Essential REGGAE bassists

BUILDING BLOCKS 

Harmonically, most reggae bass is fairly simple, often drawing on Root – Fifth patterns, very much like the ones we saw in last issue’s Country Style File. It’s also quite common to see Major and minor triads in a reggae bassline as pictured in Example 1. Bassists often use the Major and minor pentatonic scales for melodies and fills (see Example 2). 

GETTING SOME LINES TOGETHER 

There are only two main drum grooves used in most Reggae music, the ‘One-Drop’ and ‘Four on the floor’. The one-drop has a single bass drum in each bar, falling on beat three (Example 3). Be warned, often you don’t have to play on beat one - this can take some getting used to. Try these grooves. Make sure to pay attention to note lengths and play with a laid-back feel – just stay slightly behind the beat. Also note the use of space in certain bars to let the groove breathe. Try them all with a straight feel and a shuffled feel. See Examples 5-8 The ‘Four on the floor’ feel has, as the name suggests, a bass drum on every beat. This creates a more driving reggae feel, so your bass part can add some propulsion to the groove. You can play Examples 5-8 over this pattern and the feel will be quite different. Also, try some of a line that works more in a dub context (Example 9).