How to Create Funky Bass Lines With Minor Pentatonic and Syncopation

Knowing your minor pentatonic scale is one thing. Turning those notes into a funky bass line? That’s where we get to have some fun.

In this lesson, we’re doing some groove building inspired by “Low Rider” by War. We’ll borrow a few stylistic elements, including minor pentatonic notes, upbeat rhythms, and little variations at the end of a phrase, and use them to create something of our own.

Let’s get grooving.

Find Your A Minor Pentatonic Shape on Bass

For this groove, I’m moving us into A minor so we have a little different room to play. Our A minor pentatonic notes are A, C, D, E, and G: the root, minor third, fourth, fifth, and minor seventh.

I’m using what I call my five-fret-span minor pentatonic shape. If you’re used to playing the root with your index finger and reaching for the minor third with your pinky, that’s totally cool. But moving that minor third to the next string changes what’s available under your fingers.

Try putting your pinky on A at the fifth fret of the E string and finding C at the third fret of the A string. That sets us up to reach the G below our root and gives us some opportunities for slides.

We also have the open E string, our lower fifth, available below that G and A. Above the root, we can work through the scale and reach the higher minor third and fourth with a small shift. It’s a useful little zone for building this groove.

Get comfortable finding those notes before worrying about the rhythm.

Use Syncopation to Build a Funky Bass Line

Here’s one of the things that gives this groove its character: we aren’t landing on the root on beat one.

Count eighth notes out loud:

One and two and three and four and.

Those “ands” are our upbeats. In plenty of bass lines, we’re used to putting the root right on the downbeat. Here, we’re moving that arrival over by an eighth note.

Play G on beat one, then A on the “and” of one. That’s our minor seventh leading into the root:

One = G. And = A.

The G is our lead-in, and the A lands on the upbeat. That little change makes a big difference in how the line feels.

As you follow the groove in the video, listen for the other upbeat notes, too. They work with the percussion and guitar parts to create that syncopated feel.

Create Bass Line Variations Without Losing the Groove

Once the main groove feels comfortable, we can start playing with its ending.

If you listen to “Low Rider,” you’ll hear little changes toward the back end of the phrase. Think of it as keeping about 80 percent of the groove the same and getting creative with the remaining 20 percent.

That’s a great approach for our own bass lines. Keep the beginning recognizable, then try a different combination of minor pentatonic notes at the end. You might change the direction of the phrase or reach for some of the other notes available in that shape.

The big thing is to stick the landing. Whatever you try at the end, get back to that G-to-A beginning with the right timing. As long as we return to the groove correctly, we’ve made it home. We’re safe. We scored a run. It’s all good.

Build Your Own Minor Pentatonic Bass Groove

Use this lesson as a creative prompt. Start with your minor pentatonic notes, play to the upbeats, and experiment with leading into the root so it lands on the “and” of one.

Once you have a phrase you like, repeat it enough to establish the groove. Then try changing the ending while keeping that return to the beginning solid.

You can move the idea into different keys and explore different patterns. We’re taking inspiration from a familiar groove and using those ingredients to come up with our own thing.

Happy practicing, and keep it groovy!