In this short video, Pete discusses the merits of using the bass guitar to practice & produce melodies.
Isn't the bass supposed to stay in its lane?
Why play melodies on an instrument that usually lives at the bottom of the band? It's a fair question – and the first answer is simply that it's a lot of fun, and deeply satisfying. But there's far more to it than that: Pete's first job with any new tune is to learn its melody, and he'd argue that habit is one of the most valuable things a bass player can steal.
What playing melodies does for your bass playing
- Freedom and expression – melodies teach you to play with feeling, phrasing and emotion, not just lock to the kick drum.
- Better articulation – note definition matters far more when you're the one carrying the tune.
- Fretboard knowledge – melodies drag you out of familiar box shapes and teach you your way around the whole neck.
- Ear training – working tunes out by ear gets dramatically easier, which feeds straight into jamming, soloing and improvising.
- Reading and writing – melodic playing supports sight reading, and gives you the raw material to write your own tunes and bass lines.
Above all, melodies give you a deeper understanding of how music is actually structured – the nuts and bolts of the thing. For melodic ear-training material to get you started, try Mad Worlds and Minor Thirds and Major Thirds in Summertime.
Want help finding the melody in your own playing? Book a one-to-one bass lesson with Pete, online or in person.