Gospel bass guitar

#3
Kay101301 said:
How would I create licks with modes to use as fills or just to make the baselines melodic?
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I played gospel for years. It was all feel. I never really thought about modes. However I did use chord tones. Gospel music usually has nice jazzy chords. Figure out the notes in the chords and use them to design your basslines and fills.

For instance, if the chord has a flat-7, you’ll want your fill to include that flat-7, as well. To translate that to modes, you’d be playing a mixolydian line.

Hope that helps point you in the right direction.
 
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#6
I'll second what some others have said. Most of my fills are based on either pentatonics or arpegiated chords with some added notes here and there. Following the chord changes is key, and of course rhythm and feel is more important than what notes you choose. Hope that helps.
 
#7
You might try finding a recording of a particular song the band plans to do. You can get an idea of what another player did with the song, and take it from there to make it your own.

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#10
Kay101301 said:
How would I create licks with modes to use as fills or just to make the baselines melodic?
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Once you learn the scales, chord structures and modes you want to learn (learning never stops btw, unless you choose it to), one approach could be to listen to the melody and/or vocal part(s) and try fit in within that while staying in rhythm with the drums. Even syncopation works in some cases. its not an easy thing to answer in a few lines on the internet. It takes time to experiment and learn what does not work and what does. I will say thinking in terms of chords is probably quicker for bass lines and modes come in handy when soloing, another subject altogether.

The most important lesson I have learned though is one universal truth in music: Learn the rules, then figure out how to break them. Don't live in a box of supposed rules that do nothing but make you exactly like everyone else. Bassists are the worst about this because we are so often told what our jobs are or what to play by other musicians who don't have a clue or are just following the supposed rules set by others who live in a box. If we all do that, we would all be playing quarter note roots on P basses with flats. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but thinking outside the box has made the bass world a whole lot more exciting and fun. Yes, the bass has a specific role in most musical genres, but that does not mean you have to be pigeon holed. As a side note, I have found the ones that defend the box the most turn out to be the ones who simply can't do anything else, for what ever reason (usually because they talk themselves out of it or it's hard work or over fear of being criticized). Just be yourself and learn as much as you can. It will pay off.
 
#11
There's basically two modes to focus on for this purpose, the Myxolydian (over chords with a major third) and the Dorian (over chords with a minor third). Your major and minor pentatonic scales are contained in those modes - so use them interchangeably. Use the modes as a tool, in combination with your knowledge of the key and the chord tones, try things, get a feel for the style, and you can keep learning more theory as you go.
 
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#12
Carl Hillman said:
You are basically asking "How do I improvise?".

Take some theory and jazz improv lessons, even if you never intend to play jazz.

All will be revealed.
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Well, "Gospel" (however one chooses to define this; it's a form that goes back more than a hundred years) is directly in the line of African-American improvised music.
 
#13
dbsfgyd1 said:
Serve the song. Follow the rhythm cadence of the melody (‘counter point is ok) and make the chord changes sound logical. Hopefully the drummer and keyboard player are tuned into these points.
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This. Don't overthink it. What I play in church works within the context of the song. I don't sit there and think, "What mode is this?", I just lock into the key and go with what sounds good.
 
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#14
MonetBass said:
This. Don't overthink it. What I play in church works within the context of the song. I don't sit there and think, "What mode is this?", I just lock into the key and go with what sounds good.
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Maybe going on autopilot isn’t a great idea, using the KISS method is. Seriously, the job of the bass is musical resolution, and that requires at least some level of understanding of what is going on around you. But to your point, overthinking could cause paralysis of analysis, and that is never good.
 
#15
dbsfgyd1 said:
Maybe going on autopilot isn’t a great idea, using the KISS method is. Seriously, the job of the bass is musical resolution, and that requires at least some level of understanding of what is going on around you. But to your point, overthinking could cause paralysis of analysis, and that is never good.
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I don't think calling what I described as "going on autopilot" is fair or accurate. We have a mid-week run-through and another an hour before the service. Plus, I practice the songs at home first. So that gives me time to hear the melody and work out any bass lines that play off of that. But those have to come from the key first and foremost, so that's what I meant by "lock into the key".
 
#18
Carl Hillman said:
You are basically asking "How do I improvise?".

Take some theory and jazz improv lessons, even if you never intend to play jazz.

All will be revealed.
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To be more specific, the question devolves to "how do I play bass in African-American improvised music?" which is a related but not identical question to, say "how do I improvise on sax in African-American improvised music?"

The answers will be revealed if OP does what you suggest.

And I don't really see the distinction, other than the subject matter of lyrics, between gospel (in which ever form you want to define this) and jazz, or blues, since they're all using the same rhythm-section concepts.
 
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