Descents

Amazing descents – the lament bass

From Bach to the Beatles, some of the most beautiful music of all time has employed a descending bass line. By this, I don’t mean just that the notes of the bass go down but that the bass descends step by step, often while the basic chord stays the same.

This makes most sense when you hear an example, in this case one of the most commercially successful singles of all time, having sold more than 10 million copies and having been covered by more than 1000 artists. Procul Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale employs a bass line that descends step by step in a similar way to numerous classical pieces, including Bach’s Air on a G string.

Procul Harem: A Whiter Shade of Pale

Lyrics	– We	skipped the light fan-	dango		– and turned	cartwheels on the	floor
Chords	C	C/B	Am	Am/G	F	F/E	Dm	Dm/C
Run down	C	B	A	G	F	E	D	C

A descending bass line, particularly when coupled with melancholy lyrics is often described as the lament bass, which Dale McGowan describes as ‘like a silk thread tying the chords together, creating centuries of smooth, gorgeous harmony’.

The lament bass provides the songwriter and instrumental composer with the potential to create beautiful music with universal appeal. Other musician’s agree:

There’s just something about a good descending bassline that hits you right in the soul. No other songs have moved me to tears more often than a simple chord melody with a soulful descending bassline alongside it.

Couloirman

There are two main forms that the lament bass can take. The first is diatonic – the bass descends step by step down the scale. A Whiter Shade of Pale is an example, moving down the C major scale from C to B, A, G, F, E, D and back to C.

Here are some more classic examples:

The Beatles: Dear Prudence

Lyrics	Dear	Prudence				won’t you come out to …
Chords		D	D/C	D/B	D/Bb
Run down		D	C	B	Bb

In this piece the chord stays on D major as the bass descends from D to C, B and then Bb.

Simon and Garfunkel: America

Lyrics	Let us be	lovers we’ll	marry our	fortunes to-	-gether	I’ve got some	real estate	here in my bag
Chords	C	C/B	Am	Am/G	F	C	C/B	Am
Run down	C	B	A	G	F	C	B	A

Les Miserables: I Dreamed a Dream

Lyrics	– I dreamed a	dream in times gone	by		– When hope was	high and life worth	living
Chords	F	F/E	Dm	Dm/C	Bb	Bb/A	Gm	Csus4 C
Run down	F	E	D	C	Bb	A	G	C

The second type of lament bass is chromatic – the bass descends semi-tone by semi-tone. Again, here are some examples:

David Bowie: Life on Mars

Lyrics	– It’s a	god-awful small off-	-air to the	girl with the mousy	hair but her	mummy is yelling	‘no’ and her	daddy …
Chords	F	F/E	F/Eb	D7	Gm	Gm/Gb	Gm/F	C7
Run down	F	E	Eb	D	G	Gb	F	E

This song is packed with chromatic ascents as well as descents. It’s a really clever piece of writing.

Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven

Lyrics	There’s a	lady who’s	sure all that	glitters is	gold …
Chords		Am	Am9/G#	Am7	D	Fmaj7 G Am etc.
Run down		A	G#	G	F#

This is the track that every guitarist either loves or hates. Unlike all the examples so far, this one is in a minor key.

Radiohead: Exit Music For A Film

And one final example, again in a minor key:

Lyrics	Wake from your	sleep, the	drying of your	tears, to-	– day we es-	-cape, we es-	– cape
Chords	Bm	F#	D/A	Eadd9/G#	Bm	F#	Bsus4	B
Run down	B	A#	A	G#	B	F#	B	B

Musical ideas do not get ‘used up’ because they have been successfully applied over centuries. There is really no limit to the way that melodies can be fashioned to realise the inherent beauty of a descending bass line.

The seven examples provides here do not sound like a simple re-working of an over-used idea. In fact, they could not be more different.

One thing is for certain. There will be many more equally wonderful examples to follow in years to come.