Gospel & Piano Bass Line

[emitfo]

I know it ultimately comes down to what sounds "good" or "right" but I have a question about copping the bass line from old hymnals. Right now it's "Old Rugged Cross" and originally I planned on basically just doing the bluegrass 1-5 of the chords with a few runs thrown in here and there but I grabbed a piano hymnal and the bass lines look way more interesting. Anyway, to me, double-stops on a bass don't sound all the good (though there are exceptions:grin:) and I'm curious if there is a "rule of thumb" in regards to which note is "more important" in a written grand staff gospel (or other) bass line--the higher or the lower? Or is it just as my 1st line states?

Thank-you for any input.

[allenhopkins]

If you're working out of hymnals, take a look at the bass vocal line as well as the accompaniment. Often it's just built around the root note of each chord, but there can be some interesting transitional notes put in to get from one chord to another.

The other rule of thumb is to avoid big jumps from one chord to the next -- grab an intermediate note, rather than going from root to root. Smoother = better in most cases.

Hope this does something to address your inquiry.

[emitfo]

That's a GREAT idea! I like to start with the melody then the bass line but it hadn't occurred to me to look at the vocal bass line. Thank-you Mr. Hopkins.
~o)

[tree]

I'm confused . . . in a hymnal, the accompaniment = the vocal parts. At least in the hymnals I've seen, there is no separate accompaniment, it's all SATB. Soprano usually has the melody. Alto, Tenor and Bass have harmony.

But the Bass line of a hymn is probably a good place to look for ideas for playing bass . . .