Chords over bass note

[wazzel]

I know how this works, say a G/E. Guitar plays a G chord and I play an E. I am trying to expand what I can do on similar notations. I have tried hitting the bass note then the chord note an octive up and it does not always work or atleast it is not sounding right to me. Being that I play at church I see this often and I get tied of just sitting on a bass note. I have though about taping out a simple riff two octives up with my pluck hand, but I do not want to get carried away and mess up the song.

A little help.

[Nyarlathotep]

I read in a book one time that if you want to sound as if your above the guitars, play the same scale, but with the 5th interval of whatever the guitars are playing as the tonic.

eg: Say the song is in E minor. Playing B minor for a fill or something will make it pop out.

Im sure someone can expand on this. I've actually been messing around with some of the riffs a friend of mine has come up with. Depending on what the bass plays, the tone of the song can change. This is in a death metal context too!

FWIW I've found that playing a note an octive+a 5th below the guitar can really make it sound heavier, but still good depending on the EQing of the individual instruments.

[Dogbertday]

in my experience... when i see a Cm/Eb as a chord symbol i'm thinking Cm but i make sure that I nail that Eb right away (then don't play anything lower than that Eb durring that chord) it means the same thing as iv6 (in Gminor), or first inversion (with the third i the bass).. it doesn't have to be constant... just the lowest pitch used.. of course you could always do your fill in Eb major to really give a bright tone to the piece. I'm be careful of this though if any other instruments are playing in your harmonic range (ie. piano lefthand)

[funkydanbass]

I don't think that the above advice is all that helpful.

Firstly chord inversions and slash chords are two different things. In neither situation are you obliged to pitch any note lower than the other. Often an inversion will be used to create a flowing melodic line in the bass, as oppose to larger intervals. Something like G, D/F#, Em is a very common example. If this is written on a chart it may be the composers intent and something worth respecting. If you are composing, writing or improvising it can be interesting to stress chord tones other than the root note. The goal is to create a strong melodic statment that supports the harmony and doesn't tread on the melody. Use your ear as a guide, there is no rule that says you have to play the root note, or voice an inversion as the lowest note. As mentioned above, harmonising riffs can be another way to support a line, as oppose to playing it in unision. (Again let your ear guide you). Having an understanding of harmony, chord scale relationships key centres etc etc... will help to increase your vocabulary. I would suggest starting simple. Maybe find a rhythmic groove and experiment with note choice and melodic phrases from there...

[MarkTAW]

G/E is actually an Em7 (E, G, B, D). Try some of those notes, but always hit the E on the 1 and 3 (for now anyway).

[Petethebassman]

Originally Posted by MarkTAW

G/E is actually an Em7 (E, G, B, D). Try some of those notes, but always hit the E on the 1 and 3 (for now anyway).

And that is one of the reasons why I love playing bass: the note I choose to play under the chords determines what the chord played by others actually is.

[HaVIC5]

I know, awesome isn't it? A guitar player could be playing a Cmaj7 and if you play a D, BAM, you have yourself a D7sus4(9,13). Wild stuff.

[funkydanbass]

I don't want to curb the enthusiam for the power that we bass players wield...

But, I think it is important to emphasise an understanding of the power tho!! (Particularly for beginning players).

Spontaneous reharmonisation is not something that is appropriate for a lot of genres. More importantly, if you 'hear' a note that may imply a 'new' chord be aware of how it affects the melody and overall feel/colour of the music.

[Valerus]

Thanks for this wild info.

[JimmyM]

Originally Posted by wazzel

...but I do not want to get carried away and mess up the song.

Good call

You can't just throw things in because you can. You have to exercise some discretion and respect for the music. When I see a chord like G/E, the first thing I think is that the writer wanted that E for a reason. Then I ask myself if playing other notes would make musical sense. Sometimes yes, most of the time no. It all depends on the song. Some songs lend themselves to experimentation. The vast majority of church music I'm familiar with doesn't. So on the rare occasions I play it, I tend to stick with what works and not take many chances, especially when I'm unfamiliar with a song. Then I go home and play what I want on my own time.

[Deacon_Blues]

One thing you need to take into consideration when playing other notes than the note after the slash, is that you take the chord into consideration. I.e. if you're playing over a D/F#, watch out, be careful not to play the fifth over the F#, as it would sound very dissonant over the chord. Instead, play other chord notes like D or A if you don't want to keep the F# for the whole duration of the D/F# chord.

If you want to get some ideas on how slash chords may be used, listen to the bass in "You raise me up" by Josh Groban. I guess there's more slash chords than "plain" (?) chords in that song...

[JimK]

Originally Posted by wazzel

I know how this works, say a G/E. Guitar plays a G chord and I play an E. I am trying to expand what I can do on similar notations.

Having a piano/keyboard would really help.

Another thing-
The way a chord is voiced really matters.
We used to cover "My Old School" by The Yellowjackets...there is G/G# chord in there somewhere. If the guitarist (in my case) voiced the chord in a Barre-style against my low G#...it would sound like one of us had hit the 'wrong' note.

I have always liked guitarists that voiced chords without using their "E" & "A" strings.

[wazzel]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Good call

You can't just throw things in because you can. You have to exercise some discretion and respect for the music. When I see a chord like G/E, the first thing I think is that the writer wanted that E for a reason. Then I ask myself if playing other notes would make musical sense. Sometimes yes, most of the time no. It all depends on the song. Some songs lend themselves to experimentation. The vast majority of church music I'm familiar with doesn't. So on the rare occasions I play it, I tend to stick with what works and not take many chances, especially when I'm unfamiliar with a song. Then I go home and play what I want on my own time.

This is basically where I am at. I want to add something even if it is suttle. I always hit the slash note regardless on what I feel like doing. I just want the ability to add a few other things so I don't have to sit on the same slash note for most of the verse or refrain. For some reason alot of the recient church (Catholic) stuff has the drone slash note. We have both a keyboradist and pianist. I'm just looking for a way to add a note or two, not looking for big riffs or runs.

[Alun]

Originally Posted by JimK

Having a piano/keyboard would really help.

Another thing-
The way a chord is voiced really matters.
We used to cover "My Old School" by The Yellowjackets...there is G/G# chord in there somewhere. If the guitarist (in my case) voiced the chord in a Barre-style against my low G#...it would sound like one of us had hit the 'wrong' note.

I have always liked guitarists that voiced chords without using their "E" & "A" strings.

I used to play with a guitarist who would always play full barres F#/E with a full F# chord on all six strings over an open E in the bass was horrible, and no amount of hinting that he might want to play the top strings only made any difference!

[MarkTAW]

Originally Posted by JimmyM

Good call

You can't just throw things in because you can. You have to exercise some discretion and respect for the music. When I see a chord like G/E, the first thing I think is that the writer wanted that E for a reason. Then I ask myself if playing other notes would make musical sense. Sometimes yes, most of the time no. It all depends on the song. Some songs lend themselves to experimentation. The vast majority of church music I'm familiar with doesn't. So on the rare occasions I play it, I tend to stick with what works and not take many chances, especially when I'm unfamiliar with a song. Then I go home and play what I want on my own time.

+1

It's not just about the harmony, it's also about what works well with the melody. If the vocalists are reaching and expecting an E to be there to support them, if it's suddenly not there they may get confused.

[JimK]

Originally Posted by Alun

I used to play with a guitarist who would always play full barres F#/E with a full F# chord on all six strings over an open E in the bass was horrible, and no amount of hinting that he might want to play the top strings only made any difference!

Something just as bad are the piano players that insist on pounding out the Roots with their left hand.

[MarkTAW]

A lot of guitarists that are used to playing solo make up crazy rhythms and make their chords as full as possible to compensate for NOT having drums & bass. It's difficult for them to step back.

Bassists can have similar problems stepping back and toning down when playing with other musicians.

[Hoover]

Originally Posted by JimK

I have always liked guitarists that voiced chords without using their "E" & "A" strings.

Heh... I used to play in a band with a keyboardist whose left hand was a little too, shall we say, "register intrusive". I finally took a piece of gaffer's tape and slapped it across his DX-7 an octave below middle C, told him "Anything below that is mine!"

[MarkTAW]

Famously, the Motown guitarists never played below the... was it 7th fret?

[VinylRepairKit]

Originally Posted by MarkTAW

Famously, the Motown guitarists never played below the... was it 7th fret?

This sounds like it's probably true for the vast majority of their playing (which is great to work with as a bass player), but of the top of my head I think I can say with some confidence that opening line in My Girl is definitely below the 7th fret.