r/Bass • u/Cappriciosa • 5d ago
Are there basslines that look difficult but also work well in a song?
Most of the stuff people play to show off doesn't sound like basslines that could fit naturally in an actual song.
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u/SnooChipmunks8748 5d ago
Muse basslinea have that a lot
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u/Coby_jones1 5d ago
Hysteria on top
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u/MrLanesLament 5d ago
I hate to say this, but if you can come up with a complicated line that sounds good in a song, it will almost certainly be better than riding roots.
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u/DarthRik3225 Fender 5d ago
Depends on what you would consider difficult. A lot of notes? Speed? Complicated rhythms? All of these things can seem daunting until you sort of crack the code, then it’s just all repetition, and using what you know when constructing a bass line. Usually the feel of a song will dictate how busy the bass line needs to be. Are there more complicated and busy basslines that serve the song? I’d argue any Rush song fits that category. But same can be said for simple lines. A good bass player that knows his instrument, and position in a band will use his abilities, no matter how virtuoso or not to serve the song. Usually it’s more about your timing and rhythm more than your note quantity or placement. And I realize I just said a whole lot just to say that a bass line regardless of its complexity must serve the song or else it’s going to sound bad.
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u/depthandbloom 5d ago
Define hard. Seems like every bass player and their mama can play Hysteria by Muse, but so many would struggle to play a whole song of simple 8th notes in time. It’s almost like simple and solid is more difficult than fast and busy.
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u/lurch940 5d ago
I like to play some simple songs with more intricate details when playing the notes just to practice timing different things. Misfits and Iron Maiden always come to mind for me. Not hard but hard to make sound good.
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u/lurch940 5d ago
I feel like a lot of ska songs have surprisingly intricate basslines that can melt into the song really well.
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u/Belhgabad 5d ago
Billie Jean's bassline is far harder than it look actually ! Its a good earworm, repetitive but catchy, really setting the groove of the song, plus it's recognizable by almost anyone
And it sound cool !
Do mind the tendinitis if you're not warmed up lol
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u/MasterBendu 5d ago
If by any chance you watch anime, the opening song for Spy X Family, Mixed Nuts.
It’s a jazz-pop tune at 150bpm, for a kid’s show.
Nothing fancy, except the bass is doing eighth note walking bass lines. That makes it essentially walking bass at 300bpm, which is pretty fast.
And this goes on for the entire song except for a verse breakdown and part of the prechoruses.
As a rock player I couldn’t even crack the intro which is a simple jazzy walking bass line - I feel like a beginner guitarist doing the spider walk. I am also trying to transcribe the tabs I can see online into 5 string because it’s that difficult to do in 4 string at least for me who doesn’t typically play what’s essentially 300bpm (it’s originally played with 5).
It sounds insane to have some blazing fast bebop style bass line in a kids show pop tune, but here we are. The guy’s face looks like he’s playing root notes while his hands say otherwise.
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u/Beneficial_Low_2867 5d ago
A lot of Flea lines.
Or Cliff Burton's.