Country players help me out...

[streetknight]

I hear a common pattern in a lot of Country music....sounds like Root then the lower 5th back and forth then to next chord...is this right? And what is the walk in to the next one?

TIA

[Atoz]

Take a look here... some good info:

Need some tips for Country bass!!!

[MalcolmAmos]

Yep, it's R-5-R-5 with chromatic runs to the next chord.

Chromatic run - target the next chord (find where it is) then miss it by 1, 2, 3 or 4 frets and then walk to it one fret at a time landing on the next chord for the chord change.

You are working with the G chord and you want to get back to the tonic C. Leave early - look toward the nut, sound the F, E, D, then go to the 4th string for the tonic C.

You have to leave early and work out the timing (chromatic walk) so you are at the next chord for the change. You'll be able to figure out the chromatic walk in 30 minutes, it's a piece of cake, once you understand the principle.

[Pacman]

Malcom, that's not chromatic. That's diatonic.

[funkybass]

Originally Posted by Pacman

Malcom, that's not chromatic. That's diatonic.

Agreed. This is where knowing scales and modes come in handy

[Crazyeelboy]

Funky bass - don't worry about Malcolm. He knows plenty of theory and is probably the first guy around here to offer help.

[Cloverfield]

Lots of Root-Fifth!

Also, in my opinion, much chromaticism (if any) in country typically sounds pretty out there and just bad, although I suppose that depends on what exactly you mean by "country," whether more modern and pop-ish or more old school. As a general rule of thumb though, stick to diatonic walking between roots of chords!

[chuck3]

I would just call it major scales (assuming the song is in a major rather than a minor key), with the main choice being whether to flat the 7th or not.

So go R-5 for the first three bars of the phrase, then in the fourth bar walk the major scale up to the four chord. Then do R-5 on the four chord.

On the turnaround, to get to the five chord, go 3-4-5. Then do R-5 on the five chord. How you handle the rest of the turnaround depends on whether you're flatting the 7th. If more bluesy, yeah. Otherwise, no.

[Mesa]

Originally Posted by Crazyeelboy

Funky bass - don't worry about Malcolm. He knows plenty of theory and is probably the first guy around here to offer help.

While I can appreciate people's eagerness and willingness to help, many, many threads found here in General Instruction quickly become far less than useful due to people not giving accurate information.
People who are great players aren't always great teachers and people who know some theory aren't always blessed with the ability to communicate that knowledge clearly.
For players looking to glean basic information, being precise is very important, as these fundamental ideas and vocabulary are the building blocks to understanding a whole lot of info.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

[ransombass]

Originally Posted by Pacman

Malcom, that's not chromatic. That's diatonic.

+1

[Crazyeelboy]

Originally Posted by Mesa

While I can appreciate people's eagerness and willingness to help, many, many threads found here in General Instruction quickly become far less than useful due to people not giving accurate information.
People who are great players aren't always great teachers and people who know some theory aren't always blessed with the ability to communicate that knowledge clearly.
For players looking to glean basic information, being precise is very important, as these fundamental ideas and vocabulary are the building blocks to understanding a whole lot of info.

Back to your regularly scheduled programming...

My point is that Malcolm makes a pretty darn good contribution around here, so people should keep that in mind before piling on him over what was probably a little careless mistake on his part. Malcolm has provided a heck of a lot of useful information on the forum and he deserves a bit of consideration for it.

[Pacman]

Originally Posted by Crazyeelboy

My point is that Malcolm makes a pretty darn good contribution around here, so people should keep that in mind before piling on him over what was probably a little careless mistake on his part. Malcolm has provided a heck of a lot of useful information on the forum and he deserves a bit of consideration for it.

While I appreciate Malcom's willingness to share, he has also provided a large amount of inaccurate/incorrect information here as well. That was the point.

[Crazyeelboy]

For what it is worth,Pacman, you were bang on to point out the inaccuracy. My comment was about the other posts which seemed to imply that Malcolm does not know scales.

[funkybass]

Originally Posted by Crazyeelboy

For what it is worth,Pacman, you were bang on to point out the inaccuracy. My comment was about the other posts which seemed to imply that Malcolm does not know scales.

My comment was about another thread where he said unless you are soloing, you don't need modes.

[4Mal]

back to your regularly scheduled topic ...

'Country' is a pretty broad spectrum from Western Swing, through 'grass, Hank & Company, The Eagles, etc and so on... Some of it rely's heavily on the I, V. Much of it doesn't. I play as much I - iii - V - vi (and variants thereof) as I do I -V.

and then you have the whole Nashville country ballad stuff where you just have to have a chart of get started...

In my opinion, feel is the thing that trips up new country players. In a blues walk, we're often behind the beat. In country more often we're out front so you abso'freakin'lootly need to know the changes as you are often leading everyone else into the next chord. So you'd best be on the root of the chord when it counts!

There are a whole bunch of songs based on some I IV V variant - short4, long 5, long 4 short 5, through the 3 through the 2 - the telling you a specific set of notes isn't really going to help much IMO.

My recommendation would be to pick a style, grab a few cd's of good examples and study the style a bit.

Bill Kirchen always has a stout rhythm section and he covers a lot of styles in country. Hammer of the Honkey Tonk God's and Tied to the Wheel might be good places to start.

The Mavericks are a decent example of the 'modern traditional' style.
Hank Williams of course - snag a greatest hit's from Hank, maybe Merle too.
Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline wouldn't be a bad place to listen either.

and then there is the whole 'country rock' thing. Earlier (pre Joe Walsh) Eagles - some great traditional bass playing there.

If you have Sirrius or some other sattelite radio gizmo, listen to 'Outlaw Country'

Oh yeah, learn to identify the third, the fifth and the seventh vocal harmony parts and get to where you can sing them - and you'll find yourself busy as a country bass playing sideman. A mantra among country bass players is 'there are no boring bass lines, only boring bass players'. It's up to us to find a way to make simple intersting.

[funkybass]

I do agree country is pretty broad. Most current "country" is pop IMHO.

[Crazyeelboy]

Originally Posted by funkybass

My comment was about another thread where he said unless you are soloing, you don't need modes.

Now, that's funny.

[Crazyeelboy]

Originally Posted by funkybass

I do agree country is pretty broad. Most current "country" is pop IMHO.

It is, but the styles each require a certain approach to get the right sound. Years ago I went from playing only progressive rock and fusion (late 70s) to country and it was a real adjustment!

[zenman]

Wasn't Malcolm half right though? His description of a chromatic run was correct. The example he used was not.

[funkybass]

Originally Posted by zenman

Wasn't Malcolm half right though? His description of a chromatic run was correct. The example he used was not.

Yes, his description was correct, but the example was wrong. I've found that diatonic runs are more common in country than chromatic.