howd you find the root note?

[ElliotBass]

Hi, a really nooby question,
how do you find the root note in a song, is it playing the same notes as the chords that the guitar is playing?

Thanks

[markjazzbassist]

the root note is the first note in a chord.

For instance. If were playing in E minor, the root note it E. If were playing in B7, the root note is B.

Most likely songs have more than 1 chord. The simplest bassline you can do, is to just play the root note of each chord.

[slapslappopslap]

the root note is the first degree of the scale that the chord the guitarist is playing is based on. if hes playing any g chord major minor diminished augmented anything you can play a g. same goes for anything else. if hes playing a chord like d/a it means its a d chord that has the a as the lowest note (an inversion) so you could play d or a.

[Jared Lash]

Originally Posted by ElliotBass

Hi, a really nooby question,
how do you find the root note in a song, is it playing the same notes as the chords that the guitar is playing?

Thanks

The root note of most chords is the lowest note being played and is the note that the chord is named for. For instance, a C major chord is made up of the notes C, E and G. In this case, C is the root note. Inversions are chords where the root isn't the lowest note, though the chord is still named after the root.

Hope that helps.

[Scottgun]

If you look at song chart for guitar or piano, they usually have the chord names above the staff. If you play the note named, you will get along fine in general.



Scott

[dlloyd]

Originally Posted by ElliotBass

Hi, a really nooby question,
how do you find the root note in a song, is it playing the same notes as the chords that the guitar is playing?

The strongest notes to use in the bassline are the chord tones, and the strongest note of all is the root. It is this note that all chords are built from.

It's really easy to figure out the root note of a chord. Take the following chords:

Bb
Bbm7
Bbaug
Bb7
Bb13b5b9

...in all those cases the root note is Bb.

Cmaj7
C9
Cm7b5
Cadd9

...all those have C for the root.

If you have a chord progression that goes:

||C |Am |Dm |G7 ||

The root note for the first bar is C, A for the 2nd, D for the third and G for the fourth.

The rest of the chord name determines the other chord tones you can use.

[BassChuck]

+1 on all this.

A couple of interesting things to consider. With diminished 7th chords and Augmented chords... Any chord member can be used as the root, so for dim7th and Aug chords choose your root as part of a good bass line.

Also, if the harmonic texture is very complex, random, polytonal, then you can play any note because the sense of tonality will not be present, and the concept of 'root' is meaningless.

[ElliotBass]

Thanks a lot guys, that helps