No, it’s not an alternative to tuna, although some find this form a bit fishy. Many wonderful sequencers do come with a plethora of prewritten backing tracks, and all a songwriter has to do is write up a chord line and plug it in—the program takes the bass line that is included, and just changes the note or notes depending on the chord you choose. This can sound very proper for that particular genre, and can give you that authentic sound, but it does have some important drawbacks. Many song contests do not allow any commercially available sequenced parts like this, and many are written based on a popular song—any songwriters who use them can be seen immediately as not only amateurish and willing to steal bits rather than write their own, but they also risk their piece sounding very much like another artist’s material—this can open you up for copyright infringement problems, and get you sued as well as disqualified. The easier approach is to somehow make the bit your own—take nice bits from it, erase some, add others until it is noticeably different (don’t just change the instrumentation, though—make sure you change some of the notation and rhythm a bit, too). This way you can still get the gist of the original riffs, but it is now your creation and won’t get you into any mischief. True, in some genres like the blues and country, the bass parts can be pretty standard, and are okay to use as is, but it is always better to improve on the basics so your song doesn’t come off as just another song in that category. Make it the best song you’ve ever heard in that category, and use the bass part to create the drama you need to pull that off.
Bass instruments can be some of the most fun in your musical palette. I can’t imagine songs like “Ramble On” by Led Zeppelin or “Oh, Well” by Fleetwood Mac without their signature bass lines. Many people look around for shark dorsal fins to this day upon hearing those eerie low notes from “Jaws.” Have fun with these versatile instruments, and use them for more than just filler. Hopefully I have given you a few new enjoyable ideas to incorporate the bass sound into your music to make it stand out, and not just sound like circular file filler at your next song pitch. Good luck!
