The other option is to play the notes of a chord one note at a time. To understand what I mean here is an example of what a deep bass chord progression can sound like: The main challenge of strumming is that bass chords can sound muddy. Yet, it is often what people have in mind when they talk about playing chords. This is the less common way to play chords on the bass guitar. This means that you play every note of the chord at once. There are two main ways to play chords on the bass. Learning all these chords will elevate your bass playing, but mastering the three first chords will get you well on your way. However, they are much less of an essential part of your tool kit. To learn more, check out my article on jazz bass scales to learn how to make use of them.įor genres like rock, pop, metal, and punk, 7th chords are still useful. Thus, you might want to put extra emphasis on learning these chords if you enjoy these genres. However, jazz, blues, soul, and hip-hop bassists often use various 7th chords in their bass lines. In many genres, most songs are constructed entirely out of these. However, as the name of most chords is related to scales, this can`t always be avoided.įor most genres, you can get far with just the power, major, and minor chord. Ivè tried to avoid theory and talk of scales as much as possible to keep it accessible to everyone. This one explains what different bass chords sound like, and how they get their names. Jazz, blues, and soul bassists might also find it worthwhile to experiment with 7ths. Thus, when experimenting with slash chords, I recommend starting with the 3rd and 5th. It`s possible to use other chord notes as the root note, but this is less common. It is more like licorice amazing to some but less appealing to others. However, this changes the feel of the chord more noticeably. The 7th is also used in slash chords, especially in jazz. Not as basic, but still digestible and flavourful for most people. I like to think of the root not as vanilla, and the 3rd and 5th as chocolate and strawberry. Using the 3rd or 5th as the lowest note of the chord are common ways to play slash chords. Here, “GMaj” is the name of the chord, whereas the “B” tells us to use the “B” as the lowest note of the chord. Chords of this kind are called slash chords.Īn example of a slash chord is GMaj / B. Other chord notes are sometimes used instead to give the chord a different feel while using all of the same notes. However, this does not mean that all chords use the chord’s root note as the lowest note. Using the root note of the chord as its deepest note is common and makes for a stable and harmonious sound. The deepest note of a chord sets the feel of a chord. The root note of a G7 is a G, and The root note of an Asus4 is A. The root note is the core note that the rest of the chord is constructed out of. For help with learning the fretboard, check out my Bass notes chart for an easy to use cheat-sheet.įor 5-string players: I have also made a 5-String bass notes chart.Īll of the above examples use the chord’s root note as its deepest note. ![]() You just need to adjust where on the neck you play the chord in different keys.Īt this stage, it helps a lot to know where to find the notes on the neck of the bass. ![]() This way, you can always make use of the finger patterns in the chart above. If you are unfamiliar with music theory, you can disregard the last line for the moment. Lastly, the third line consists of what intervals make up the chord. The second line tells you what type of chord it is. The first line of text is the name of the chord. Open strings are indicated with an “O” above them, and unplayed strings have an “X”. The blue circle represents where to place your finger, and what note is found on that fret. The leftmost string on the images is the thick E string of the bass, while the rightmost is the thin G string. I will explain how to use it below, so don`t worry if some parts of it seem overwhelming at first. Lastly, I`ll also cover slash chords and the two main ways to play chords on the bass.įirst things first, here is the bass chord chart I promised you. I`ll also show you what the names of the chords mean, and in what contexts they can be used. I`ll start by explaining how to read the chart and how to play any bass chord in any key. That`s why I have made this easy-to-use bass chord chart, with an accompanying guide. However, I don`t want any aspiring bassists to go through the same unnecessary hardships I did to get here. Nowadays, I know how to make good use of bass chords both when improvising and composing. Thus, even though I could look up what different chords looked like, I was slow to progress. I didn`t know how to make use of the chords I memorized or what all the different names of them meant. ![]() When I got my first bass 16 years ago, I remember feeling overwhelmed by trying to learn chords.
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