FOLLOW US ON:
0 Cart £0.00

Pop Basslines

< BACK Subscribe Now Subscriber Login

This video course features a selection of pop basslines. Like rock, ‘pop’ is something of an umbrella term that encompasses many subgenres. You’ll therefore find lines here that have elements of funk, rock, reggae and more.

Don't forget to hit the Download Resources button above to receive the PDF that accompanies these lessons! (available to subscribers only) This course contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:

1. Exercise #1

This exercise is a riff-based pop groove in E minor. Be sure to play the notes marked staccato accordingly, as they are important to the feel.

2. Exercise #2

This is a disco-influenced line that uses lots of octaves. Again, be sure to keep the notes marked with staccato short and crisp.

3. Exercise #3

This is a simple pop reggae line that has very simple harmonic movement. You’ll be starting a lot of the phrases here with upstrokes, so keep in mind the importance of silent downstrokes.

4. Exercise #4

Here’s a much faster line. The first half is relatively sparse and leads into an eighth note-based groove for the second half.

5. Exercise #5

This is a very funky pop bassline that uses upper register notes and tenths to outline the harmony. Ghost notes are essential to the groove.

6. Exercise #6

This pop bassline has a funk influence and is a tip-of-the-hat to Jamiroquai. The root-octave figures at the beginning of the second and third bars require some nimble string crossing so be sure to practice these parts in isolation to begin with.

7. Exercise #7

Here’s another pop bassline with a light reggae feel. This time the line is busier, with lots of sixteenth note-based phrases.

8. Exercise #8

This is a fast pop/rock line that is similar to the line on Bruno Mars’s song ‘Runaway Baby’. You can afford to dig in a little more on this one.

9. Exercise #9

This exercise follows a simple chord progression in C# minor. Ghost notes are important here for getting the groove happening.

10. Exercise #10

This exercise requires you to start some phrases with upstrokes. The heavily syncopated fill in the fourth bar will require some careful thought as to the picking sequence that you use.

11. Exercise #11

This exercise is a slow reggae groove featuring some triplet figures.

12. Exercise #12

This is a disco bassline similar in style to Janice-Marie Johnson’s great line on A Taste of Honey’s hit song ‘Boogie Oogie Oogie’.

13. Exercise #13

This exercise has a Latin flavour.

14. Exercise #14

This is a complex disco line with lots of funky bass fills.

15. Exercise #15

This longer exercise is written in the style of the Michael Jackson hit ‘Billie Jean’. Note that the main part of the line is notated with staccato dots, so be sure to keep these notes short - this really helps the line bounce along.

16. Exercise #16

This is a sixteenth note-based line played at a slow tempo, making it a lot easier than it looks.

17. Exercise #17

Here’s another longer exercise, this time with a very quick tempo!

18. Exercise #18

This busy bassline uses octave patterns and tenths. Try to let the tenths ring together in bar 6 - this reinforces the harmony.

19. Exercise #19

Here’s a bassline that uses continuous sixteenth notes, making for a simple picking sequence. There are some unusual chord movements in this one.

20. Exercise #20

This final exercise is a Motown-style line that uses some very popular bass figures that are based on the major pentatonic scale.