Octave bass
An octave bass jumps between a chord’s root and the same note an octave higher on every eighth note: low on the beat, high on the “and”, on steps 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 of 16. It is the bouncing bass of disco, and it still turns up in house, funk and pop.
Also called disco octave bass, octave bassline, octave jumping bass.
Play it
- Bar 1Am
- Bar 2F
- Bar 3C
- Bar 4G
Faded lanes are a guide: they are there so the pattern has something to sit against. The loop runs over four chords, Am, F, C, G, one bar each. Tap any box to change it.
Try this
Try this · change one box
Add a root note on step 16, just before the next bar. The bass gets a pickup into each new chord.
Learn this pattern step by step
The course builds up to it from Unit 1, which is free with a Google sign-in. It plays in your browser, like this page.
Pick up where you left off
Carry on with Unit 1, then Octave bass comes in Unit 3: Low end.
Hear it without the grid
A short recording of the loop above at 118 BPM, made with Swung’s own sounds.
How it works
An octave is the same note, twice as high, so the jump never clashes with anything. What it adds is movement: the low note lands with the kick and the high one answers in the gap, low-high, low-high, like a ball bouncing.
The notes follow the chords. Here the bass jumps on A, then F, then C, then G, one bar each, so one simple shape carries the whole progression.
The pattern in words
- Root: steps 1, 5, 9 and 13 of 16.
- Octave: steps 3, 7, 11 and 15 of 16.
| Part | Steps, 1 to 16 | Plays on |
|---|---|---|
| Root | x···x···x···x··· | steps 1, 5, 9 and 13 of 16 |
| Octave | ··x···x···x···x· | steps 3, 7, 11 and 15 of 16 |
x a hit, o a quiet hit, 2 or 3 a quick roll inside one step, – a note held on, · nothing.
Variations
Sixteenth-note octaves
Twice as fast: root and octave take turns on every sixteenth.
Root only
The same rhythm without the jump: steady, and flatter.
On a synth bass
The house way: the same octaves on a darker synth.
Where it’s used
Also common in Funk, Nu-disco and Pop.