Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to today's lesson, entitled, "Developing a Bassline in a Brazilian Song." My name's Mr. Norris, and today I'm gonna take you through, as we have a look at how we can develop interesting basslines in samba influenced Brazilian music.

So let's get started.

Our outcome for today's lesson is I can create a syncopated bassline using chord tones and octaves.

Some keywords.

Firstly, we've got root note, and the root note is the main note of a chord and what the chord is named after.

Octave, an octave is an interval of eight notes, for example, a C and the next highest C are an octave apart.

And then finally, chord tone.

A chord tone is any note that's included in a chord.

So for example, a C chord has the chord tones, C, E, and G.

The first part of today's lesson is looking at syncopated basslines using root notes.

A bassline is often based on the root note of chords.

The root note of a C major chord is C, and the root note of an A minor chord would be A.

So the root note comes from the name of the chord.

If you know the name of the chord, the root note is gonna be that letter, that note that is in the name of the chord.

And in samba, the bass uses syncopated rhythms to make the music more danceable and energetic.

So that's a really typical feature of basslines in this style.

As the bassline uses the root notes of the chords, the order of the notes follows the chord sequence.

So we're gonna be basing the bass notes on the root note of each chord, but making sure that we change to the root note of the next chord when the chord changes.

Let's have a look at how we find those root notes.

And as you're watching this video, you might want to refer to this chord sequence on your worksheet.

Let's create a new software instrument.

And for this we're gonna try and find a bass instrument.

So a low pitched instrument.

The ones that will work best for this will be bass guitars or double bass, or might say upright bass.

I would steer clear of synth basses, because they won't really blend well with the acoustic instruments that we've chosen so far.

So stay away from synthesized ones.

But other than that, you choose one that works for you.

I'm gonna go for this upright bass.

(upright bass thrums) Which is a double bass.

I think that works quite nicely with the instruments I have so far.

So the root note of a chord is the bottom note of a triad chord, and it's also the letter that a chord is named after.

So a G major chord, for example, the root note of that is G.

A C minor chord.

, the root note is C.

It's the same with extended chords.

So if we have a G major seven chord, the root note is still G.

If we have a C minor six chords, the root note is still C.

So it's that first letter.

So we've already recorded in the chords, you can see mine here in this piano track, which means that we should be fairly familiar with the chord sequence, but I'll just talk through it.

So bar one, we're starting on G major seven, so I'm gonna play a G.

(bass chord thrums) Same on bar two.

(bass chord thrums) Bar three, I go to A.

(bass chord thrums) And I stay there for bar four and bar five and bar six, and then back to G in bar seven, then up to C, and back to G, then up to C.

And then we finish on G for the last four bars.

So fairly straightforward.

If you look on my keyboard here on the screen, we use G, we use A, and we use C.

They're the three root notes that we need to find.

So before you record, have a go at just running through those root notes so you're happy with the sequence of them and you found them on your instrument.

Now let's look at how we record the bassline.

The next thing we're gonna have to do is create a syncopated rhythm for our bass notes.

So remember that a syncopated rhythm is one that emphasizes notes that are off the beat.

So emphasizing sounds in between the beats rather than on the beat.

What I'm gonna do to work out my syncopated rhythm is I'm just gonna mute the piano track, I'm gonna put the percussion sounds on, but I might turn them down a little bit just so that I can really hear my bass coming through.

And then I'm just gonna try out some different rhythms, just based on some of the root notes, until I find one that I think works quite well.

So let's have a go.

(percussive music begins) (bass music begins) I've already found one that I like there actually, which is this one.

(bassline begins) It's quite simple, but I think that works quite well.

So I'm gonna record it in.

And remember, we need these to match with where the chords are playing.

So we're gonna be starting my bassline at bar five.

That's really important, and I'm gonna be changing my bass note at the same time that I changed the chord.

So if we look through the chord track, we can see where the notes change, and that's where my bass notes should be changing as well.

Okay, so I'm gonna record from the start, but I'm gonna start playing at bar five.

(metronome clicks) (percussive music begins) Starting on G.

(bassline begins) Then A.

(percussive music continues) (bassline continues) Stick there.

That's a G.

C.

G.

C.

G.

(upbeat music continues) <v ->So I'll give it a quick quantize.

</v> Property is 16th note.

And I can see, if I look closely, that my bass notes line up and change at the same time as my chords.

They start at bar five, they finish at the end of bar 18.

I've got a nice syncopated rhythm that I repeat throughout, and I've just used those root notes of the chords.

Let's check your understanding.

Which two of these bass rhythms are syncopated? Here's A.

(bassline thrums) Here's B.

(bassline thrums) Here's C.

(bassline thrums) Finally D.

(bassline thrums) So quickly finishing your answer and the correct two answers, then, were A and D.

Both of those had syncopated rhythms, where the rhythms emphasize notes in between the main beats.

The task here, you're gonna create a syncopated bassline using the root notes of the extended chords.

Some success criteria.

Firstly, the bass notes play the root note of each chord.

The notes change at the same time as the chords, so making sure you're changing to the different root notes in the correct bars to match the chord sequence.

The bassline repeats a syncopated rhythm in each bar.

And then finally, the bass part is quantized to a one 16th note semiquaver.

So you can pause my video now and have a go at doing this.

For the second part of this task.

We're gonna listen to this bassline.

What could this student do to improve it? We've got the success criteria on the screen.

I'd like you to refer to those when you're suggesting improvements.

Let's have a listen.

(upbeat music begins) (upbeat music continues) So you can just pause my video while you're finishing your answer, and let's go through this then.

You might have said, "The students should quantize the bassline to make sure it's all in time, or they could rerecord it, making sure their rhythms are a little bit more accurate." You could also have said that, "The students should make sure that the bass notes change at the start of the bar, not later." So making sure that they fit with the other parts, in particular, the chord track.

Well done if you picked up on either of those points.

The second part of today's lesson is focused on chord tones and octaves.

We can make basslines more interesting by using more than just the root note of chords.

When we're adding different notes, we don't want to choose just any notes though, as these might not fit with the chords.

So instead, we should mostly choose notes that are also included in the chords.

A chord tone is any note that is included within a chord.

So the chord tones in a C major chord would be C, E, and G.

Those are the three notes that make up the chord.

So those are our chord tones.

Let's check your understanding of chord tones.

One of the chord tone in an F major chord is F, what are the other two? And there's our F major chord on the stave there to help you work this out.

<v ->Pause my video while you're coming up with your answer.

</v> And the correct answer then is A and C.

So the three chord tones in an F major chord are F, A, and C.

When we're using extended chords, basslines work best if we stick to the chord tones of the triad chord.

This creates interest, but the notes still fit with the chord.

So with the G major seven chord, which is the first chord we're using in this song, we've got four notes, G, B, D, and F sharp.

The most useful notes in the bassline would be G, B, and D, not the added F sharp.

So we're sticking mostly to the notes of the triad chord, not the extended version of it, even if the chord that's been played at that point is an extended chord.

Let's have a listen to this example of a bassline that uses only the root note.

(upbeat music begins) Now let's hear it with some chord tones added.

Really focus in on the bassline and see if you can hear how it adds interest and complexity to the bassline.

(upbeat music begins) So hopefully you can hear there that one with the chord tones is much more interesting, feels much more energetic, just by adding in some of those chord tones.

Let's check your understanding, in the C major seven chord, which will be the most useful chord tones for a bassline? So we've got four notes in this chord, C, E, G, and B.

I like to work out which ones are the most useful for the bassline.

Pause my video while you have a think.

The correct answer here then is C, E, and G.

That's because those are the three notes of the basic C major triad chord.

So not the seventh, but the root, the third, and the fifth.

Those are usually the most useful for bassline.

Well done if you've got that.

We can also use octaves for added interest in the bassline.

Remember an octave is an interval of eight notes.

So if we have a C on the piano and then we go up to the next highest C, that's eight no higher, that's an octave difference between the two.

So for example, if the chord is C major seven, we could jump between a low C and a higher C on the bass.

It would still be playing the root note of the chord, which is the C, but just in a different octave.

And that can be a really effective way of adding interest to a bassline.

So there we've got those two different Cs.

You can see them on the piano there, and it's still playing that root note, but just adding interest by jumping an octave.

This bassline uses octave leaps.

And although the rhythm is really simple, the octaves make the bassline quite interesting.

This isn't a samba example either.

This is a technique that's used in lots of different styles.

So let's just have a listen to the bassline in this, try and pick out those jumps of the octave.

(bassline begins) (percussion joins) (upbeat melody joins) So as you can hear, it's a really simple rhythm.

It's only got four notes in that bassline, but by using those octave leaps, it keeps it really interesting and energetic.

And we can use that same technique in our samba project.

Which of these shows an octave leap? You can pause my video while you work this one out.

And the correct answer then is option C.

That's an F up to a higher F.

All of the other ones are slightly different, or leap slightly different size intervals.

So well done if you've got that.

In this task, you're gonna listen to each bassline.

I'd like to tick the correct box in the table to show whether it uses just a root note, whether it uses some octave leaps, or whether it uses chord tones.

Let's have a listen to example one.

(upbeat music begins) (upbeat music continues) Now let's hear example two.

(upbeat music begins) (upbeat music continues) Here's example three.

(upbeat music begins) (upbeat music continues) And then last one, example four.

(upbeat music begins) (upbeat music continues) Just finish off your answer and let's go through this then.

So the first example used only the root note.

The second one used some chord tones.

The third used only octave leaps, and then the fourth one used chord tone as well.

So hopefully there you've got a sense of what those different kinds of basslines sound like, and well done if you've got those correct.

The final part of this lesson is looking at bassline development with chord tones and octaves.

Let's watch a video now that shows us how to add chord tones and octaves to enhance our bassline.

So, so far I've created a bassline based just on the root notes of each chord.

Now we're going to develop that a little bit by using chord tones and octaves.

And we're gonna show you how to do that.

The first thing I'm gonna do is I'm just gonna move my original bassline outta the way, 'cause we're gonna have a go at recording in place of that and we're gonna eventually get rid of that, 'cause that was our sort of foundation, but we wanna develop it with some more interesting features here.

If I get my keyboard up, we'll quickly look at what the chord tones and octaves are gonna look like.

So if I take my first chord, which is G major seven, we know my root note is G.

The other chord tones that we might use will be the third and the fifth of that chord.

So it'd be G, B, and D.

As I've already said, with extended chords, you probably don't want to include the extended notes.

So although it's a G major seven chord, with these four notes, we probably don't want to use that F sharp in our bassline.

Just stick to the first, the third, and the fifth.

Okay, we've also got an octave we could use, which would be to jump between different Gs.

So we've got these two things we could play around with.

For my A minor seven chord those are our notes.

So I'm gonna stick to the first, the third, and the fifth, they're my chord tones.

And then I've also got the octave A.

And then the same with the C chord as well later on.

We've got C, E, and G are my chord tones, and then we've got the octave C.

Now the rhythm that I already used was this.

(bassline thrums) That's what I did with just the root notes.

Now all I'm gonna do is I'm gonna keep that same rhythm, but instead of always playing the root note, I'm gonna experiment with some different combinations of the chord tones and octaves until I find a pattern that I think works.

So I'm just gonna play around with that now and find a pattern that I like.

(bass music bellows) (bass music continues) I quite like that one actually.

So that combines an octave leap.

(bass music begins) And then comes back down to chord tones.

So octave leap and then do the same on the A minor chord.

And then I could do the same on the C chord later as well.

(bassline continues) Like that as well.

When I'm doing this, I just need to make sure that I'm still changing chords at the right time though.

So when there's just one bar of a chord, it will take a bit of practice to get this right.

If I show you what I mean here, if I'm jumping between my G chord and my C chord.

(bassline continues) It is quite fast moving between the two.

So you'll want to practice your bassline just like I've done before you go ahead and record it in.

I'm gonna go and record now, making sure I start at bar five.

I've got my metronome on.

I brought the volume of this up so you can hear it.

And let's go.

(metronome clicks) (percussive music begins) (bassline begins) (melody begins) (upbeat music continues) Okay, I can now get rid of my old simple bassline.

I'm gonna quantize this to 16th note, and that's my syncopated bassline using chord tones and octaves done.

So remember when you're doing that, start each bar with the root note.

Use the main chord note, so that's the notes from the triad chord, to extend the pattern.

Try to avoid using the extended chord notes and try different patterns before you record.

So experiment with different arrangements of the notes.

And finally, make sure you follow the pattern of the chord sequence.

So still changing to the different chords in the correct bars.

Let's check your understanding.

True or false, adding chord tones or octaves is essential for a strong bassline? I'll give a few seconds.

And the correct answer is, it's false.

I'd like you to have a think about why.

How would you justify that using one of these statements? And quick answer here is because a bassline can be very effective with just the root note.

So we don't always have to use these, but they can be really useful tools for creating really energetic and exciting basslines.

For task C, you're gonna develop your bassline using chord tones or octaves.

Here's some success criteria.

It should start each bar with the root note.

It should use some chord tones or octaves to add interest.

It should use a repeated syncopated rhythm and should be quantized.

And finally, make sure you replace your simple bassline with a more complex one.

So don't keep both basslines going together.

Get rid of your simpler one once you've created your developed one.

So you can pause my video now and give this your best shot.

For the second part of this task, I'd like you to complete this table for your bassline.

Look at each statement and answer yes or no in the table.

Use your answers to help you develop your bassline even further.

So you can pause my video and give this your best shot.

Let's summarize today's lesson.

A bassline can be created using just the root note or by adding additional notes, including octaves and chord tones.

Chord tones are notes that are included in a chord, and octaves are different pitches of the same note.

For example, a low C and a higher C.

These are not essential on the bassline, but they make it more interesting and complex than just using root notes.

So hopefully you feel today you've got a better grasp of how we can develop really interesting basslines, and a lot of the tools we've worked on there don't just apply in samba, but they apply across lots of different musical styles.

So hopefully you'll be able to use that in some other composition context as well.

Thanks for taking part in today's lesson and I look forward to seeing you in another one.