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Year 9 - Music

Working out iconic bass riffs

Working out pop hooks and riffs by ear

Unit Summary

This unit focuses on developing pupils' ability to work out simple melodic ideas from modern pop and rock songs by ear. It introduces techniques for accurately recreating rhythm and pitch patterns, and also develops their understanding of how to recreate specific timbres accurately.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to recreate iconic bass riffs by ear.

Key Notes

  • Bass guitarists in pop and rock styles often work out iconic bass riffs to help develop their skills.
  • The bass riff in Under Pressure is very famous and creates a pedal by repeating the same pitches as the chords change.
  • The bass riff in Feel Good Inc. is more complex as it is syncopated and has more varied pitches.
  • To work out a bass riff, the key is to hear it on its own, break it into small chunks and work out notes one-by-one.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • riff: a short, repeated musical idea that forms the basis of a pop song; it is often in an accompanying part
  • pedal: a continuous (usually bass) note which stays the same whilst the chords change
  • interval: the distance in pitch between two notes (e.g. a 3rd)

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Bass parts are normally simple and just play the lowest notes from the chords.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

Bass guitarists in pop and rock styles often work out iconic bass riffs to help develop their skills. The bass riff in Under Pressure is very famous and creates a pedal by repeating the same pitches as the chords change.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'riff'

a short, repeated musical idea that forms the basis of a pop song; it is often in an accompanying part.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: Bass parts are normally simple and just play the lowest notes from the chords. Correction: In some cases this is true, but in many cases bass lines are interesting patterns and can often be defining features of songs. This is true for both Under Pressure and Feel Good Inc.

More Lessons In This Unit

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