Thanks to those that caught Part 1 Harmonizing A Melody If you missed it be sure to check that out first before reading on.
I also think I'll turn this into a mini series where I keep diving into the theory side of making music. Let me know if you'd be into that.
Ok.
Harmonizing a bass line is in a few ways similar to what we saw in part one. Again, for the purposes of this tutorial I'm leaving out rhythm and just exploring harmony.
Let's work in a different key today, E minor >>> E F# G A B C D E
The very first place to start is with a bassline that is based on root notes. Let's say we have a bass line that uses these notes >>> E - D - C
In any key you have 7 scale degrees, that means you have seven possible chords that are built on top of each note in the scale. For a minor scale you get these seven chords.
E minor - i - E G B
F# Diminished - ii- F# A C
G Major - III - G B D
A minor - iv - A C E
B minor - v - B D F
C Major - VI - C E G
D Major - VII - D F# A
- The way you build chords is by stacking thirds (every other note) on top of the desired root note
- We are only using notes from the scale. Making these diatonic chords, they all belong in the key of E minor.
Back to our Bassline: E - D - C >>>>
The most straight forward way to harmonize this bass line is by treating each note as the root. Which would result in this progression >>> E minor (i) - D Major (VII) - C Major (VI)
A different way to get creative is by treating the bass note as any possible note from the chord.
Let's take this Bass line>>> E - C -D >>>
Of course this could easily be E minor (i) - C major (VI) - D major (VII)
But it could also be >>> E minor - A minor - B minor AKA i - iv - v
This is because the note C is the minor third of A minor chord, and the note D is the minor third of the B minor chord. Same bass lines two different chord progressions.
- These are called inversions. When you put a different note of the chord in the bass. When it's the root note it's called, a root chord. When you put a third in the bass it's called first inversion, and when you put the fifth in the bass it's called second inversion.
- Keep in mind that there is a hierarchy to notes. The 1 and 3 of a chord are more important than the 5. Not that you can't use the fifth as a bass note, the pull and definition might become a little more blurred. But you should experiment with this
Try this exercise :
Sit at the piano and make a bass line using one scale. Try to keep it simple, the fewer notes the better. Keep the rhythm super simple as well.
Then write different chord progressions using the same bass line. Really try to hear how the chords sound against the bass.
Hope you guys find this helpful!
Submitted February 18, 2021 at 02:23PM by theissachernandez https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/lmrzba/writing_harmonizing_bass_lines_a_short_guide_part/?utm_source=ifttt