how do I learn bass lines

[accordian]

ok so my question is this i've been playing for a while now and I found personally that after playing a couple of songs using waltz and alternating bass playing them is no problem it's just figuring out the right hand but when i'm learning a completely different song with nothing like that what would be the best way to learn doing it if you see what I mean

I want to learn to be able to just play the bass section of songs that aren't even slightly similar but because there not similar I can't really practice just playing them because they're so different

 

[Glenn]

No silver bullet for that problem I’m afraid.
Just practice and more practice is the obvious answer.
Try attempting new styles to get some hours of bass playing with new rhythms and bass fingering. Then go back to what you play best. I find the there is “cross fertilisation“ between practice sessions on different songs.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Anyanka]

ok so my question is this ive been playing for a while now and I found personally that after playing a couple of songs using waltz and alternating bass playing them is no problem its just figuring out the right hand but when im learning a completely different song with nothing like that what would be the best way to learn doing it if you see what I mean

I want to learn to be able to just play the bass section of songs that arent even slightly similar but because there not similar I cant really practice just playing them because theyre so different

You could try humming/singing the tune to start with - I find that I can now keep bass lines going (for Morris) when I lose it on the right hand, but that is only because Ive played the pieces hundreds of times. Most Morris tunes employ very similar chords, so memorising the sequences without the tune would be really difficult. I sort of keep the tune playing in my head even when my fingers arent doing it, and that enables the bass hand to carry on.

 

[george garside]

if you are talking about 'busking ' in a bass line or whatever you want to call it get the hang of the 3 chord trick and the enhanced 3 chord trick. The basic 3 chord trick is to use 3 chords which in stradella terms are simply the diagonal row of the key a tune is in and the diagonal above and below that. eg if playing a tune in C you need FCG diagonal rows. The enhanced 3 chord trick can add the next row up or down i.e. Bb and D.
Within the 3 chord trick you can use bass only, major or minor chords but still keeping withing the 3 or 5 diagonal rows .

This skill is particularly useful if playing tunes by ear/from memory and if playing tunes from a set of dots written for a melody only instrument eg fiddle, whistle, flute etc etc and once mastered enables a decent bass line to be played on the hoof.

george

 

[accordian]

ah i see although ive never heard of the chord rule will have to give that a try when playing songs by ear

 

[george garside]

the easiest way to get the hang of it is to play a relatively slow tune in, say, key of C . Start with the C bass and chord and keep this going until it sounds wrong,. At the point it sounds wrong try G bass, if that sounds wrong try F bass , when that sounds wrong have another go at the C bass.
one of the 3 F,C,G should sound reasonable for a tune in C and the most used bass/chord will be the 'home' one i.e. C

If the tune is in ,say, Bb the same exactly applies using Eb Bb F and so on and so forth

george

 

[JerryPH]

Just looking back at this and most of your other posts, they pretty much all have a one word answer... practice. There is nothing magical about the learning process, there are absolutely NO shortcuts, not for you or anyone else.

Anything you want to do, especially at the beginning requires work... LOTS of work. The more quality time and quality effort you put in, the better you get. The work is not simple or easy... but the concept to get better is as simple as that.

 

[accordian]

Just looking back at this and most of your other posts, they pretty much all have a one word answer... practice. There is nothing magical about the learning process, there are absolutely NO shortcuts, not for you or anyone else.

Anything you want to do, especially at the beginning requires work... LOTS of work. The more quality time and quality effort you put in, the better you get. The work is not simple or easy... but the concept to get better is as simple as that.

while i definitely agree with practice my question is when im playing a bass line that repeats and i get good at it how does it make me get better at completely different bass rhythms I mean I understand with thing like alternating and waltz because its the same thing or similar. however im talking about with completely different bass lines / rythms

 

[accordian]

or same thing?

 

[jozz]

while i definitely agree with practice my question is when im playing a bass line that repeats and i get good at it how does it make me get better at completely different bass rhythms I mean I understand with thing like alternating and waltz because its the same thing or similar. however im talking about with completely different bass lines / rythms

Trying to understand you here...do you mean to learn more regular bass patterns by starting out from some sort of basic technique?

It makes sense to lay down the most basic patterns first and expand from there. Do you have an example of what you are trying to learn next?

 

[accordian]

yep looking back now its not very clear what I said.

so what im asking is when I first started I thought waltz was the most difficult thing to learn. however there are alot of songs that use waltz bass pattern so that I can get use to it and then play songs using waltz bass pattern easily same with alternating bass however with some songs id like to play (the type that arent meant or accordion) I can only get used to playing that one song and when I try a new song with a new type of bass pattern it gets harder

so if I keep playing these harder songs with different bass patterns will I be able to after a while play pretty much anything.

heres two examples of songs with completely different bass

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<YOUTUBE id=P62c4nqir_A url=></YOUTUBE>

 

[jozz]

I can only get used to playing that one song and when I try a new song with a new type of bass pattern it gets harder
...
so if I keep playing these harder songs with different bass patterns will I be able to after a while play pretty much anything.

I see, but you might have guessed these are two different things

These examples show you that the bass can be a seperate composition as opposed to just playing a rythmic pattern.

Of course it will help with other songs if you learn more complex songs first, especially with locating buttons after jumps and where to put accents.

But you seem to want to be moving up from 3/4 to this, which might be a stretch. So you might grab a study book about all the most common accordion rythms first.

As a side note:
Another approach could be to think of the bass notes as kick drum, and the chord bass as snare drum. Pick four chords, put your bass drum kit under it, and you can entertain people for hours by the campfire (depending on the availability of alcohol).

 

[accordian]

I can only get used to playing that one song and when I try a new song with a new type of bass pattern it gets harder
...
so if I keep playing these harder songs with different bass patterns will I be able to after a while play pretty much anything.

I see, but you might have guessed these are two different things

These examples show you that the bass can be a seperate composition as opposed to just playing a rythmic pattern.

Of course it will help with other songs if you learn more complex songs first, especially with locating buttons after jumps and where to put accents.

But you seem to want to be moving up from 3/4 to this, which might be a stretch. So you might grab a study book about all the most common accordion rythms first.

As a side note:
Another approach could be to think of the bass notes as kick drum, and the chord bass as snare drum. Pick four chords, put your bass drum kit under it, and you can entertain people for hours by the campfire (depending on the availability of alcohol).

well its not so much that I just used waltz as an example I can play waltz , alternating bass , and use the drum kit as you put it for reggae music as the classic sound to it if ya know what I mean (the guitar thing thats in every song lol) but I want to start moving onto more complex pieces. which is where I ask I can learn a song either slowly to understand when to do what or I can look at sheet music and then play it but the thing is as said I cant just play the next song as well its completely different to the previous one

 

[Glenn]

Neither of these two videos has bass “patterns” in the sense of a regular pattern. The first one has a number of interesting things that an accordion stradella bass could do ranging from chord stabs to legato bass notes. The second piece had very little bass structure at all in the way it was played and sounded as if it needed some tightening up in timing . Is there a particular piece you want to concentrate on where the forum could give you some feedback on suitable bass accompaniment?

 

[accordian]

Neither of these two videos has bass “patterns” in the sense of a regular pattern. The first one has a number of interesting things that an accordion stradella bass could do ranging from chord stabs to legato bass notes. The second piece had very little bass structure at all in the way it was played and sounded as if it needed some tightening up in timing . Is there a particular piece you want to concentrate on where the forum could give you some feedback on suitable bass accompaniment?

well honestly a little embarrassing to say but at the moment I would love to learn the great mighty poo if you could give me a hand with that one Id really appreciate it. although never the less if you could give me some tips for playing pieces as original eg. (the a , c , e part on the great mighty poo) Id also really appreciate it.

then Id be able to learn more stuff as well both more hand independence and a new song (woo hoo lol)

 

[accordian]

Neither of these two videos has bass “patterns” in the sense of a regular pattern. The first one has a number of interesting things that an accordion stradella bass could do ranging from chord stabs to legato bass notes. The second piece had very little bass structure at all in the way it was played and sounded as if it needed some tightening up in timing . Is there a particular piece you want to concentrate on where the forum could give you some feedback on suitable bass accompaniment?

well honestly a little embarrassing to say but at the moment I would love to learn the great mighty poo if you could give me a hand with that one Id really appreciate it. although never the less if you could give me some tips for playing pieces as original eg. (the a , c , e part on the great mighty poo) Id also really appreciate it.

then Id be able to learn more stuff as well both more hand independence and a new song (woo hoo lol)

when I say a , c , e part I actually meant the a,c,a,e part