Double Bass Acoustic BASS - TAB Query - D Minor - G/F Split

[Tam7088]

Hi Guy's



I am trying my hand at writing TAB again need a little help - Key of C

I am having a little problem trying to figure the D Minor notes for the Acoustic BASS over two measures in 2/4 timing

The C Chord would look like this:

G I----------------I-0----------------I

D I----------------I------------------I

A I--3------------I-------------------I

E I----------------I-------------------I

Also how would a Split of G & F (one measure G one measure F) over two measures in 2/4 timing be written to maintain the beat leading into a C Chord



I am thinking the First Measure to be the Down beat and the Second Measure the Off beat

Hope this makes sense.

I am NOT a Bass player so please go easy on me.

 

[Dave Martin]

Why would you want to write tab? I've never seen a bass player in a bluegrass band use it. If you want to write out a specific line, notation is a far better way to do it. And if you want to write chord charts for specific songs, the Number system works great.

I'm not trying to be snarky or cause a commotion here - I'm honestly wondering why in the world you'd want or need to write tab...

 

[Margaretdesiree]

I would love to cheat with some tabs for fiddle solos and such. But usually if a bass player brings 'tabs' or 'charts' to a gig everyone else is going to roll their eyes.

 

[pskelly]

I saw that nobody answered your question so here is my try at it:

To play D-minor you would alternate between the open D string (the second string) and the open A string (the third string). It's the same way you would play D-major, because in beginning bluegrass the major and minor of each chord are played the same way.

To play one measure of G followed by one measure of F you would play the open G (first) string, then the open D (second) string -- those two notes are the measure of G -- then you would play the second string (the D string) at the "third fret" (if we had frets), then the third string (the A string) at the "third fret." Those two notes are the measure of F.

As the other people who posted said, it's rare to see a bass tab in bluegrass, but they are out there. More useful is a chord chart.

A chord chart is a list of the chord letters that make up the song, organized into the verses, chorus, and instrumental breaks of the song in the order they appear.

Later on there's another kind of chart called a number chart is the next step up from a chord chart: it uses numbers to represent the chords of a song instead of letters. It's something that a more intermediate player would use. A chord chart only tells you how to play the song in one particular key, while a number chart, once you learn how to understand how the numbers work, allows you to play the song in any key that comes up.

Both of these kinds of charts assume you already know where to play each chord for bluegrass bass. Then you don't have to write out every note in the song in a tab; you can just work from a chart. (Of course the best way is eventually to play the song enough times that you can play it by ear from memory.)

Even a few lessons from a bass teacher will help you learn where to play the basic bluegrass chords on the bass. If you find a bass teacher who doesn't know bluegrass, tell him/her you want to learn to play a "two-beat" or "root-and-five" and play them a bluegrass song from a CD. They will get it and it will work fine.

Good luck!