What is BASSLINE?

✪✪✪✪✪
http://www.theaudiopedia.com
✪✪✪✪✪

What does BASSLINE mean? BASSLINE meaning - BASSLINE definition - BASSLINE explanation. What is the meaning of BASSLINE? What is the definition of BASSLINE? What does BASSLINE stand for? What is BASSLINE meaning? What is BASSLINE definition?

A bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of popular music, such as jazz, blues, funk, dub and electronic, or traditional music, for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played by a rhythm section instrument such as the electric bass, double bass, cello, tuba or keyboard (piano, Hammond organ, electric organ, or synthesizer). It is also used sometimes in classical music. In solo performance, basslines may simply be played in the lower register of any instrument such as guitar while melody and/or further accompaniment is provided in the middle or upper register.

Basslines in popular music often use "riffs" or "grooves", which are usually simple, appealing musical motifs or phrases that are repeated, with variation, throughout the song. "The bass differs from other voices because of the particular role it plays in supporting and defining harmonic motion. It does so at levels ranging from immediate, chord-by-chord events to the larger harmonic organization of a entire work." Bassline riffs usually emphasize the chord tones of each chord (usually the root note, the third note, or the fifth note), which helps to define a song's key. At the same time, basslines work along with the drum part and the other rhythm instruments to create a clear rhythmic pulse.

The type of rhythmic pulse used in basslines varies widely in different types of music. In swing jazz and jump blues, basslines are often created from a continuous sequence of quarter notes in a mostly scalar, stepwise part called a "walking bass line". In Latin, salsa music, jazz fusion, reggae, electronica, and some types of rock and metal, basslines may be very rhythmically complex and syncopated. In bluegrass and traditional country music, basslines often emphasize the root and fifth of each chord.

Though basslines may be played by many different types of instruments and in a broad musical range, they are generally played on bass instruments and in the range roughly at least an octave and a half below middle C. In classical music such as string quartets and symphonies, basslines play the same harmonic and rhythmic role; however, they are usually referred to as the "bass voice" or the "bass part".