Playing bass can (and often SHOULD) be simple
By Jon Liebman
July 11, 2024
A lot of people struggle with laying down a feel-good bass line because they think they need super human chops in order to do it well. The truth is, though, a simple bass line that leaves some space between the notes, can actually feel better than a busy line because of the way it’s allowed to breathe.
It’s certainly good to have a lot of facility on the bass for those times when a busy bass line is called for. But in most cases, simple is best.
In this week’s video, I demonstrate a simple bass line over just two chords. Watch and listen and you’ll see what I mean about letting the music breathe.
Give some of my ideas a try, then leave a comment below and share your experience. Good luck.
Let’s play bass!
Jon
I really like this video Jon, as it gives helpful advice on a great way to practice. What I was wondering is how I can get a backing track with just the two chords (even if it’s just a drone tone) e.g. is there an app I could use? – I confess I’m not really experienced in this sort of technology but it was an idea I thought would potentially help with ear-training.
Thanks, Celia. Since you’re a member of the Bottom Line Club, you can find several lessons that deal with grooving over a two-chord progression (Lesson 5 in the “Building Bass Lines” course is one example). You can loop the audio track in each lesson and practice the grooves over and over again! Enjoy!
Sweet! Ice cold!
Thanks, John!