How To Write A Bass Line - Nathan Navarro & Kris Barocsi

Nathan Navarro and Kris Barocsi of Thomann cover four methods on how to write a bass line; root notes, modal interchange, space and syncopation, and doubling.
This video is part of my book, BASS 4-String Etudes, Riffs, Songs & Exercises. It comes with the sheet music, tabs, audio, bassless backing tracks, and Guitar Pro files, and a ton more music, lessons, and exercises. :)
eBook: natenavarro.se...
Paperback (USA): bit.ly/BASSPape...
Paperback (outside of USA): Go to your country's Amazon.com web-store and search "Nate Navarro Bass Book"
Many thanks to Kris Barocsi for joining me in this video. Check out his channels here:
/ falden82
/ musikhausthomann
Nathan's Gear:
BASSES: redir.love/tho...
BASS AMPS: redir.love/tho...
BASS ACCESSORIES: redir.love/tho...
STUDIO: redir.love/tho...
Reverb.com: reverb.grsm.io...

[@fazrulizam5317]

Love to hear this for years. 0:45 Bass Line 1 2:14 Bass Line 2 3:52 Bass Line 3 5:15 Bass Line 4

[@chromaticdeath]

Nathan's bass tone sounded really good in this video.

[@sjeffy5137]

Y’know it’s weird, I’m usually not a big fan of the Spector tone, but it fits really well in with the mix here

[@sjeffy5137]

Oh wait lmao it’s because it’s a Warwick not a Spector…. So used to seeing Nathan play a Spector these days that I don’t think of him as a Warwick guy anymore

[@NamikazeKyuuga]

Awesome video Nathan! "How to write bass lines" is a very difficult theme to tackle because it's a very personal matter for every bassist out there and hence why there's very little content about it on KZbin. But on this video you absolutely killed it, great job. Also shoutout to Kris, that riff was SICK! I could easily picture it into a song right away, good stuff.

[@NateNavarro]

Much appreciated, Kyuuga! Yeah, Kris was a pleasure to jam with. Killer riff!

[@KrisBarocsi]

Kyuuga thanks a lot man! This was a lot of fun. Nathan is a killer musician and a really cool dude to hang out with. It’s been an absolut honor!

[@yddang1978]

awesome Nathan bass tone n I like d part where bass n guitar play unison really punchy cheers

[@larsfrederiksen3005]

Lovin' it! Shows exactly how important the bass is and how a relatively simple riff can become almost 10 different songs based on what the bass (or a second guitar) does with it :-)

[@manicmurph]

Absolutely! I just got a bass to start recording my songs and I'm starting to realize how important the bass is.

[@-xxippoxx-]

That bass sound is amazing ! Deep and understandable :)

[@regortex3364]

What a total badass bass player, top shelf.

[@oscarestrada72oe]

Nathan amazing simple bass line with lots of wisdom

[@deadbeatstudios]

Love it!

[@NateNavarro]

Thanks, Jayme! Stoked to see our vid! :D

[@kavyaawasthi3868]

It's all greek to me but I love your music so yeah...I'm watching.

[@NateNavarro]

haha Much appreciated, Kavya!

[@marcelocoip7275]

So much usefull lesson! Thanks Nathan!

[@JoshuaLTRyan]

This is probably the best video like this I've seen. Nathan assumes you might also want to be a musician, and not just the guy in the bar band/rock band/hair metal band that drinks too much like sooooo many other how to write/play bass videos.

[@ThePandemoniumX]

2:15 3:53 5:15

[@munirmamadvafoev1208]

Two killer musicians! Thank you both so much for covering this absolutely necessary topic!

[@GillRigged]

Holy I like that bass, Nate

[@arvee9129]

Nathan you are the best!

[@lucagrosser1081]

The guitar riff is great and so is the video! Thumbs up!

[@pandamastudio581]

This video taught me so much! Thanks Nathan!

[@topcturvee1]

Wow!!!! You never disappoint, Nathan!!!! Thank you for this incredible video!!!!!

[@AUBCodeII]

Your voice is different than what I expected

[@nanobkbass]

amazing guitar riff and bass line compositions... very nice honestly!! cool!!

[@Brainconvulsion]

Awesome video and very educational. Please make more videos like this Nathan. Thanks!

[@jayl5941]

This is so helpful! And man do I need some theory and scale knowledge...

[@malcelinho]

Didn't knew about this channel before. Very, very interesting content. The guy is so into bass that even his voice is low

[@dialect64]

Yes and more yes! Not as up on my theory verbage, but, by knowing my fingerboard and keys and modes, I totally identify with the use of adding harmonizing riffs as oppposed to root following monotony

[@alejcarba]

Nathan your videos are really good! high quality content, you got a new subscriber!

[@johnmoser2689]

This was very cool and quite helpful great stuff... thanks Nathan

[@gargoile001]

love the sound

[@pietero10]

Hey Nathan, I really liked your tone in this video, could you maybe tell us what kind of gear you were using here?

[@NateNavarro]

Thanks, pietero10! I was playing my Warwick Streamer LX into a "Warwick 1000W Bass Amp Head." I took the DI signal from the head, and processed the low and high frequencies separately within Logic Pro. The low frequencies have a little compression, and the high frequencies have a little of the "Grit" pedal from Logic's pedalboard plugin.

[@NateNavarro]

For sure! The pickups are stock, but I added finger ramps which fill up the spaces between the pups. I use a product called "friendly plastic" which is malleable when hot (microwaved or boiled), and then hardens at room temperature. While it's hot I shape it into place and let it cool. It doesn't damage the bass or require adhesive if the fit is just right. If I mess up the shape, I can heat it up and try again.

[@nu_nich]

YES!

[@itsronyalz]

Sick nathan!! Sick!! Spot on

[@1okanaganguy]

Nav - you're an inspiration

[@anantaboro491]

Awesome topic

[@keatonrobinson2970]

that riff freakin slaps

[@destianpatrianagara1119]

Their voices should be swapped lmao

[@tekkau2]

Really inspiring lesson ! Thanks for making good video:D

[@ell3y]

Cool lesson guys. Awesome!

[@jgdragonflame]

I love this. It distills so much of what I've tried to explain to people about writing bass lines into such a simple and powerful demonstration. Your tone is also killer! What pedals/amp/software/whatever were you using for this one?

[@detlevgebers]

The Bass makes the chord! This is something people should understand. We bass players are playing chords note after note, not just shredding routes or reproduce finger shapes on the fretboard. Tell this everyone who is telling bass playing is way easier than playing the guitar :)

[@lmackenzie89]

Great video. Almost got lost with some of the music technobabble, but the practical demos were killer and kept everything on track. A demo says a thousand words!

[@NamikazeKyuuga]

it's not really technobabble and it was very basic stuff that anyone can learn in a couple of days. you ought to as well, it saves a lot of time ;-)

[@57precision]

Technobabble? It's called being a musician lol

[@steveng6721]

"technobabble" ok scrub

[@Deved89]

the important of a good bassist. i really suck and need to practice

[@AndreiHolcan]

I like it very much

[@purplekmua]

👌 super!!!

[@deanbalanay8400]

Man! That's awesome

[@vanpet1993]

I'm just here fro that beautiful Warwick

[@pavelcerny5536]

That tone tho

[@valgirard4718]

All sounds killer, depends on the overall feel. What is the black pad between the pups?

[@alfhisyahrinramdhanidivers3954]

OMG.. This is how Sting write the bass line

[@gordonbennett7931]

I'm new to playing bass so can anyone help to explain modal interchanges better for me? e.g in this video he plays an F over an Am chord so is there a rule to which notes work in harmony over different chords? Why the F over the Am? As a beginner this might be an silly question to ask but I'm just trying to get my head around this. Is it a case of using another note from the same scale? so, because there is an F major note in the Am scale using the F over an Am chord will work as an option as opposed to using a note (F sharp for example) over another chord (C major) that are not both in the same C major scale?

[@gordonbennett7931]

@Pchy kins thanks for your reply and for sharing your knowledge. I guess as long as you choose a note within the same scale to play over the top of a chord (inverted or not) then it will come down to how that sounds in the context of the song and with personal preference. Also, I assume that as the Em7 scale has the D as the 7th chord note you could play a D as the root over the top of the Em7 chord?

[@bigcubeparity6809]

What kind of pickup is that on the bass?

[@maciekb.4354]

xcuse me what bass head is he using? anybody?

[@vincentklein4886]

OMG this bass sounds awesome, which model is it ?

[@steveng6721]

Warwick streamer I think? Might just be me spouting shit tho

[@vincentklein4886]

@@steveng6721 yes that's it ! Thanks a lot !

[@mechexd8088]

:3

[@NateNavarro]

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[@quinnmitchel4075]

Very van halen

[@urfindzhyus2115]

The second option is maybe cool but brings a lot of dissonance. Sometimes it is maybe applicable but probably not during the whole composition.

[@liligman]

That’s the fattest pickup I’ve ever seen. Loads of good foundational tips in this video

[@julianpischler9378]

liligman that model has a reverse p pickup and a j at the bridge, it’s just a block of plastic or wood between them, helps with maintain an even playing surface

[@JackCarver10]

It's just a bass ramp, not a pickup...

[@nickhaberer]

Those are 8th notes

[@NateNavarro]

They could be, but not in this context. The snare is on beats two and four, and Kris and I are feeling it (bobbing) around 93 bpm. I'm playing four notes per beat at that tempo; 16ths.

[@LotharLive]

This might be a phone thing but I mostly couldn't hear the bass over the guitar :/

[@IsaacRayNJ]

LotharLive It’s a phone thing. I listened to this in my car and the bass comes through nice and heavy \m/

[@Facu_Roldan]

Are you using headphones? I'm watching it on my phone and the bass sounds powerful

[@tonybates7870]

I'm using a tablet and I can't hear the bass at all.

[@sunhammer420]

you guys actually expected to hear low frequencies on phone/tablet speakers?!

[@tonybates7870]

π I expect the world from today's infallible technology!

[@alfiolainidrums4988]

"I'll stick to just the root notes of the chords." I was like : why, oh God why?! 😢😢 Hopefully there is the second bass line , even if it could go way further 😉

[@notsure4746]

I love flashy basslines, but there are plenty of times when just sticking to the root is the most appropriate thing to do. You have to be willing to consider keeping it simple. But obviously Nathan going beyond root notes came up with way more interesting ideas.

[@johnhumberstone9674]

For a bass lesson, the guitar volume needs to come down in volume.

[@lyrasimo]

check you ears dude

[@funkbassboom]

Wear headphones man, the volumes are all good

[@slappingfrog8385]

Icant hear the bass

[@justted6527]

Ever heard of headphones?

[@anthony4513]

Step one learn how to use your instrument