Quote:
Originally Posted by Juggo  Yeah but thats weird.
I meen whats the system for building a chord.
Lets say i wanna play a A chord how should i know what notes i should combine?
And aint this --0--3--5-- notes
and this a chord --3--
--5--
--2--
There must be a system right?
Or is it just Mozart that played notes combined and said
"Oh **** im gonna call this wicked sound a A Minor Chord"
Any help apreciated 
Note: the other notes i made there are supposed to be under eachother. The 3 5 and 2 :S |
bassteban beat me to the recommendation of Hellborg's gig bag book. I bought it at GC one day, but they have it for sale at Amazon for $7. Here's a link:
Chord Bassics
While it's a great reference on chord shapes, it doesn't explain any theory, which it sounds like you need to investigate. Here is a
very basic rundown of chords. Basic chords are built from playing every other note of the scale.
For instance, C major has the notes C, D, E, F, G, A & B
These notes are called the root, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th
A C chord would start on C, skip D, play E, skip F, and play G. So the C chord is C-E-G Chords are called major or minor depending on the third (the second note in the chord, in this case E) If that note is three half steps away, it is a minor 3rd. If it is four half steps away, it is a major third.
E is four half steps from C so it is a major third and the chord is a major chord.
The next chord in the key of C would start with D, skip E, play F, skip G, play A for a chord of D-F-A Since F is three half steps rom D, this chord has a minor third and it is a D minor. You can continue on building all the chords of the scale this way.
If you try it yourself, you should see that C is major, D is minor, E is minor, F is major, G is major, A is minor, and B is diminished which means that it has a minor third, but a flatted 5th, giving it an ominous tone.
The chords I've just described are called triads, meaning that they are made up of 3 notes. Adding the next note for each chord (again skipping one note in the scale and playing the next one) would be a seventh chord.
There is a whole world of weird chords like sixth, ninth, & eleventh chords, suspended 2nd & 4ths, inversions (where the same notes are played but with a different note as the lowest or root note) and plenty more.
At the very least, you should understand how chords are constructed as it will help you enormously in constructing basslines. Not every bass player has to
play chords though.
I think double stops work wonderfully in almost every genre of music, but playing chords is not a necessity.
I do play chords fairly often, but I am in a band with one guitar player where I often have some space. I strum chords and arpeggiate a lot. But more often than not, I play chords more as a piano player, hitting all the notes at once rather than strumming or raking like a guitar player.
I do this on a four string bass by plucking the A, D & G strings with my first, middle & index finger and the E string with my thumb. I can do the same thing on my 5 string bass using my pinky on the high C.
Invest the time to learn about chords. Even if you don't play them yourself, it will make you a better bass player.
*I wrote this quickly, so if anyone spots any flaws in my music theory (never my strong suit) be sure to let me know*
