Gorillaz HACK for Better Bass Lines

How to Write a Bass Line like "New Gold".
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In the new Gorillaz single “New Gold”, there’s a music theory secret that makes their song feel totally different to the other new releases out this week. That’s what you’ll learn in this lesson, as well as how to use it to write a Gorillaz-style bass line.
SECRET
Alright, so what’s the music theory secret behind this song? Well, it’s in 6|4. The time signature of 6|4 contains six 1/4 notes in a bar, instead of the usual four 1/4 notes in a bar that you get in 4|4.
The brilliance of 6|4 is that it doesn’t sound weird, because six is still an even number. Also, you can still nod along to the 1/4 notes, just like you do in 4|4. But, every bar is longer than you’re expecting. And this extended bar makes the music feel more laid back, as it takes longer to loop back around to beat 1. So, you can think of 6|4 as the scenic route, whereas 4|4 is the direct route.
To balance out this relaxed vibe, though, Gorillaz use a dancey four-on-the-floor drum beat. Well, it’s actually a six-on-the-floor drum beat, because there are six 1/4 notes in a bar, and each one of those 1/4 notes has a kick drum on it.
So that’s their secret: it’s that contrasting combination of the dancey drum beat and the laid-back time signature of 6|4, which creates that unique vibe in this song.
BASS
Alright, so now that you know their music theory secret, you’re gonna learn how to use it to make a Gorillaz-style bass line. So, set your time signature to 6|4 and your tempo to 108 BPM, then create a one bar loop on your bass track. Gorillaz use the F♯ natural minor scale in this song, so we’ll use it too: F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D, E.
The music theory in this song is all about contrast, so that theme continues in their bass line, where they use a contrasting combination of legato and staccato notes. And if those terms are new to you: legato notes are connected to each other, and staccato notes are disconnected from each other.
So their bass line is divided into two sections, the first section is legato and the second section is staccato. This results in the first section sounding smooth and chill, and the second section sounding more energetic and funky.
For the legato section, use longer notes like 1/8 notes and dotted 1/8 notes. For the staccato section use 1/16 notes with rests in between. Also, their bass has a ton of syncopation (which is an off-beat accent), so be sure to use a bunch of that too.
NEXT
if you wanna learn our essential hacks for making great melodies, chord progressions, bass lines, drum beats (and more), then watch the 12 step-by-step videos in our Songwriting & Producing course. If you’re feeling frustrated because your music isn’t as good as you want it to be, then this course is for you!
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ABOUT
Hack Music Theory is the fast, easy and fun way to make music. Taught by multi-award-winning music lecturer Ray Harmony, and his protégé wife Kate. Ray started teaching music theory in 1995, and has made music with Serj Tankian (System Of A Down), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Devin Townsend, Ihsahn, and more!
CREDITS
© 2022 Revolution Harmony
Revolution Harmony is Ray Harmony & Kate Harmony
Script & all music in video by Revolution Harmony
Book promo filmed & edited by Maurits Nienhuis
All stock footage courtesy of Pexels

[@HackMusicTheory]

►Free Book: HackMusicTheory.com/Books

[@charlesneuzilmusic7236]

Thanks so much! I always get so much out of your videos. As soon as I see one is up, I always stop (if I can!) and watch. I got a couple of cool ideas out of this one. I like the 6/4 idea ( I was paying attention to the drum pattern you showed) and the contrast between the legato and staccato on the bass line, which gave it a cool feel. That contrast between legato and staccato is something I can see me using in other areas as well. At the moment, I need some motivation and inspiration, and you just gave me exactly what I need to get going here. So...........a Big Thank You!!! You two are the Best. Have a great day and week. 😊🙏🙏🙏

[@HackMusicTheory]

Charles my friend, it's always such a pleasure to read your comments! A heartfelt thank-you for being here in the Hack Music Theory community, it would not be the same without you. Sending you tons of gratitude and good vibes! Ray :)

[@SamSergeant]

Really helpful lesson, big fan of Gorillaz :)

[@JasonKeisling]

Oh yeah this slaps! Thanks for sharing.

[@correametal]

Simply brilliant! Thanks for all you always do!!!

[@ManLikeLuis]

This has helped figure out the magic behind this album, in particular this track. Thanks!

[@unluckypanda5448]

3:14 please tell me how Creo makes such masterpieces! haha hey again! i actually dont make music anymore, i just dont have that "excitement" that i had when i first started. but i will still watch your videos once in a while because theyre so cool! B) take care

[@QAZ62948]

I don't know where to ask this, but I'm having trouble finding the right chords for my tune. I tried using the Dorian scale with the chords Cm-Dm-Gm-F, while playing the notes in the bass C-Ed-G-F. My main melody is in normal Cm without using Ab, so I thought I could use the C dorian scale, but it ends up sounding weird.

[@nimrodpascal8362]

Can you guys do a breakdown by genres

[@nandakoryaaa]

How do you call a melody where there are 6 bars in a musical phrase? I mean, usually there are also 4 bars but what if you make 5 or 6?

[@thebonerfromhell]

This is very helpful, thank you.

[@tzodearf2596]

Seems that legato/staccato shift lends itself to playing the bassline on a keyboard with the left hand after working out the fingering from the end to the beginning.

[@kevinv.m.94]

Will you make a video also about "How Lugwig van Beethoven writes bass line?"

[@Vivivofi]

Hey guys ! If you’d cover more twentyonepilots content (i can’t understate how much i love them and want to better understand how they create) then that would be really amazing :D Thanks for the video!

[@i_am_an_idiot_but]

Learn how to write generic pop

[@HackMusicTheory]

Hey hey Sound Drift, thanks for the recommendation! Have you already watched the video we did on them? If not, here you go: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3-cd6KbrJp3i8U

[@Vivivofi]

@@HackMusicTheory that’s the video I found your channel from! it’s alright, either way really- i got your course (and a few others as well) because i want to get better at making music but i have very big problems with motivation, consistency and building habits, etc. Your short videos are about as much as my attention span can manage, but still thank you very much for consistently making great content. Love your guys energy ! :))

[@HackMusicTheory]

Oh wow that's awesome, so happy to hear you enrolled on one of our courses, and thanks big time for your kind words about our videos, we're so grateful to hear that they're resonating with you. Regarding motivation, yeah I hear ya, that's a HUGE issue these days, with all the never-ending distractions! The following video was a New Year's resolution video we did, but you can obviously use these techniques any time, so maybe this will help with your motivation? kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqDdo6F3pN2An80

[@Vivivofi]

wow, thanks for the advice @I am idiot, but - really appreciate it, also great username, very fitting

[@mfm-bblr]

sounds interesting

[@nandakoryaaa]

Hi Kate & Ray! You're fire, and I'm only one hour late for the vdeo!

[@DanielGomez-xo1sh]

Could you please analyze Peter Hook's Bass for Joy Division? For me it has somethig so unique that I can not grasp or even imitate.

[@matthewgooch8669]

Do Metallica chords and drums

[@JostSchwider]

👍 - _also_ for the YT algo! 😊

[@manuelbaez8733]

Frank Ocean do him please😮

[@shinezacharias3118]

Hack Drum Beats (PDF) , what all genres it support, and Orchestrate Drums (PDF) is for Orchestratal music or to all would like to buy both thanks in advance

[@HackMusicTheory]

Hey hey shine zacharias! Thanks for stopping by, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community, we appreciate you being here. Our PDFs work in all genres, so you can apply the hacks to whatever genre you work in. And no, the Orchestrate Drums PDF is not for orchestral music, it's about how to arrange (i.e. orchestrate) your drum beats around the whole drum kit. Hope that helps, thanks again :)

[@shinezacharias3118]

@@HackMusicTheorythanks for your replay what is there in advanced ur drums , am planning on hack drum beats , n orchestra,

[@HackMusicTheory]

Good stuff! The Advance Your Drums PDF is about improving drum beats you already have. I'd recommend you start with just our Hack Drum Beats PDF, as that one is really thorough. Then once you've worked through that, you can see what you want to work on next :)

[@shinezacharias3118]

@@HackMusicTheory thanks again , that's a good idea actually

[@shinezacharias3118]

And bass to beats that's also for all genres one last doubt

[@NTPABounty]

Is 6/4 the same as 6/8?

[@stsiete2987]

6 crotchets in a bar vs 6 quavers in a bar. Doesn't feel the same at all since 6,9, 12 etc /8 groups quavers in groups of 3

[@metalpuppet5798]

nope. Its about how you devide and accent it. 6/8 generally has the accents on the 1 and the 4, so two groups of three. While 6/4 concentrates more either on the quarternote itself, so one group of 6, or 6 groups of 2 eight notes.

[@HackMusicTheory]

Hey Nate P-A, thanks for stopping by, and a warm welcome to the Hack Music Theory community, we're stoked and grateful to have you here! That's a great question about the difference between 6|4 and 6|8. They're actually completely different! 6|4 just feels like an extended 4|4, but 6|8 is grouped in threes, i.e. three 1/8 notes in a group. As a result, a lot of people (mistakenly) think that 6|8 is triplets, as they hear those groups of three. So yeah, the notes in 6|4 are subdivided into groups of TWO 1/8 notes, while the notes in 6|8 are in groups of THREE 1/8 notes (giving you that "triplet" sound). Hope that helps :)

[@chriserikbarnes]

F# minor or Gb minor?

[@HackMusicTheory]

Hey Christopher, good to see you again! Your F♯ vs G♭ question is great. I invite you to read Hack 7 in our free book, as it explains this exact question. You can download it here: hackmusictheory.com/books Hope that helps, and thanks again for being here :)

[@chriserikbarnes]

Oh, thanks. It is all b/c the flat 3rd is A natural so calling the root Gb results in Ab, A…

[@Batman-hb9dh]

Please hack Michael Jackson🙏

[@bmrecord4985]

Vigine vinavyofuata Hapa👇👇 kzbin.info/www/bejne/o5jaYmuvmpadpaejau'