Bassline Construction - Basic

How does one play bass on the organ? It's a question with many answers. The standard approach is to play the bassline with your feet, comp with your left hand and play melody with the right (though some reverse the roles of their hands), but as the tempo increases and the bassline becomes more difficult, it becomes more and more likely you'll start playing the bassline with your LH on the lower manual and use the pedalboard more sparingly.

I'll be dealing with the how-to of kicking bass with the pedals in the next installment of this article, but for now, let's concentrate on identifying the kind of things your basslines will need to be able to do, regardless of their delivery by hand, or foot:
What does the bassline do?

  • keeps time, but also...
  • drives the ensemble forward
  • outlines the harmony
  • defines a groove
  • provides the foundation for the soloist(s)
  • converses with the drummer and supports his/her work
  • provides its own countermelody to the higher voices
  • communicates the formal divisions of the piece
  • responds to what the soloist is doing
  • ...and much, much more!
    Playing the bass is a very exciting feeling, one that many keyboardists (pianists) miss out on. There are many books about bass playing that are definitely worth pursuing. One of the classics is The Improvisor's Bass Method (Chuck Sher). I'd also encourage you to check out Concepts for Bass Soloing (Chuck Sher & Marc Johnson), Ron Carter's Building Bass Lines, and Bass Lines in Minutes
    These will definitely get you off to a good start when thinking about what to do with your own basslines.

    In the mean time, here is some 'bassic' theory and some exercises you'll want to try.

    The Jazz/Swing Bassline

    There are two broad categories we'll discuss here. The first is your standard swing/bop walking bassline. You can hear this on many tracks, including Groove Holmes' "Misty" (Prestige, PR-7485) and Jimmy Smith's "The Champ" (Blue Note). These pieces employ a walking bass that uses a repeating chord structure for the entire tune. What to do, if you're walking the bass? Consider the example below:


    Assuming that the prevailing harmony/chord used in these four bars is CM, you can see that two important things are happening:
  • A basic, quarter-note rhythm is established Walking basslines tend to consist primarily of straight quarters, with some rhythmic emphasis added at turnarounds or other important places to provide some additional propulsion.
  • Chord tones (colored blue--C, E, and G) are emphasized by appearing on the strong beats (1 and 3) of each measure. Beat 1 is definitely the most important beat in the measure (in most types of jazz), so playing the root of the chord (in this case, C) on the downbeat will definitely provide a good foundation to the rest of the emsemble. Beat 3 is of secondary importance, but you'll find it's common to accent it with a chord tone as well.

    Bass motion is either triadic or stepwise (or 'linear.') Triads will use chord tones on every beat of the measure (1-3-5-3, for example). They sound great, but only if you don't over use them. They have such a distinct and predictable quality, you'll notice there's a very real danger of falling into a rut if they're repeated too often. What happens is that you end up establishing a 'groove' style bassline (see below) which may not really fit the style of music you're trying to convey. Not saying that's wrong, just be careful! Jimmy Smith does this on the tune "Midnight Special," but he's also playing a more 'groove styled' piece (with more swinging internal choruses where he changes it up).

    Good basslines also 'rise' and 'fall,' creating interest. If your bassline doesn't undulate or change direction from time to time, it starts to sound a little stale. If you play a bar or two of ascending figures, it's nice to balance that by playing a bar or two of descending figures.

    Since most of the music you play will have more than one chord in it, be aware of how your bass melody flows from one chord change to the next. Try to lead into the next chord (usually by step or half-step) so the change sounds smooth and logical.

    One of the Mistakes To Avoid
    Consider the walking bassline below...play it yourself, and listen:

    Not a bad bassline (note that we're keeping some variety by mixing up stepwise and triadic motion, and alternating down-up directions), but check out what's happening in the circled sections.

  • Number 1 (the blue circle) shows a motion from E-F, which is actually a strong motion (half-steps are very compelling), and it smooths out the change from the C to F. This smooth motion across the bar will make the chord change sound very logical and natural.
  • Number 2 (first red circle) shows a repeated note from beats 4 to beat 1. Since the chord changes from F to C, the repeated bass note actually blurs the chord change, and sounds anticlimactic. If you find yourself in a jam like this (thinking, "Hey, I'm on beat four, and I'm running out of notes with my stepwise descending line), feel free to throw in an 'altered' note, in this case a Db on beat four would actually sound pretty good, and increase the motion into the next measure (try it yourself)
  • Number 3 (second red circle) has the same problem as number 2. The player tried a combination of triadic and stepwise motion, and ended up reaching the destination note (F) a little early. You could try a motion from G-Gb-F (on beats, 3-4- and 1), or avoid the issue entirely by going back to E (creating another 'triadic' motion like in the first measure). N.B. Coming up with the ways you connect from one chord to the next is one of the great joys of playing basslines (and improvisation in general). Even the simple change from I-IV, so prevalent in blues styles, can provide a lifetime of excitement and challenge!

    The Groove, or Repetitive Bassline

    Ever hear Glenn Miller's "In the mood?" Although this is definitely a swing piece, the bassline is more of a 'groove' style (at least to my way of thinking), because it repeats a melodic idea. It doesn't 'groove' in the way we think of it, but the fact that it's establishing, through repetition, its own presence, gives it a groove. This melodic idea itself becomes part of the piece, and these gestures end up becoming familiar patterns to any style of music. Ragtime, Stride, Boogie-Woogie--all of these have repeating left-hand patterns that may be less melodic than a walking bassline, but are also valuable and exciting in their own right.

    In jazz and blues styles, it's usually considered 'square' to simply play triads or triadic harmony, so the seventh is almost always present, especially in blues styles. One of the most common techniques in soul-jazz and blues is to use a dominant-seventh harmony, build a short idea or riff for the bass, and to transpose it fairly strictly to each different chord as they come along in the piece. The example below shows a triadic bassline using dominant-seventh chords (C7, F7, and G7). These arpeggiated figures form the backbone of many a tune:

    These can be challenging for the organist, especially on the pedals. It's not impossible to pull this off at a fast tempo, but it's not for the meek. I'd suggest practicing regularly, but don't feel bad if you need to use the LH if the tune is too fast.
    Another common way of using repetition to build a bluesy groove is to use the seventh chord, but avoid using a straight-up arpeggiation. The example below is very common:

    This uses the same chord progression as the first example, but a different figuration lends it a very different feel. Like the first, we're taking an idea and simply transposing it to different pitch levels as the chords change. This is actually a great way to take your mind off your feet, and to concentrate more on your LH comping, and making a great solo!