
the chords are.
If you’ve got a decent ear, you might be
able to pick up the chord progression just
like that.
But let’s say for example that we’re playing
a song where the chord progression is A minor,
F major, C major, G major - one bar each.
That means our root notes are A, F, C and
G. [plays notes] Easy enough, right?
What was our other part of the formula?
The rhythm of the bass drum, or kick drum.
That one’s easy too!
All you have to do is listen to what the drummer
is playing.
Let’s say in our case, the drummer is playing
something like this [plays track] Let’s
just listen for the kick drum - it’s the
deepest, fattest sound in the track.
Can you hear it?
It’s here.
Uh, Uhhhh.
Uh, Uhhhh.
[stops track] So that’s our rhythm.
Uh, Uhhhh.
Uh, Uhhhh.
So all we need to do now is combine those
2 things - the notes and the rhythm.
Remember our notes are A, F, C and G and our
rhythm is Uh, Uhhhh.
So together we’ll get this.
[plays bass line] Yeah?
Let’s go again.
So when we play that with the chords and the
drums, it’ll sound like this.
[plays bass line with track] See how that
works?
Can you hear how you’re using elements of
the drums PLUS the chords and connecting those
two things.
If we drop out it sounds empty.
But if we come back in it sounds full and
rich again.
[stops track]Let’s try another chord progression
and another kind of groove.
This time, let’s use the chord progression
F Major, E minor, D minor, C major.
So our roots are F, E, D and C. And if we
listen to our drum track, we’ll have this.
[plays track] Uhhhh, Uh-Uhhhh, Uh-Uhhhh, Uh-Uhhhh.
Cool!
We’ve got our two elements, now let’s
play the song.
[plays track with bass line] See how simple
that is?
There’s nothing to it!
 Now are these bass lines world-changing
and groundbreaking?
No - they’re very simple, almost to the
point of being paint-by-numbers, but that’s
fine.
This formula is great if you’re just starting
out and it’s going to work most of the time.
Of course, if you’re playing prog metal
or something like that, this isn’t going
to work, but it will most of the time.
Now if you want to go beyond being a paint-by-numbers
bassist and take this formula and your bass
lines to the next level, then I’ve recorded
a special bonus video for you called Next
Level Bass Lines where I go through this formula
in more depth and give you some ideas on how
you can take this very basic idea and make
it your own and get you to that next level.
Add some more notes, add some different rhythms
and really elevate the bass lines you create
so they’re more interesting and fun to play
and they’ll make you a better bass player.
It’s totally free and all you have to do
to get it is just click the link in the description,
sign up on that page and I’ll send it straight
to your email.
You can get started creating bass lines you
can be proud of today.
To recap really quickly though, you learned
the Instant Bass Line Formula and it’s 2
elements: the roots of the chords and the
rhythm of the bass drum.
Combine those 2 things and you have a perfect
recipe for a functional bass line that will
work most of the time.
Be sure to sign up for the bonus Next Level
Bass Lines Bonus video - I’d love to see
you there as well.
Thanks so much for watching.
I’m Luke McIntosh from becomeabassist.com
and I’ll see you soon.
