Writing songs on the bass.

[Marvin]

The suggestion came up that we, that is my band, write a few original songs. The aim to begin with was to just play covers but what the hell . I said I'd be up for that. As I don't actually play anything else, bar the fool, I assumed the song writing would come solely from the guitarist. However, the others are keen that I should come up with some ideas.

I don't know if this just means a nifty riff to work off or a whole song, probably the former. That aside though, and just as a sort of idle question, has anyone else written songs starting with the bass/on the bass?

[jackers]

it depends on what genre you are playing really. What type of thing are you guys going for?

I used to be in the same position of just assuming I didn't write songs, since I was the bassist, but recently with starting up my new band I thought I would give it a go. My band plays pop-punk, so I came up with some chord patterns and rhythms for the verse and chorus of a song, recorded them, and sent them to our guitarists to write some lead lines over. I have now got several recorded 'songs' that I have written, and I really enjoy writing.

Writing songs on bass is alot easier than alot of people think, you just have to make sure you understand what role is required by the bass in your band. (I.e. don't go writing Primus type basslines to show the band if you are there to hold down the bottom end etc).

I also found that listening to similar music to the stuff I'm trying to write really helped. It gave me a really good understanding of the structure of a pop-punk song, as well as common progressions and rhythms used.

[foal30]

yes I write
some things start from the Bass, others less so.

it's a good place to start, writing from the bottom up.

[paul torch]

Chris Squire to name but one.

[Panamonte]

Although I play guitar and keyboard as well, most of the songs I've written for my current band have started with bass.

Generally I'll be fiddling around (on whichever instrument), come up with a pattern/progression/riff that I like the sound of, then figure out what that might lead into and consequently end up with a basic verse/chorus structure which can then be tweaked and elaborated. If you do something similar then you'll have the bare bones of a song to take along to the band for further development. Good luck!

[bartelby]

I'll just set up the computer to record, into Audacity, and just noodle away for 15-20 mins. Listen back, see if there are any interesting bits. Copy and paste parts into Reason, add simple drums, add simple guitar and then mess about with the structure. Maybe add or change parts. Then export it as an mp3 and email to the other members of the band. The drummer and guitarist can then work out their parts properly.

Very occasionally I'll think of something during the day and can get to my bass and computer in time, before I forget it.

Edited January 11, 2012 by bartelby

[EmmettC]

I write about a third of our bands music, but most of the time someone comes up with an idea, and the band work through it together, In the past I've come up with a bass line that has ended up as a vocal melody, or I've come in with most of a song, but we've only used little pieces. I still find it more rewarding writing with a group, it's easier for someone else to judge your ideas and help shape them into something better.

I write full songs on my own, that aren't suitable for the band, and I'm never as happy, or as confident in them.

I also try to write on other instruments, I'm a terrible pianist, but sometimes writing on the piano is great, my hands don't have pre-learned-patterns they keep falling into, and I often record some basic guitar parts for chordal back up. Then show up at rehearsal where the band rip it apart and put it all back together differently and (usually) better.

[Skol303]

[quote name='jackers' timestamp='1326242057' post='1494510']
it depends on what genre you are playing really.
[/quote]

^ This.

And especially so if you're writing electronic music for people to shake their bottoms to! Drum 'n' bass, dubstep, hip hop, house... etc... are all based heavily around basslines carrying the 'melody' and being the driving force behind the music.

I work mainly with electronic sounds myself, so it's not uncommon for me to start by writing a bassline and building everything else around it.

But I imagine this isn't the case with others genres, as previously mentioned.

[BottomE]

I need chords to write songs so very rarely write on the bass. I like to use keyboards for writing to get all the nice extensions to the chords. No idea what i am doing on keyboards but just find some chords that sound nice and start there.

[thisnameistaken]

Usually I find song ideas tend to start in my head, and then I pick up an instrument to extend the ideas a bit. That is nearly always bass first, but eventually I end up with a guitar or a keyboard if/when the harmony gets a bit too complicated for my rubbish musical mind to imagine from the bass arpeggios.

On holiday earlier this year the house had a spanish guitar in it so I spent a lot of time noodling on that and found that ideas fleshed out faster than using a bass, and it was refreshing to have a different sound to work with. So I would say get a cheap guitar to work with - you can get decent used guitars for £50 if you look around.

[Low End Bee]

I tend to write songs on the guitar. Occasionally I'll have a bass line in mind and will work the rest out on the 6 string.
I'd find it hard to write a song on my own from scratch solely on a bass.
Having lyrics ready first always speeds up the process no end for me. it's always handy to have a few with me at rehearsals in case we jam something good then I can edit the lyrics to fit a tune onthe fly.

[Dave Vader]

Yes
(this is not a helpful answer)

[Linus27]

Yes all my songs I have written started on bass.

[daz]

Why should writing songs on a bass be any different than on a guitar or keyboard ? You can obviously wite your own parts, but writing guitar parts is not a bother, if you just envisage them being played an octave or two higher.

As Flea famously said "The bass is the ultimate party instrument" I'd go one further, Id say the bass was the ultimate song composing instrument. But then i am biased

[Low End Bee]

[quote name='daz' timestamp='1326284488' post='1494859']
Why should writing songs on a bass be any different than on a guitar or keyboard ? You can obviously wite your own parts, but writing guitar parts is not a bother, if you just envisage them being played an octave or two higher.

As Flea famously said "The bass is the ultimate party instrument" I'd go one further, Id say the bass was the ultimate song composing instrument. But then i am biased
[/quote]

I do find it a lot harder. It's quite hard to put across a Gm7 across on a solo bass. You can of course write songs on a bass but showing someone using guitar chords will get a rough outline of what you want played over to a band so much quicker.

[Jam]

Steve Harris, the bass player from Iron Maiden writes all of their songs. What a hero!

[Marvin]

I have on occasion attempted writing at least part of a song on the bass (I don't play any other instrument). Predictably though it always starts to sound like I've nicked it from something I was playing a few days prior.

[MusicJunkie]

I've done it. It can be really fun - just be careful not to get too complex, unless you're going for a Primus type effect!

[steve-bbb]

if you use a chingraph pencil you can wipe it off easily afterwards

[risingson]

From an arrangement perspective, bass as an instrument is very difficult to write with. Unfortunately when it comes to songwriting, it's usually better to sharpen up your guitar skills, or probably even better your keys skills because they provide better initial harmonic platforms to build upon. I would never say never, but it is very difficult to conjure inspiration for melodies from an instrument that is essentially largely monophonic, unless you have that existing melodic hook in your head and work in the bass underneath it. But then you're not writing on bass.

A lot of the very notable song writers who are also bass players like McCartney or Sting for example write on piano and guitar, I should imagine for similar reasons. There are of course notable exceptions in both cases. Sting's '7 Days' you can't help but think was just Sting and his bass.

[Mornats]

[quote name='bartelby' timestamp='1326273822' post='1494643']
I'll just set up the computer to record, into Audacity, and just noodle away for 15-20 mins. Listen back, see if there are any interesting bits. Copy and paste parts into Reason, add simple drums, add simple guitar and then mess about with the structure. Maybe add or change parts.
[/quote]

I do this (but with different software). Almost all of the tracks on my Soundcloud link were done this way.

A track comes about after I listen to songs I like, whether that's for pleasure or if Ijust fancy writing a track in a certain style - sometimes just to see if I can get a feel for the style. So I'll listen to it and grab certain elements. Maybe it's the rhythm of the bassline or the guitars, or it's a type of melody or whatever and I'll have a jam around - a noodle as it were - with that. Then the rest of it comes together once it's in Reaper, has a drum track and I'm badly mangling a guitar or messing around with virtual instruments.

[Kes]

I write on bass (the odd noodle on piano and guitar as i played both before settling as a happy little bassist)

Either hold a bassline and leave the guitarrist to noodle ontop until we find something we like. or vice versa. he plays a chord progression and i noodle til we find a groove we like then change it around a bit.

sometimes i'll just transpose up the dusty end of the fretboard to write little guitar licks for him if he doesn't already have something. ( <3 my effects pedal with distortion) but this is rare. he's a talented baw.

[C88]

A lot of our songs have started with a bass line, but its always a collaborative effort, personally I think the best place to write is the rehersal room

[xgsjx]

I'm another who will happily start writing on whatever instrument I have to hand, but the majority starts with a bassline or a melody in my head.
My basslines often follow the melody (if they aren't the melody). If it's the singer who's written all his parts & wants me to lay a bassline down, it's totally different from the stuff that I write (not intentionally). I leave him to add lyrics to most of the songs we write.

[JellyKnees]

I think it depends entirely on the genre and style of what you are trying to write. If you are writing 'traditional' songs in the singer-songwriter mode, which have a formal harmonic structure i.e. songs that stick closely to the 'rules' (whatever they are....), then possibly no. If however you are writing music that is more riff or groove based, or you are doing something a bit more off the wall then most definitely yes...

I write or co-write roughly 50% of our bands stuff and most of my ideas have developed out of bass grooves. I tend to jam along to drums loops and then record any ideas that I like. I then re-visit these and pick out the ones that I think have potential, and import them into Cubase.

Sometimes I'll try and find some guitar chords that work with the bassline, sometimes I might just add some riffs or some syth ideas or some samples or whatever, and then I'll give the idea to our piano player/singer to see if she can come up with anything. She might add some chords, or just a vocal, sometimes she has an idea for another part and the song will go off in another direction...

My advice is be creative and flexible in your approach...just try stuff out. There is no formula for writing, everyone has there own way of doing things. Most of all, have fun doing it!