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Amazing descents – the enduring beauty of the lament bass

  • June 21, 2021
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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 – Weskipped the light fan-dango
– and turnedcartwheels on thefloor
ChordsCC/BAmAm/GFF/EDmDm/C
Run downC
BAGFE
D
C
A Whiter Shade of Pale by Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher and Keith Reid

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:

Diatonic descents (scale steps)

The Beatles: Dear Prudence

LyricsDearPrudence


won’t you come out to …
Chords
DD/CD/BD/Bb
Run down
DCBBb
Dear Prudence – Words & Music by John Lennon & Paul McCartney

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

LyricsLet us belovers we’llmarry our fortunes to--getherI’ve got somereal estatehere in my bag
ChordsCC/BAmAm/GFCC/BAm
Run downCBAGFCBA
America by Paul Simon

Les Miserables: I Dreamed a Dream

Lyrics– I dreamed adream in times goneby
– When hope washigh and life worthliving
ChordsFF/EDmDm/CBbBb/AGmCsus4 C
Run downFEDCBbAGC
I Dreamed A Dream by Claude-Michel Schönberg

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

Chromatic descents (half steps)

David Bowie: Life on Mars

Lyrics – It’s agod-awful small off--air to thegirl with the mousyhair but hermummy is yelling‘no’ and herdaddy …
ChordsFF/EF/EbD7GmGm/GbGm/FC7
Run downFEEbDGGbFE
Life on Mars by David Bowie

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

Led Zeppelin: Stairway to Heaven

LyricsThere’s alady who’ssure all thatglitters isgold …
Chords
AmAm9/G#Am7DFmaj7 G Am etc.
Run down
AG#GF#
Stairway to Heaven by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant

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:

LyricsWake from yoursleep, thedrying of yourtears, to-– day we es--cape, we es-– cape
ChordsBmF#D/AEadd9/G#BmF#Bsus4B
Run downBA#AG#BF#BB
Exit Music For A Film by Colin Greenwood, Edward O’Brien, Jonathan Greenwood, Philip Selway and Thomas Yorke

What next for the lament bass?

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.

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