how to transcribe guitar chords to bass?

[iamchance]

how do i do it? if say a guitar player is playing a G chord and then an Eminor. do i find the G and E note on my bass and groove or is there another way? ive played bass now seriously for about 2 months and ive always wondered how to do this.

[Jhengsman]

There are other ways but that is step one. Play the root of the chord, G for G major and E for E minor and hit it in time with nice phrasing. In many places people will be happy just to find a willing musician with only those skills on bass.

[SpecialBlender]

Another way to play it is if the chord sequence is G Em C D for example you could play G root, B (5th above E), C root, D Root. Still very simple but will transition nicely to the C chord.

[Stilettoprefer]

Well, you could do that. That is actually what I did for 2 years in the church band and just read the chord charts that the guitarists were reading like that.

I recently learned all of the different scale patterns/shapes (major, minor etc.)on the bass neck and use those to make my bass lines. I could draw a few of the patterns on a piece of paper and post a picture if you would like

[iamchance]

Originally Posted by Stilettoprefer

Well, you could do that. That is actually what I did for 2 years in the church band and just read the chord charts that the guitarists were reading like that.

I recently learned all of the different scale patterns/shapes (major, minor etc.)on the bass neck and use those to make my bass lines. I could draw a few of the patterns on a piece of paper and post a picture if you would like

That would be great!

[Stilettoprefer]

Here is the major pattern:


The squares are where you put your fingers. This happens to be for F# major (just F# on chord charts) but whatever root not you see for a major chord start the pattern on that note and BAM, you gots every major scale. And the square marked "1" is the root note.

I'll post the ones for minor and 7 in a few minutes. Feel free to ask if you have questions, I'll try my best to explain.

b7 scale:

[M0ses]

In response to the above post....

Chord theory is going to be a lot more applicable than scale theory in this case, I believe.

[Stilettoprefer]

Originally Posted by M0ses

In response to the above post....

Chord theory is going to be a lot more applicable than scale theory in this case, I believe.

Oops, I goofed. These patterns are still useful in playing though:P

And my technology is being finicky so it won't let me load the rest of the diagrams. I'll get the 7 and minor scale patterns up tomorrow at some point.