AC/DC Fans - Today I’m going to show you a Back In Black Inspired Beginner Rock Bass Guitar lesson and teach two important contrasting rock grooves.
This lesson uses a backing track called ‘Back In D.C’. which can be found on the eBassGuitar Classic Rock Jam Backing Track Album.
This track is inspired by the original Cliff Williams ACDC Bass Line and contains two core sections:
The A Section or Verse
The B Section or Chorus
Both sections have very different ‘feels’ and this lesson will show you how to play each section and why they sound so different.
The number one thing which affects difference in musical feel between the two sections is the length of notes… which we’ll talk about further in this lesson.
Backing Track
If you want to get the Back In D.C. backing track used in this lesson, you can get it as part of Classic Rock Jam Backing Track Album. This is a collection of backing tracks made especially for the Bass Guitar, inspired by 12 of the greatest rock bands on the planet.
Make sure you watch the video to listen to tracks inspired by Guns ‘N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Police, The Eagles, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, The Who, & Queen.
Click here to discover more about the Classic Rock Jam Backing Track Album
Part 1: Learn The Verse / B Section
The verse is comprised of two 4 bar sections. The most important thing to appreciate about the groove is all the notes are played short and are predominantly 16th notes. The note length and the gaps between the notes are really important and give this groove it’s ‘funky’ feel.
Part 2: Learn The Chorus / B Section
The Chorus or B section is an 8 bar chord sequence. This section predominantly uses long pumping 8th notes. Getting the notes as long as possible is a big part of creating the contrasting musical feel.
Part 3: Add The ‘Box Shape Hammer’ Fill
Once you’ve mastered the A & the B section the chances are you are going to want to start creating some bass fills. The perfect place to do this is over the B section.
Here is a simple device I call the Box Shape Hammer. This is a fill using the 4th, 5th, Flat 7th and Octave and falls easily under the hand. The fill uses 16th notes and is placed on the 4th beat of each bar. It’s a simple shape you can move around the neck for each chord.
Lesson Wrap Up
When playing Rock bass guitar, it's important to understand how the grooves are created. Note length is a really important aspect of this and often overlooked.
If you want to play and create better Rock grooves I recommended you check out ‘The Rock, Pop & Motown Bass Line Creation Course’ or the ‘30 Day Killer Rock Bass Action Plan’ inside the Bass Lab PLUS Membership.
The Bass Lab PLUS is complete program for the beginner to intermediate bass player - Join FREE Today with a 14 day trial.
All Bass Lab PLUS courses are easy to understand and simplify complex ideas so bass players in the early phases of learning can make rapid progress and achieve results that impress their friends and family fast.
Good luck and get stuck in!
James