you're right, thats a chord. and yes, bassists use chords- everyone does, from bassists to trumpet players in improvisation(me being both
). the chords outlined over your music are basically a road map (cliche i know), kind of an outline of the notes you should be playing. once you start learning more about music (i'm not sure if you're new to all music, or just playing the bass), you will know what that symbol means. check the other threads for help on chord structure and interpretation. you might want to read them immediately to understand what people are going to be telling you.
i'll give ya a quick fix tho- in this case, D7, the notes it's telling you to play go with the notes used for a D dominant chord. you can play the root, D- this is the easiest, simplest, and safest way to play with the music, but it gets boring after playing roots for thirty two bars. so get to know your chords and then you can experiment with notes and making your music more interesting.
and no, those chord names arent just for guitar players lookin over the bassists shoulders. everyone gets those notes, so that everyone knows what to play.
good luck, any q's post em or pm em!
