Prog Broke Me...?!
How did prog rock produce so many great bass players? And can it really be back in vogue in 2023?
While the prog rock pioneers of the early ‘70s embraced odd instruments, abstruse concept albums and er…capes, in today’s brand-new episode of Bass Lines You Should Know, we’re going to examine the envelope-pushing sounds of the modern prog era, including Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvation and Symphony X!
Prog rock has always held a strong appeal for bass players, mainly because it presents the potential to break away from the often rhythmic confinement of a typical band situation. Love it or hate it, the prog movement has furnished the bass world with a new and creative band role and a plethora of inventive, ground-breaking role models like Thomas Miller, Colin Edwin and Jonas Reingold. Yes, it’s another stormer. So, put away your cape and grab your axe. No, your other axe..
Sharon Renold
01: Sea of LiesWhen future musicologists look back on the most influential musicians of the 20th century, among the select few whose sound and style live on the longest will be American progressive metal band, Symphony X. Sea of Lies is a technically perfect power metal tune with plenty of progressive interludes and transition sections to look out for. The bass line is delivered flawlessly by Thomas Miller who tunes down a whole step. Practice little and often until you’ve mastered it!
02: People Passing ByPain of Salvation has traversed the vast soundscapes that progressive music has to offer since their 1997 debut, Entropia, and garnered a bit of a cult following in the process. Have fun with the opening slap lick - I sure did and if you like where we’re going with this, stick around for more of the same! There are lots more cool riffs and moments of creativity to be found throughout this track. Don’t worry about the tempo initially, just get everything up and running.
Even though the ‘implied’ tempo is 89 BPM with a swung 16th note feel, to me personally, reading triplets feels more natural than reading sextuplets. So we’ve written the chart in double-time at 178 BPM, which I hope will help while reading the notes on the page. This bass line is great for re-affirming your grasp of fingerboard geography. So keep at it!
03: Cyberdust From Mars
Aside from occupying the bass chair in Swedish progressive rock band The Flower Kings, Jonas Reingold found time to release his own concept album, Entering The Spectra, under the group name Karmakanic. A standout track from the album, Cyberdust From Mars is a full-on Flower Kings-style epic, complete with Roine Stolt on lead vocals. Be prepared to work at the fingering (a couple of extra fingers grafted on could help you keep up). We’re starting at a steady slow tempo and working our way up. Good luck!
04: HaloReleased in 2005, Halo appears on Deadwing, which is the 8th studio album by Porcupine Tree. Bassist Colin Edwin has been an essential part of the band’s sound since 1993 and on this track he demonstrates how effective you can be harmonically with only a few notes from the chord.
Let’s take the main groove and explore some of the different types of licks and patterns that you can use in songs with a repeated bass groove like this one. Make it your own by varying the dynamics throughout, never losing the beat - it bounces, it glides, it’s a must learn! And remember, it is WAY cooler to play in the groove with fewer notes, than to stutter and stammer with too many.
05: Ripple of a TearRipple of a Tear is a perfect showcase of what Dutch Fusion Metal band, Exivious, is all about. Fretless bass and heavy electric guitar? It’s pure magic. A few stretches and some intricate finger control and the bass part will jump from your fretboard. Once you’ve learned it, you’ll have a drop-dead-showing off piece under your belt, and more importantly, (honest), you’ll have done wonders for your timing and feel on the humble 4-string bass, so we’ll drink to that.
06: MisguidedOne of the first of a new breed of modern metal bands that emerged at the start of the millennium, Distorted Harmony left critics scrabbling for superlatives that best suited their deft deconstruction of modern prog.
This is a great bass part, mobile and creative, yet still anchoring the groove perfectly. Once you’ve learned the pattern, see if you can find a way to use it as a creative tool. Your future audience won’t be too impressed if your gaze remains locked on your fretting hand for the whole gig! There will be a little customary hand-stretching, but what would this lesson be without a little pain!
07: State of FluxYou thought Stranger Things was scary? Wait until you try counting this next bass line. Don’t panic or give up if you can’t grasp the rhythmic groupings right away. The brain has a wonderful ability to digest and understand information, often subconsciously, over a period of time. So hold that bass tight, here we go.
And remember - most people, when looking at a new piece of music, will try to play the notes and rhythms as correctly as possible. But the one thing they all tend to forget is to actually play music! The beautiful thing with Nova Collective is they make music first and put their serious chops second, and the result is a very worthy next chapter in modern prog!
08: ShdematiOur final track is a pretty intense workout that’s played in a 17/16 time signature (17 sixteenth notes) courtesy of bassist Guy Bernfeld and Israeli fusion group, Hago. The band’s description says it all: “HAGO plays a unique combination of Jazz Fusion and Progressive Metal, along with Middle Eastern influences.” Or, as they call it – FalafelDjent.
My advice to you is this: don’t disappear off the scene to practise this line as if the end of the world were nigh. It’s OK to be satisfied with learning more slowly. Sometimes, it’s cool to be slow!
09: Tarkus
Written by an English rock band with a name that’s perhaps better suited to a law firm, Tarkus was a watershed moment in the burgeoning progressive-rock movement. “Tarkus was sort of futurist,” said the late ELP bassist and prog rock pioneer Greg Lake. “It hasn’t got power chords and it’s not made up of ‘the riff,’ but it was about our intensity, rather than the sheer weight of the thing. I think that is where ELP scored.”
