But there’s a better way, and John Paul Jones proved it on Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On.” Recorded in 1969 when he was just 23, “Ramble On” has an easy feel in the verses and a soft-to-loud dynamic energy that stands apart from the rocked-out blues songs that dominate Led Zeppelin II. The track starts with Jimmy Page’s quick, 16th-note acoustic strum and John Bonham’s mellow yet persistent percussion. Rather than following his bandmates’ rhythmic frenzy, JPJ generated the relaxed and memorably melodic line in Ex. 1. With the track playing along or a guitarist friend copping Page’s part, play just the first bar. Notice any major difference between what you and your 6-string compadre are playing? In the space that Page’s pick went up and down 16 times, you’ve plucked just two sweet-sounding, syncopated notes! The pacing contrast is similar in bar 2, where the sing-song bass part moves up to the A chord, closing the phrase with off-the-beat accents.
The syncopation continues in bars 3 and 4, but that’s only part of what makes the second phrase rhythmically interesting. When you look at the whole phrase, you can see note values getting shorter and shorter: First there are quarter-notes (including the tied eighths in bar 2), then eighth-notes, then finally a 16th-note turnaround at the end of bar 4. Music theorists call this “rhythmic acceleration.” By moving to smaller note values, the bass line makes the whole song feel like it quickens, adding tension and excitement with each four-bar cycle.
Rhythmic acceleration isn’t shaping only the four-bar verse phrases; it also shapes the whole song. Ex. 2 shows the prechorus bass lick, which has quarter-note-based phrases in bars 1 and 3, and begins to mix in eighth-notes and 16ths. The song climaxes with the chorus’s urgent 16th-note riffs, as in the composite version shown in Ex. 3. For beginners, the chorus may be a little more challenging than the verses, but if you start slowly and gradually work up to tempo, you’ll be rambling on before too long.
The last piece you’ll need to put the song together is the bridge line, shown in Ex. 4, which fits between the second chorus and third verse. Here, while Jimmy Page swaps strummy acoustic playing for twin electric licks, JPJ takes on the rhythmic accents that pulsated through that original 16th-note acoustic part, emphasizing beat one, the “and” of two, and four, seasoning the part with well-placed hammer-ons.
As when practicing the easy-feeling yet rhythmically precise verse and powerfully rockin’ chorus, remember that you’re doing more than just learning a classic bass line. You’re also gradually grasping concepts that can help enhance your creativity and build confidence for making up your own parts. John Paul Jones said it best himself when we spoke to him in July ’03: “When you listen to a certain kind of music a lot, you begin to think that way—you understand why they play what they play, not just what they’re playing, which is the case when you’re simply copying something.”