Inject Melody Into Your Bass

Lines And Bass Solos

To see the video lesson that goes with this PDF, go here:

https://becomeabassist.com/inject-melody-into-your-playing-with-this-
interval

If you can add the interval of a 6th to your playing and have it come
out naturally, your playing will start to sound more melodic –
automatically.

Don’t believe it? Well the 6th is a wider interval so if you include it in
your bass lines or when you’re improvising, it short-circuits the bass
player ‘trap’ of always just running up and down scales.

And what’s more – it’s already in a ton of incredibly melodic bass

lines, and of course regular melodies too. We’ll get to those soon.
First though, we need to know how to find our 6th intervals.

Now there are 2 kinds of 6ths; you can have a major 6th and a minor
6th. We’ll be focusing more on the major 6th though. To find a major 6th
on adjacent strings, you just have to go to the next string and up 4
frets. Be sure not to include the fret you start on when you count.
 You can also find the same interval by crossing a string. To do that,
skip over a string and go down one fret from where you started.

Now that you know how to find your major 6th, let’s find it in some real
melodies.

Melodies
Check out the melody to Somewhere Over The Rainbow:
“”
?# ˙ œ œ œ œ œ ˙ ˙ Ó
˙ ˙
Some - where o - ver - the rain - bow way up high
12 11 9 11 12 9
12 12
¤ 10 10

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSZxmZmBfnU
?# n
The recording for this song is actually in the key of A-flat major (a
∑ ∑
half-step up from this), but you can see the big leaps in the melody.
Obviously the distance from the 1st note to the 2nd is a full octave, but
¤ our major 6th is right there in the 3rd bar – between ‘way’ and ‘up’.

“”
? ‰ bœ œ œ œ œ œ j Œ™ œ œ œ œ ˙
J œ™ œ œ Œ J œ Ó
?# ∑ n ∑
?# ∑ n ∑
5

¤? ˙
¤ What about the melody to Elvis Presley’s
b˙ Hound Dog? Check that
C‹“
”one out here:
? ‰ 5bœ“” œ œ œ œ œ œ™ œjj œ Œ1 Œ ™ œ œ Ó
?¤ ‰ bJœ œ œ œ œ œ œ™ œ œ Œ Œ ™ Jœ œ œ œ œœ ˙˙ Ó
J ain't no- thin' but a hound dog
You J - in'œ allœthe time
Cry
8 ain't
You 8 8no - thin'
8 8 but 8a 5
hound 5dog5 9Cry
9 - in' all 5the time
5
5 7
¤ ˙8 8 8 8 8 8 5 5 5 9 9
5 7
5 5
¤? ˙
Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzQ8GDBA8Is
? C
∑ ∑ b bb ∑
th b
Can you∑see the 6 in there? It’s on
∑ the word ‘cryin’.
b bbIt jumps from the
? 9 b ∑
high E all the way down to the G.
¤ 10

For something a bit more modern check out the melody to Nirvana’s
¤
¤
? ˙ “‘Smells
” Like Teen Spirit’:
#˙
? bb b Œ“” œ œ œ œ j œ œ œ œ œ
b
? bbAb Œ œ œ Jœ œ œ j œ™ Jœ œ œ œ œ
b
2 Load up J on œ
guns
Ϫ J
Bring your friends
¤ Load 8up 8 10on 4 10 10 8
10 6guns Bring your friends
11 10
¤ 8 8 10 10 10 8
10 6 11 10
¤
œ œ œ™
œ œ b œ
??bb b Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg
œ œ# ## œ œ Ó
b
? bb b ∑ # #
## # J ∑
b Of C ∑ ∑
Nirvana isn’t usually a band that you think of when someone says
Key
th
‘melodic’, but there’s that major 6 right in between ‘on’ and ‘guns’.
9 7 5
¤¤ 10 10 9 8 8 5 7

For an even more modern example, check out Carly Rae Jepsen’s
¤
Call Me Maybe: œ
œ œ œ™
? Œ œ œ ≈ œ™
J
œ ‰ œ
J œ œ ≈ J
Hey I just met you and this is cra - zy
9
10 10 10
¤ 7 10 10 10 7 10

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNaR-rxAic

? ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑
 This one actually has a few 6th intervals in it, both major and minor.
The major 6th is between ‘is’ and ‘crazy’, but you can also find a minor
6th between ‘Hey’ and ‘I’. No wonder you can’t get this song out of
your head!

Bass Lines
So you’ve seen how the 6th is in tons of actual melodies, but you
might be wondering, “How does this apply to bass lines?!”

There are tons of bass players that use the 6th to create melodic lines
that are instantly memorable. Check out Duck Dunn’s bass line on
2 Eddie Floyd’s ‘Knock On Wood’:
™ œ œ œ ™ œ œ œ ™ œ œ œ ™ œ œ œ
? #### œ J ‰ J ‰ J œ J ‰ J ‰ J œ J ‰ J ‰ J œ J ‰ J ‰ J
A
11 11 11 11
14 11 14 11 14 11 14 11
¤ 12 12 12 12

? #### œ™ œJ ‰ œJ ‰ œJ œ™ œJ ‰ œJ ‰ œJ œ™ œJ ‰ œJ ‰ œJ œ™ œJ ‰ œJ ‰ œJ
E

11 11 11 11
¤ 14 11 14 11 14 11 14 11
12 12 12 12

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kceiks__PsE
? ####He plays the same
∑ idea over both chords.
bbbbbb He hits the root, then
∑ goes
a 6th above it, then falls back to the 5th, then the 3rd of the chord. This
is probably one of my favorite bass lines of all time. It’s functional, but
it’s still incredibly catchy and melodic.
¤
Next, check out Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Wish’, with a bass line played by
Nate Watts:
? bb b b ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ bœ nœ ™™
bb œ œ œ œ nœ œ nœ
E¨‹7 A¨7 E¨‹7 A¨7
™ 3 ™
¤
¤

? bb b b ™™ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ nœ bœ nœ ™™
nœ
? bbb bb b ™™ œ œ œ œœ œ nœ œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ nœ bœ nœ ™™
b b E¨‹7 œ œ A¨7œ E¨‹7 A¨7
™ E¨‹7 A¨7 E¨‹7
4 6
3
6
A¨7 ™
¤ ™ ™6 2 4 6 4 3 4 5 6 3 3 4 5 ™™
™6 2 4 6 4 3 4 5 6 4 6 6 ™
¤ Recording: 3 4 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYKYka-PNt0

? bb b The very first interval between the Eb and the Gb is a major 6th. But if
? bbb byou’ve
b got a keen eye (and ear) you’ll see
∑ b there another 6th∑interval
bnear
bbb the end of the phrase.
∑ b the Ab (6th fret∑on the D-
It’s right between
rd th
string) and the C (3 fret on the A-string). It’s a descending minor 6 .
¤ This is another great example of a 6th in a melodic bass line.
¤
For the final bass line example, check out Paul McCartney’s line on
the Beatles ‘Come
œ Together’:
œ œ œ œ œ
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
?b œ œ œ œ œ
œ
b
10 10
7 12 7 12
¤ 5 5 10 5 5 10
7 12 7 12
¤ 5 5 5 5

Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HONxwhwmgU (This

is not the original recording – the Beatles catalogue is notoriously
difficult to find on YouTube and most recordings get taken down very
quickly)

This one uses a minor 6th between the A (7th fret on the A-string) and
the F (10th fret on the G-string) and this is possibly one of the most
iconic bass lines ever recorded. The 6th is a great way to get some
more of that melodicism into your playing. So how do you do it?
Making Your Playing More
Melodic With The 6th
Have you ever felt like whenever you go to create your own bass line
or try to take a solo, it just sounds like you’re running up and down
scales?

It’s probably because you are!

Think about it – whatever you practice will inevitably come out in your
playing. If you practice running your scales up and down for hours
and hours, what’s going to come out when you try and make
something up? Scales – going up and down.

To interrupt this pattern, you need to do something else instead, and

it has to be the thing that you want to come out in your playing.

For us, that’s the 6th. So if you do scale practice (which I highly
recommend for any bass player – especially if you’re starting to get
serious), instead of doing your regular routine, play scales broken up
in 6ths.

For example, if you’re playing a C major scale, instead of playing:

C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C

Start on the C, then go up a 6th to the A, then back down to the D,

then up another 6th to the B.

The notes will look like this:

C-A-D-B-E-C-F-D-G-E-A-F-B-G-C

And just to make things easy, I’ve put together the notation and
suggested tabs for all of the modes of the C major scale. Check it out:
2

œ œ œ œ œœœœœœœ œœœœœœœ œ œ œ œ
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó
C Ionian
7 9 10 12 12 10 9 7
7 9 10 7 9 10 9 7 10 9 7
7 8 10 10 8 7 10
¤ 8 10 10 8 7 8

œ œ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ
? œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ
œ œ œ Œ Ó
D Dorian
7 9 10 12 14 14 12 10 9 7
9 10 7 9 10 12 10 9 7 5 10 9
7 8 10 8 7 12
¤ 10 10 8 10

œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ
? œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó
E Phrygian
12 14 16 16 14 12
12 14 15 12 14 12 15 14 12
¤ 15 12 14 15 15 14 12 15 14
12 13 15 15 13 12 10 12

œ œ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó
F Lydian
12 14 16 17 17 16 14 12
12 14 15 12 14 15 14 12 15 14 12
¤ 12 14 15 15 14 12 15
13 15 15 13 12 13

œ œ œ œ
? œœœœœœœ œœœ œ œ œ œœœœœ œœœœœ œ
œ œ œ œ Œ Ó
G Mixolydian
2 4 5 7 7 5 4 2
2 3 5 2 3 5 3 2 5 3 2
2 3 5 5 3 2 5
¤ 3 5 5 3 1 3

œ œ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ
? œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ
œ œ œ œ Œ Ó
A Aeolian
4 5 7 9 9 7 5 4
5 7 5 7 5 7 5
8 5 7 8 8 7 5 8 7
¤ 5 7 8 8 7 5 3 5

œ œ œ œ œœœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ
? œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ
œ œ œ Œ Ó
B Locrian
7 9 10 10 9 7
5 7 9 10 7 9 7 10 9 7 5
7 8 10 10 8 7 8
¤ 7 8 10 10 8 7 5 7
4 Injecting 6ths Into Your
Bass Lines
? #### ∑ nnnn ∑

Let’s take a straightforward bass line and add some 6ths to it and
watch it really start to shine. Imagine you’re playing a straight 8th note
¤
bass line over the chords, C-G-Am-F. It’d look like this:
? ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ™™
œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ œœœœœœœœ
C G A‹ F
™ ™
¤ ™33333333 33333333 00000000 11111111 ™
4
th
? ™™ #œThere’s nothing wrong with this,œbut we can add some 6 s and really œ œ
™™
? ## #take
œ œ itœtoœ the
œ œnext
œ level.
∑œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ nœ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
nn œ ∑œ œ œ œ œ
C G A‹ F
™ Let’s keep the first six 8 notes the same but for the last two 8th notes 2
th
0 ™
¤ ™ 3 of3 each 3 let’s go a 6th and a 5th above
3 3 3bar, 0 0 the
0 0 chord
0 0 we’re aiming for
2 0 3 2 0
3 ™
in the following bar.
¤ 3 3 3 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1

That means in the first bar, we want to aim for a 6th above the G – the
? ™™ œchord
œ œ œwe’re
œ œ aiming
œ œ œfor. That’s an E. The 5th above the G is a D, so ™
the first bar would have
œ œsix
œ œC’s,
œ œthen
œ anœ œE,œand
œ œfinally
œ œ œtheœDœbefore
œœœœ œœ ™
going to the G chord.
C G A‹ F
™ ™
¤ ™ 3If3we3 keep following
3 3 3 3 3
3 this
3 3 formula
3 3 3 3for
3 the rest of the chords,1 you’d
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 1end
1 1 1 1
™
up with this:
? ™™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œœ ™™
œ
œœœœœœ œ œœœœœœ
œœœœœœ
C G A‹ F
™ 2 0 3 2 0
2 0 ™
¤ ™333333 3 3 3 3 3 3
0 0 0 0 0 0 3
1 1 1 1 1 1
™
The massive jump in the last bar might be a bit too much, but just by
modifying this bass line a little, you can hear it come to life.
? œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Œ Ó

7 9 10 12 12 10 9 7
7 9 10 7 9 10 9 7 5 10 9 7
¤ 7 8 10 8 7 10
8 10 10 8 7 8

Check out the lesson to hear it properly.

What about on ∑something like a blues?

## #Could you take a ‘regular’
? ∑ #
th
blues bass line and add some 6 s to it? Definitely!

In fact, you could really accent the major 6th over every chord and it’s
¤ going to sound great.

Check it out:
? #### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
E7

¤ 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2
0 0 0 0

? #### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
A7 E7

4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2
¤ 0 0 4 2 4 2 4 2 4 2
0 0

? #### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ #œ ˙
B7 A7 E7 B7

6 4 6 4 4 2 4 2
¤ 2 0 4 2 4 2 0 1 2
0 0

Instead of a regular 1-3-5-3 type of bass line, this one uses that larger
interval – the 6th over every chord and really opens the line up.
 Injecting 6ths Into Your
Bass Solos
Now it’s all very well and good to say ‘use the interval of a 6th’, but it’s
another thing entirely to actually do it for yourself. It’s possible to do
by trial-and-error, but I’ve got a few shortcuts you can use (other than
practicing your scales in broken 6ths).

There are three 6th formulas that are going to sound great when it 5

? ˙ comes to making your own lines. 5

b˙
? ˙
The first is going from the 3rd of the key down to the 5th of the key.
b˙
You can also do it in reverse – go from the 5th of the key up to the 3rd.
C‹
C‹
5
1
If the key you’re in is major, then this will give you a major 6th. For
¤ 5
1
¤
example, in the key of C, your two notes would be G, the 5th and E,
th th
˙ the third. If you go up from the 5 , the interval is a major 6 :
?˙ ˙
? ˙
C
C9
¤ 9 10
¤ 10

This is exactly what we had in ‘Hound Dog’, and ‘Call Me Maybe’.

? ˙ The ‘Hound Dog’ example went down,˙but the ‘Call Me Maybe’
˙ example went up.
? ˙
C
C The same thing applies when you’re in2a minor key. Going from the
¤ 3 3 down to the 5th or vice versa will give
rd 2 you a minor 6th. For
¤ 3 example, in C minor, you’d go from Eb (the 3rd) down to G (the 5th)
and you’d get a minor 6th.
b˙
?˙b ˙
? ˙
C‹
C‹
8
¤ 8 10
¤ 10
? ˙
C‹
8
¤ 10

The bass line from ‘Come Together’ does this. It goes up from the 5th
to the minor 3rd of the key.
?
The second ‘formula’ uses the root of the key and the 3rd of the key,
∑
but the 3rd has to be lower than the root. For example, in C major,
your root is obviously a C, and the 3rd is an E, but for it to be a 6th, the
¤ root has to go down to that third.

For a major key, you actually end up with a minor 6th:

˙
? ˙
C
5
2
¤
And for a minor key, you get a major 6th:
5

? ˙ b˙
C‹
5
1
¤
‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and ‘I Wish’ both use this formula when it
˙ comes to their 6ths. ‘I Wish’ even uses both the major and minor
? version. ˙
C The final formula is starting on the root and going up to the 6th. The
9 major 6th is probably more common than the minor 6th for this formula,
¤ but it still happens every once in a while.
10 Check out Usher’s ‘Yeah’ for
a strong minor example.

If you were in the key of C major though, using this formula, you’d
start on C and go up to the 6th – A. This is exactly what happens in
? ˙ ˙
‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, and ‘Knock On Wood’.
C
2
¤ 3

b˙
? ˙
 9
¤ 10
5

? ˙ b˙˙
? ˙
C‹
5C
1
¤ 2
¤ 3

˙ You’ll notice as well that both of those examples went straight to the
? b ˙ 5th after the 6th. This is a very common˙ idea. The 5th is a little more
˙
harmonically stable, so it makes sense to resolve the phrase there
?
rather than hang on the 6th. You can use this exact same idea as
C

well.
9C‹
¤ 8 10
10
As a final ‘cheat’, I want to give you two solo ideas that lean heavily
¤
on the 6th and are incredibly melodic.
? ˙
? You may have even heard them before #˙ played by piano players or
A guitar players. They actually sit really nicely on the piano, but you can
∑
2 absolutely modify them for bass.

The first one starts on the 5th of a major key. If we’re in C, that means
¤ 4
¤
we’d start on the G.
œ œ œ™
? œ˙ œ bœ œ œ œ œ Ó
? ˙ J
Key Of C
C 9 7 5
¤ 10
5 10 9 8 8 5 7
2
¤
You can play around with the rhythm of the line. As long as it has
thoseœ three 6th jumpsœin it, the core of the idea is there. œ œ™
? Œ
nd
œ œ ≈ J œ™ œ ‰ J œ œ œ ≈ J
The 2 idea is a simple variation of this line. Instead of starting high
andHey
going low, we’remet
I just going toyou
start low and get higher.
and this is cra - zy 7
Ϫ 9
œ10 œ7 10
10 œ10 œ 10
¤? œ œ œ œ œ10 7 10
Ó
J
Key Of C
5 7 9
?¤ 7 ∑ ∑ 7 ∑ 8 ∑ ∑ 8 ∑10 ∑ ∑ ∑

? ∑ ∑
¤
Go ahead and use any and all of these ideas as much as you want.
They’re a surefire way to make your playing more melodic and break
you out of the ‘running up and down scales’ slump that so many bass
players fall into.

Good luck with everything and happy melody making!

Cheers,