First, let's define improvisation. In this context improvisation means the ability to create and play an original bassline 'on the fly', that is without first writing it out. This lesson deals with the very first steps to that end. Choosing a style, creating a progression and writing the bassline.
First of all you should have an idea of what style you want to use. In this example I chose a Funk/RB style because the rhythm is very important to this style and I wanted to sharpen my use of rhythm.
The next step is to choose a progression. There are any number of ways to do this including 'borrowing' a progression from your favorite music. In this case the progression is derived from the key I chose (in this case the key is A). The progression is F#m, Bm, D, E7. Maybe not the greatest progression ever but it works.
You could play with the phrasing now. I chose to keep it simple and just used two bars per chord. You may want to experiment here (in fact you should).
At this point I used Band-in-a-Box to play the progression and I played along with it using just the roots to get a feel for the piece. You may want to try it using the track below. Go ahead give it a try.
Vary the rhythm to get a sense of what you like. If you're adventurous start adding in fifths both above and below the root. Try adding chordal tones. All of this is to get a sense of what you'd like the bassline to sound like.
What did you come up with? You can listen to my bass line below. These are the same steps you would use to improvise although a lot of the steps would be done in your head. Hope this helps on your musical journey.
