BASS
[ 6 TIPS FOR BASS LINE CREATIVITY | Norm Stockton ]
There are times that our bass part is already vocal or melody are often the most musical. most listeners won’t be able to identify the
firmly established and it’s our job to simply It can be cool to create a bit of a rhythmic specific genre influence, but they will enjoy the
perform a solid rendition of it - gigging in a tapestry with the vocal (where the bass figure creative vibes!
cover band involves a lot of those instances might land on rests or pauses in the cadence or playing the worship setlist on Sunday. But of the melody) or conversely, it’s sometimes THE SPICE
there are other occasions when we have interesting to play a brief unison line with the This is the term I use to describe all of the
some latitude to reinterpret or even create our melody. The latter, when done well, is quite cool phrasing
own bass lines. Doing so can be daunting for (and when not done well - not so much). Refer duration, vibrato, slurs/hammers, register, etc.
those that don’t do it regularly. We often find to my preface above! Applying good and lyrical phrasing with any
ourselves defaulting to figures and lines that are
considerations:
dynamics,
note
of the above approaches will help your bass
firmly within our comfort zone and that we’ve RHYTHMIC DISPLACEMENT
probably played a million times prior. Drummers frequently employ this concept,
line emote.
“moving” an established rhythmic figure ahead HARMONIC DEVICES
I’d like to share some ideas to hopefully or behind by a quarter-, eighth- or sixteenth- Some of you are thinking, “Finally—we’re
inspire different approaches and possibly lead note. Same figure, but changing its placement gonna talk about gear!” :^)
to bass lines that serve our music in more within the measure can have a dramatic effect creative ways. on how it feels.
While employing effects is also a valid way
to explore creativity, I’m actually referring to
But first, a preface: It can be interesting to inject beat displacement context-sensitive note choice departures from
There are very rarely right and wrong musical - preferably into a longer phrase where the the root note. These can involve (usually) diatonic
choices. Much more frequently we encounter “correct” rhythmic motif can be established - non-chord tones (think fills incorporating 2nds
more effective vs. less effective musical to change things up. This can be extreme and or 9ths, 4ths, 6ths and/or 7ths), inversions
choices, and that distinction is often dependent overt if you’re playing jazz fusion or prog rock, (usually playing the 3rd or 5th under a chord vs.
upon context. It’s a subjective thing, but is or more subtle and understated in a pop or the root), pedal tones (holding one note under
informed by listening to a broad range of well- worship tune. multiple chord changes), or walk-up/walk-
crafted music. The more we do, the better we
downs (usually involves roots and inversions to
can discern the most effective approach we Perhaps experiment with displacing a figure in create a bass line that ascends or descends
might take with the tune at hand. Ensure that the 3 rd or 4 th measures of a 4-bar phrase. Make under chords that typically aren’t ascending or
your bass line isn’t creative to the detriment of sure the rest of the phrase solidly reinforces descending in kind).
the song! Cool? Ok—let’s dive in! the normal placement or your bandmates
might rebel!
If done incorrectly, these departures will likely
SPACE
sound like mistakes to your bandmates and
The importance of leaving air in a bass line GENRE INJECTION listeners. I find it helpful to make judicious use
can’t be overstated. Well-placed rests provide I often encourage bassists to have a basic of the upper register (especially above the 12 th
contrast and make where we are playing familiarity with the idioms of a broad range fret on the heavier, lower strings) as harmonic
much more impactful. Context is key; where in of musical styles, i.e., knowing what defines tension tends to work better in that range vs.
the measure or section can a rest be placed a particular style rhythmically, harmonically low on the fingerboard, while keeping to the
without things falling apart - or can you possibly and sonically. heavier strings will keep some thickness in
even lay out for an entire section? That will differ
the tone.
from song to song, obviously. Pay particular Armed with that knowledge, it can be cool
attention to the cadence of the vocal. Which to subtly inject a certain stylistic approach to
leads us to… a song that otherwise doesn’t fall into that
genre. Think a dash of reggae into a folky
LEAD VOCAL AWARENESS singer-songwriter tune, or maybe a hint of
Bass lines that reflect an awareness of the lead Latin into a gospel piece. If done with restraint,
60
April 2018
Norm Stockton
Bassist/clinician/solo artist based in Orange
County, CA. Following his long tenure as bassist
with Lincoln Brewster, Norm has been focused on
equipping bassists (www.ArtOfGroove.com) Learn
about his latest & most ambitious project at www.
GroovesAndSushi.com. His book, The Worship Bass
Book, is published by Hal Leonard.
www.normstockton.com
WorshipMusician.com