Developing A Groove

In this section we will look at various way to develop a groove. When playing a song or tune the
ability to lock with the kick drum is paramount (as we discussed earlier) but we also want to add
movement, variety and a touch of "Spice" into our bass lines. We will play over a simple chord
progression. Play these chords into your sequencer, DAW or looper.

? bb °™™44 ™™ ü
C‹7 C‹7 F‹7 G7

b¢ V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V V †

We will take a simple groove to start with.

5
?b œ ‰ jœ Œ j œ œ ‰ œ œ Œ œ ‰ j
bb œ ‰ œ œ Œ J œ œ Œ

A great way to alter this line without becoming "busy" is to change the lengths of the notes. We will add
staccato marks to them. Play the notes short and in a more punchy manner than before.

9
? bb œ ‰ œj œ Œ j œ. œ. ‰ œ. œ. Œ œ. ‰ j
b . ‰ œ œ. Œ Œ
. . . J œ. œ.

Let's try adding some chromatic approach notes.

13
?b œ ‰ bœnœ œ œ ‰ œnœ œ Œ œ ‰
bb œnœ œ Œ bœnœ œ ‰ Œ Œ
œbœnœ

Adding some rhythmical ideas. Notice the staccato marks.

? bb œ œ ‰ ™ œr œ ‰ Œ ‰ œ œ ≈ œj™ œ. Œ œ œ œ ≈ œ ≈ œR ≈ œR ‰ ‰ j
17

‰ œœÓ
b . R œ œ.
2
The last line was pretty rhythmically involved. Make sure you count when playing it and give the notes
their correct value. Rhythm and note length is a great way to inject movement into your lines. Especially
when changing to a different section of the song. Chorus or Middle 8 or maybe the ride out of the track.

Next we will try a line based on the original but we will use some slaps & pops. Slap (thumb) is marked
T and pop (with the index finger) is marked P. Changing your technique completely is also a good way of
propelling the music forward. Used in a musical way and serving the music is key.

œ œP œ Tj œP T T
‰ œ œ ™ œ. Œ
21 T P T T T P T T T P T
? bb œ j
‰ œ œ. ‰ ‰ œJ œ Œ ‰ œœ Œ
b œ œ œ œ.

Of course, all these ways of approaching playing a bass line or composing a bass part should be used
in the right place in the music. This comes purely with playing experience and knowing what you're
playing. Having this knowledge and these tools is essential for every bass player that wants to develop
as a musician and form an effective groove.

Chord tones & chromatic Chord tones & chromatic

Chord tones
œœœ
approach notes approach notes Roots

≈ œnœ œ ≈ œnœ ‰ Œ ‰ œ ≈bœj™ œ. Œ œ œ ≈ œ œ ≈‰ j bœ nœ Œ ‰ nœJ Œ

j œ
25
? bb
b œ œœ .

Here is more of a guitar influenced line. Sounds great played with a pick and with a touch of chorus.
Think Anthony Jackson's bass part on 'For the love of money'......

29
œœ œ œ œ. œ bœ œ . œ. œœ œ œ œ
? bb œœ ‰ ‰ ≈ R ‰ œnœ œ Œ ≈ œ œ ≈ Œ œœ ‰ œ œ ‰ Œ
b . œœ

Let's play a really pumping and staccato bass line using only the root notes & octaves.
A great way of getting some forward motion into your lines.

. œ.
? bb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ
33

b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

35
?b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
bb œ œ œ œ œ . . œ œ . . œ . œ . œ . œ .
. . . . . . .
 3

Here's another guitar influenced line. Great played in unison with the guitar. Another way to experiment
is to play lines influenced by other instruments. We will look at a few.

œ œ œ œ œ. œ œ œ
? b œ ‰ œœ ≈ œR ‰ œœ ‰ Ó œ œnœbœnœ
37

bb ‰ J œ‰ œ ‰ ≈R ‰ ≈ Œ œ
-

The next 16 bar line is influenced by drums and/or percussion.

We looked at different rhythmical approaches before but here I will take it much further
using slaps and pops, muted notes and slides. All these will be marked on the part.

œ™ b œ œ œ œnœ œ.
j j œ ‰ j œnœ œ œnœ ‰ ‰ Ó
41 T P T T T
? bb ‰ œ œ œ œ ≈ R ‰ œ Œ
b û œ œ œœ œ œœ
œbœ œ œ
™ œ Œ ‰™ R œ
b œ œ œ œ œP T
r œ. œ ≈ œ ‰ œ œ Ó
45 T T
? bb Ϫ
b ‰ ‰ ‰ û û œœ ≈ R ˙û

¿ ¿ œ–œ T
3
P
49
¿¿
P P T P P P P T P P
? bb œ™ ≈ R ‰ œ Ó ¿ ≈¿ ‰ œœ Ó
œœ‰ Œ ¿¿
b œ™ R œ œœ‰ Œ
–œ –œ œ–œ –œ –œ œ–œ ¿
™
53
œ
? bb œ œœ œœœ œœ œ œ œ R Œ œû œœÓ
b œ œœ œœœ œœ ‰
œœ œœ

You will notice in the line above that there are some 'Hammer on's'. These are mainly used on the popped
passages. Hammering is a very popular technique and playing skill to have especially when you have
something fast to play or you want a different articulation on the note. This simply means hammering
onto the next note with your fretting finger instead of plucking, picking or slapping the note. Next we will
look at an 8 bar line using more hammer on's. This is based on a drum rudiment called the 'Paradiddle'.
This line will use hammer on's and pull off's.

œ–œ œ–œœœœ–œœœ Ó
œ–œœœœ–œœœ Ó
57 H.O P.O H.O
? b œœœœ
b b œ— —œœœœ—œœœ ‰ œ—œœœœ—œœœ Ó
61
œ–œ œ œ œ–œ œ œ –
?b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ— œ œ œ Ó
bb — œ œ œ œ—
 ? b œ – œ œ œ œ –œ œ œ Ó œ –œ œ œ œ– œ œ œ Ó
4
63

bb

Next let's look at a bass line influenced by the piano. Here we will use two note chords known as
double stops (playing two notes at once). This gives a very nice colour and effect to your bass parts.
Double stops can be really harmonically interesting as you can choose which 2 notes of the chord
work the best. Normally it is the 3rd and the 7th but we could use the 9th, 11th, 13th, #11. When
we play parts like this we can really bring our musicianship to the forefront.

–œ œœ–œœ
œœ œœ œœ. œœ
œ
? bb œ œ Œ nœ œ ‰
65
œ œ
b ‰ ‰ J Œ œ œœŒ ‰ j Œ œbœ nœ Œ
œ nœ œ

ùœœ œœ œœ
ù œœœ j ˙
? bb œ œ œùœ œ Œ nœ b œ nœ
69

Œ œŒ ‰ Œ Œ ‰ œ ˙
b œ. w

The above line using double stops does take quite a bit of practice. Start slowly. Take into consideration
the length of the notes and the articulation marks like slurrs, staccato marks, slides, falls, hammer on's &
pull off's. Once you are comfortable playing it try playing with a drum pattern. Keep the kick drum pattern
simple. Try the 4 bar drum loop below. Give it to your drummer to play or program it into your DAW.

? bb °™™ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿
73

b¢ œ œ œ ‰ œJ

?b ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ œ¿ ¿ ¿ œ¿ ¿ ™™ ü
75

bb œ œ œ Œ †
 5

Here is a 32 bar groove based on the same changes. As we discussed before, Groove is DEVELOPED.
A great idea is to repeat your bars and phrases. Repetition is a major factor when playing a groove.
We will take a pretty repetitive idea then develop it using some of the ideas we explored earlier. Again,
You need to start slowly and understand what you're playing in relation to the chords. Once again be sure
to play the articulation marks. Accents, hammer on's, pull off's, staccato, slaps, pops, slides......

? bb °™™ œ ‰ œj œ Œ ‰ œ ≈ œj™ œ Œ
j
‰ œJ ≈ œJ ™ œ Œ
77 C‹7 C‹7 F‹7 G7

b¢ ‰ œJ œ Œ
œ
>œ >œ G7
œ ≈ œ™ œ œ œ
>œ >œ C‹7 j .
™
81 C‹7 F‹7
? bb œ ‰ œj œ ‰ ‰ œ ≈ œ
j
œ ‰ œ œ ‰ ‰ J J
b . . . œ bœ œ J œ
.

bœ–œ
P

‰ œ œ ≈ œj™ œ. ‰ j ≈ j œû
85 C‹7 C‹7 T T F‹7 T T G7
?b j ‰ œ ‰ j Œ
b b œnœ œ ≈ ‰ bœ œ Œ œ œ. œ œ™ œ.

T T – P F‹7
– . –
P
.œ .
? bb ≈ œ œ. œ ≈ œnœ Œ ≈bœj™ œ bœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ
œ œ
89 C‹7 C‹7 G7 P T

b . . ‰ œ œ ≈ j Œ œbœnœ
Ϫ

>œ >œ œ–œ œP –œ n œP–œ P– T œP.

C‹7 C‹7 F‹7 P
. œnœ œ
‰ œj ≈ œj™ œ.
93
? b œ ‰ jœ ‰ ‰ œœ ‰ ≈ ‰ j
bb . œ . œœbœ œ œ. J œ

bœ–œ
P

‰ j ≈ j . œbœnœû
.
‰ œ œ ≈ œj™ œ.
97 C‹7 T T F‹7 G7
? bb bœnœ œ ≈ ‰ bœj œ Œ ‰ œ ‰ j Œ
b . œ œ. œ œ™ œ

˙
? bb œ ‰ œJ ‰ œ ≈ œj™ œ Œ
j
101 C‹7 C‹7 F‹7 G7

b ‰ œJ œ Œ ‰ œj ≈ j œ Œ
œ œ™
œnœ bœnœ
™™ ü
œ œ œ œ œ T œP. nœ œn œ œ
C‹7

œ œ. ≈ j™ œ ≈ ‰
105 F‹7 G7
?b nœ œ œ
bb œ œnœ œbœ œ J ‰ œ. Œ †