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Rock & Metal Basslines

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This video course is the first of three that will focus specifically on a single genre of music. First up: rock and metal. We’ll look at exercises covering a wide range of styles here, including classic rock, punk, funk rock, alternative rock and more. Rock and metal are perfect genres for getting stuck in with the plectrum and you should have a great time learning these exercises.

The majority of the exercises in this chapter are quite hard-hitting and you can afford to play them with a little more aggression than you might use for the pop and funk basslines that we’ll cover in the next two courses. For these exercises - and those in the next two courses - no picking guides have been written. This has been done to encourage you to use everything that you have learnt in this book to find the best picking patterns for each line. Remember that it’s very rare to see picking guides written in bass guitar notation.

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 first exercise is a meaty unison riff in the style of classic rock acts such as Led Zeppelin. Watch out for the heavily syncopated figure in the fourth bar.

2. Exercise #25

This exercise makes good use of the blues scale in the first and third bars, a popular device in rock and metal basslines.

3. Exercise #38

This funk rock riff has an awkward four-note motif at the beginning of each bar that requires you to cross strings between the last two notes.

4. Exercise #4

This is a hyperactive rock bassline that is based on a semiquaver feel. The second and fourth bars feature simple pentatonic fills - another popular scale for rock and metal.

5. Exercise #5

Here’s another busy exercise. This time each of the first three bars is the same, aside from the descending figure on the third beat, which moves to the G-string in the second bar. Watch out for the anticipated note at the end of each bar, as well as the anacrusis at the beginning of the line.

6. Exercise #6

Here’s a classic rock riff that’s great fun to play.

7. Exercise #7

This is a fast punk bassline in the style of groups such as The Ramones. Ramones bassist Dee-Dee Ramone was very heavy on the downstrokes - although you should avoid doing the same!

8. Exercise #8

Here’s another funk rock groove. Note the use of the blues scale again.

9. Exercise #9

This exercise is written in the style of Rage Against the Machine. The blues scale is used again here - notably for the long fill in the fourth bar - but there are also some double stop power chords for you to get your teeth into. These are played on the semiquaver syncopations and are preceded by ghost notes.

10. Exercise #10

Here’s a classic rock bassline that recalls the well-known song ‘My Sharona’ by The Knack. This line is a great opportunity to practice your string crossing.

11. Exercise #11

This bassline is a sixteenth note groove that features some tricky octave patterns. When playing this line, try to allow the notes on the G-string to continue ringing whilst you play the root notes on the A-string.

12. Exercise #12

Here’s a fast rock exercise that is based off of a simple chromatic figure.

13. Exercise #13

This is an arpeggiated chordal line that would be perfect for an intro. Try to let all of the notes ring into one another when playing this.

14. Exercise #14

This exercise is another chordal line that uses a lot of notes in the upper register against the open A-string. Again, try to let the notes ring into one another where possible.

15. Exercise #15

Here’s another chordal line, this time a tip-of-the-hat to Dave Ellefson’s great line on the Megadeth track ‘Five Magics’.

16. Exercise #16

This exercise is a fast pop punk bassline in the style of bands such as Blink 182 and Green Day. The line itself is relatively simple, but the speed complicates matters somewhat!

17. Exercise #17

This is a classic rock riff. The first half of the exercise is similar to Rainbow’s classic song ‘Since You’ve Been Gone’ and features a bassline built on a descending major scale. Notice how the upper notes suggest different chords and inversions as the line descends.

18. Exercise #18

This is another up-tempo rock line in the style of The Jam. After a sparse opening eight bars, the line moves to a continuous eighth note pattern that is similar to a walking bassline.

19. Exercise #19

Here’s another sixteenth note-based rock bassline. There are numerous power chord figures in this line which are arpeggiated - another chance to work on your string crossing!

20. Exercise #20

This final exercise is a progressive rock bassline using an odd time signature - 5/4.