Reading the bass clef

[MalcolmAmos]

Playing covers - In working up the baseline I have been relying on fake chord or lead sheet music (which does not show the bass clef) for the chord progressions and then deciding on a riff that I think will work best for this song, i.e. simple root and change roots as the chords change or use something like R-3-5-3 as my riff and follow the chord changes. Whether I use a R-3-5-3 or a R-5 has been up to this point just a feel thing on my part.

I would like to start utilizing the bass clef and standard notation and rely upon what the songwriter decided to put in the bass clef, instead of just what I think would work. To do that I am assuming since we play notes and not chords when I see a triad (stacked note notation) I would just play the lowest note -- taking into account inversions.

Am I thinking correctly. A few words on how you go about sight reading and playing bass guitar using the bass clef will be appreciated. Should mention I do read standard notation just need a few hints how to utilize bass clef sheet music. At this point in my journey I think I'll be using the bass clef to work up a baseline, not actually sight reading and playing by rote. I seem to do better just having an outline (riffs to use) and then going with the flow and chord changes.

Appreciate a few words from the wise.

Thanks for your help.

Malcolm

[grifff]

I don't quite understand what you're asking. You can already read bass clef but you want to learn how to utilize the notes that you know how to play?

[Jake of Bass]

IME, you either play what's on the bass cleff or interpret your own bassline from a chord chart.

Generally you won't have chords in the bass cleff, unless you're reading the left hand for piano. Sounds like you've either got the cleffs confused, you're reading piano charts or you just need to word what you're trying to say a little better. But as a very general rule of thumb you can "play it safe" and stick to the lowest notes in the chords, even if they're inverted.

[MalcolmAmos]

Yes I'm using "piano sheet music" or real book sheet music.
And I'm not planing on strumming the triad - so playing the lowest note is the answer I am needing.

Thanks,

P.S. is there single note bass clef sheet music available, like single note lead sheet treble clef - and if so what is it called and where do I find it.

[bassman1987]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

And I'm not planing on strumming the triad - so playing the lowest note is the answer I am needing

A word of caution about always playing the lowest note of a triad: the lowest note is not always the root of the chord. Often you will see the third of the chord as the lowest note (a first inversion) or the fifth note of the chord as the lowest note (a second inversion). Occasionally, you will see a seventh chord with the seventh as the lowest note (a third inversion) but this isn't as common as first and second inversions.

So just be careful; sometimes hitting the third or fifth of a chord on the downbeats can make for a really nifty bass line, but do it all the time and it gets annoying fast

[warnergt]

So what you're saying is that you want to play from the original bass
music instead of improvising from piano or guitar sheet music.

You can buy sheet music with the bass part transcribed. A cost effective
way might be to buy something like the Bass Tab White Pages or, if
you play Beatles tunes, The Beatles - Complete Scores.

That works. However, you're probably going to find yourself buying
a lot of sheet music which can get expensive. My recommendation
is to buy Guitar Pro software. It's very affordable and it's available
for Windows or Macs. It allows you to see and print the bass scores.
The very best part is the availability of free tunes online. You can go
to the Ultimate Guitar Tabs Archives and find literally tens of
thousands of tunes. You download the tunes for free, print them out
and you're on your way.

[Dave Muscato]

Originally Posted by bassman1987

A word of caution about always playing the lowest note of a triad: the lowest note is not always the root of the chord. Often you will see the third of the chord as the lowest note (a first inversion) or the fifth note of the chord as the lowest note (a second inversion). Occasionally, you will see a seventh chord with the seventh as the lowest note (a third inversion) but this isn't as common as first and second inversions.

So just be careful; sometimes hitting the third or fifth of a chord on the downbeats can make for a really nifty bass line, but do it all the time and it gets annoying fast

+1 to be careful about overdoing it, but remember that the composer inverted the chords for a reason. Just be aware of the other instrumentation. If there's a guitar or some other instrument covering the quality of the chords, go ahead and play the lowest note written; that's how it was intended to sound when it was written. In my humble opinion, with a few exceptions for music that's supposed to be extremely minimalist/low-key, few things are more boring than a bass line that just follows the roots of the chords over & over & over again!