Bass

Motown Bass Book

F Full Partituras · 26 September 2022 · 👁 1,871 views

Let's take a look at the best Motown bass book you'll find on the market, because it features the most important songs of the genre.

It was thanks to the work of a small but select group of African American artists that Motown was born and grew into what it is today: one of the most influential subgenres in all of music.

That's why it's so important to understand what Motown bass is all about and to master its essence.

What is Motown?

Detroit was the American city that gave birth to the Motown bass sound, one of the most important sounds in Soul, Pop, R&B, and Gospel.

This musical style has been one of the most important since the 1960s, and ever since, it has stood as a musical and cultural touchstone that reached audiences all over the world.

It all started thanks to the ambition of Berry Gordy, founder of the world's first Motown record label, the Motown Record Corporation.

From then on, many other artists came on board, such as James Brown, The Funk Brothers, Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, among many others.

Now, what exactly is Motown bass? It's nothing less than music with an industrial, that is to say commercial, sound.

Yes, that was always the goal: to make the musical sound industrial so that it would be accessible to people of every race, ethnicity, and nationality.

bajo eléctrico motown

The Best Motown Bassists

Motown bass has been fortunate to feature some of the great names in music who shaped it and carried it forward, such as:

James Jamerson
Bob Babbitt
Jermaine Jackson

Beyond them, we also find other giants who, while not bassists themselves, contributed enormously to the development of this instrument's sound:

Berry Gordy.
William "Smokey" Robinson.
Norman Whitfield.
Barrett Strong.

The Importance of Bass in Motown

Motown bass is no small thing, because it represents a musical revolution, something entirely new, the next step toward making the musical sound universal.

For that reason, the Motown bass sound should not be taken lightly, since in its day it was vital in introducing many elements that are still with us today.

In this way, Motown bass made the following contributions to commercial music:

Rhythmic: it features rhythmic lines that are familiar to people and bring great musical richness. We could say that, for its time, Motown was the sound of the streets, of the neighborhoods, of the people.
Melodic: the complex chord foundations and their inversions are some of the defining features of Motown bass. That's why you'll often find chords being played on the electric bass.
Harmonic: even though Motown bass was the commercial music of its time, it also has impressive harmonic richness. So it would be a mistake to think it's easy to learn, because it really does carry a serious level of complexity.
It's of the people: times have changed a great deal, and today the streets are full of Bad Bunny, Anuel AA, and others who don't contribute to the growth of music. The music of the people that gave rise to Motown, however, is something completely different, with truly impressive sonic quality.

bajo motown