I'm glad you understand that cause there are some who get into that trap once they learn some theory. Especially those who know alot cause sooner or later some ideas contradict previous ones. Plus and more serious, they become more dependant on the theory rather than the ear.

Ok when it comes to bass lines, there are a few things they use when playing over a chord progression. Most bass lines follow the root, so if the chord progression is E minor- B diminished- A minor. The bass will play E - B - A. This is what is found in most modern music.

There is another way, which is used to achieve a more smoother bass line or a way to play other than the root note. This would be the use of inversions. An inversion is which note in a chord is in the bass, so take the E minor chord. Which has the notes E, G, and B. Now if you don't want the bass to play E, it can play either G or B. When this is used, it's called inversion. Playing G over the guitar E minor is a second inversion, and B is the third inversion. So on if you have more complex chords. This is noticed when you hear the bass sort of break away from the guitar. Say this is the chord progression E minor- B diminished- A minor. The bass may play this instead E - D - C. The root is played over the first chord and the second inversion is played over both B diminished and A minor.

Also, when it comes to fifth chords, the 3rd interval can be put back in for the bass if needed. You must first understand what note that would be depending on whether that chord is major, minor, or diminished in the key. Lets take that chord progression again and make it all fifth chords, E5 - B5 - A5. Now say you wanted to play the 2nd inversion on the B5 in the key of A minor. You know by the chord structure the role the B plays is B diminished. Here are the notes B, D, and F. So the bass would play D.

Now when the bass is the moving part in the music, in for instance Jazz. The bass will follow the idea of playing a different scale over each chord. Here's how this is done, say the guitar is playing a E minor chord. The bass may play his bass line in the E minor pentatonic scale. As you can see this is just a role reversal. Instead of the guitar soloing over the E minor chord, the bass is.

That's pretty much how bass lines are constructed. Pretty simple, the difference is with a good bass player is he/she will use all three throughout a song. A good example would be playing along with the root, then slowly moving away using inversion, then finish with a melodical fill. So it's good to understand all three and incorporate them into the music.

Most solo musicians strictly use the first method, with just the root. This is ok, but it leaves the bass with no individuality to it. This is also better if your in a band, and you want the bassist to come up with his own part. Anyways, thats about it and hope it helps you out. I wish you the best of luck with your song, and I'm glad to help you out. :) Latr

[Edited by noticingthemistake on 02-05-2003 at 09:16 AM]