chord progressions

[Araillac]

Ok, I know I've asked about chords and stuff like a zillion times but I just can't grasp the concept yet. I'm hoping after enough instructions that it will finally click. Anywho, here's my question.

Say, I've got a C chord. A 'C' chord is C E G in 1-3-5. So do I play only those 3 notes on different octaves kind of like CC E GG E G C EE G EE C G like I'm making up some kind of melody to go along with it or am I doing arpeggios and just playing C E G C E G C E G until it goes to something like G and then play G B D G B D?

I am dying to learn this cause I know my bass skills will improve immensely when I do and also because I put out that I was looking for a band and contacted a few people via e-mail and now a band wants me to come out to do some chord progressions with them and I'm freaking out cause I feel like a noob. (yes, a noob, I'm also a gamer )

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[mattygbass]

play whatever sounds good to you, theres is no rules on what to play over a chord.

 

[Bassist4Life]

The band wants you to play chord progressions? Ok. They don't want you to learn some songs?

I don't think you would be out-of-line by calling and saying, "I want to do my best to prepare for the audition. Can you be more specific? What chord progression did you have in mind? Blues? Rhythm Changes? Are there any songs you would like prepared?"

Do your best to get an idea of what they're looking for. What style of music does the group play? Is this a jazz group, funk group, or a blues group. It matters. The way you play the changes will depend on the style.

I know this gives you more questions than answers, but you need more information.

Peace,
Joe

 

[Araillac]

But what exactly does that mean? Like, It's a C chord and the song is in C, I just play stuff along in the C scale that sounds good with the C or G chord or whatever chord happens to come up?

 

[Bassist4Life]

PS. Complete your profile so we can know a little more about you.

 

[Araillac]

I did ask that. I told me they were gonna print me out their set list and have me do chord progression. I didn't ask what kinds though. Maybe I should, that's a good point. (I hope their setlist isn't too big. They said they only have 10 or 11 originial songs so far. Hopefully I can get there pretty early, like an hour, and write down tabs under the notes. I can read music but not fast.)

 

[totalimmortal08]

it really doesnt matter what you play over a chord as long as it sounds good to you. that being said, in your standard bach music, there are some rules you have to follow..but who cares =)

 

[Araillac]

So all that fancy chord stuff only matters in classical music?

 

[zandar]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but it sounds like you might be over complicating things. Bass chords and double stops are really cool, and definitely worth exploring, but they're one of those things that you'll probably work up to and add into your playing when it makes sense...ie when there is space in the arrangement. This could be due to sparse/nonexistent other instrumentation, a turn that allows a bass highlight, or songs and styles that are written around the concept of busy or intricate bass parts. If you're not already writing or playing in one of these situations then there's probably no hurry to wrap your head around it if you're not grasping it right away. The band asking you to play a "chord progression" is probably more interested in having your come up with a nice bass line that goes along with the chord progression that they're playing, which is 95% of being a bassist.

 

[Araillac]

Ah well I can do that. So after more years of experience then I'll probably understand. Kind of like a martial arts. You can read a whole book on the entire martial arts and know everything about it, but unless you practice it, you won't be able to do it.

 

[funkydanbass]

The statement that 'there is no rules of what to play over a chord' is not that helpful for a beginner. You are on the right track by approaching chord progressions with arpeggios, particularly when writing a bass line. The major or minor scale of a key can be looked at in terms of modes, essentially the 'key' major scale starting and finishing on each chord's note: For example in the key of C.

Chord Triad Mode
C maj - C E G - C D E F G A B C (C Ionian)
D Min - D F A - D E F G A B C D (D Dorian)
E min - E G B - E F G A B C D E (E Phrygian)
F maj - F A C - F G A B C D E F (F Lydian)
G Maj - G B D - G A B C D E F G (G Mixolydian)
A min - A C E - A B C D E F G A (A Aeolian)
B dim - B D F - B C D E F G A B (B Locrian)

This sequence of chords and modes applies to every key. Of course there are other notes (and scales), that can be played on these chord types, understanding how chords, arpeggios and modes all fit together is good starting place.

Let your ears guide you, and make sure you look a little deeper into the songs that you dig.

 

[cowsgomoo]

here's my take on it:

your main job as a bass player is to outline the basic harmony and rhythm of a piece

so, putting aside rhythm, your basic harmonic job is generally to give some information about what chord is playing at that moment, and to show when the chords change

ok, there a million times that job isn't necessary, or you can otherwise deviate from it, but that's the core of bass playing regardless of the style of music you're playing: show what's happening with the harmony/chord changes

so, if your guitar player/keyboard player/whatever is playing a C chord and you have to supply a suitable bass line, your first consideration ought to be to choose notes that are from within the chord... most frequently the best note to show the fundamental harmony is the root note... so in a C chord (C, E & G), the starting point is a C in the bass

from the root, any note choice you make takes you further from the basic harmony... you can play any note at all, but some notes are so alien to the prevailing harmonic environment that you can only effectively use them sparingly, as briefly-sounding passing notes

remember that although your basic job as bass player (outline the rhythm, outline the harmony) remains the same regardless of music genre/style, the way you do it (and how thorough you have to be) DOES vary according to style... so if you're playing walking jazz bass, it's very common to be very detailed about the harmonic changes... a good jazz bass player will be able to paint a very accurate picture of the chord changes, whereas if you're playing ACDC-style hard rock, you frequently give less harmonic information and pound out root notes

pounding out root notes is not usually very inspiring for bass players, but it often needs to be done.. we're one component in a machine, and someone has to occasionally step up and do the simple/boring job.. you should never be too proud to play simple if the piece needs it (on the other hand, you have to be able to play frantic 32nd notes if the piece needs that too)

ok.. so over the C chord, you can play what you like, depending on style, but your starting point ought normally be the root of the chord

well, what about the other notes you could possibly play?

our ear judges the 'harmonic relevance' of a note depending on many factors, including:

1. how loud the note is
2. how long the note sounds for
3. how high/low the note is
4. whether it is is in the current chord or not
5. whether it sounds diatonic or not
6. what notes preceded it
7. whether the same note/motif has appeared before, and what relevance it had then
8. whether it falls on a strong (emphasized) or weak (not emphasized) part of the bar

as you can see, many factors are at play in determining how a note is judged by your ear (totally subconsciously)... notes played on strong & weak beats have very different meanings... to use our C chord example, the very strongest part of a bar is usually the first beat... so on the 'one' of a bar, your first consideration should be to play a big fat 'C' note... nice and loud (point 1), long enough for them to get the idea (point 2), nice and fat & low, no piccolo bass notes please (point 3)... you get the idea

on weaker parts of the bar (usually off beats and at places within the beats) you can usually place more unusual notes, since the ear often places less importance on them.. especially if you've just hit a big fat ROOT on the ONE...

so, no you don't have to just play notes from the basic triad of a chord, because you have all these little gaps to put other notes

now... since chords normally change throughout a piece of music, we come on to the second part... the bass must indicate the chord changes... so if your C chord is followed by an Am chord, your line has to describe that chord change... some very simple options are: you can pound out root notes through the chords, or you can play arpeggios, or you can play a scalar run that connects the chords, or you can suggest movement chromatically, you can play a line in counterpoint to the melody or another instrument, or you can do a combination of all of these things... the fact that you have strong and weak places to play different notes means that there is a lot of scope to play virtually any note you like provided there is a sense that the note fits into the 'importance hierarchy' discussed above... this is what people mean when they say you can play any note and make it work.. you CAN, but conditions have to be right.. you can't just hit a Gb on the 'one' of a C major chord and expect to make it work somehow... there are very few times when that'll work

by the way, you do not THINK consciously about any of these things while playing... you just play a lot, listen a lot, and play a lot some more... just remember what your job in the ensemble is, and it'll all fall into place

 

[Ten Four One]

Invalid Link Removed

This video will teach you everything you need to know about playing bass....

Of course until you get to the point where you understand all that take this overly simplified lesson:

The #1 note you can play is the root of the chord. The bass defines the chord and playing the root is a great way to do that.

The #2 note you can play is the fifth (G in your example). The G doesn't add too much to the chord, but it creates a bit of interest. The Milt Hinton video does a lot of this, in different octaves. If the chord is C, he may play

g           5
d         5   5
a  3   3         3     3
e    3              3

Just outlining a lot of C's and G's in a very predictable order.

These are also the notes he'd play when he says "the tonic and the dominant" - that means the root and the fifth. A lot of country music is good, solid root-fifth stuff, but not as all over the fretboard, they'll just stick to the lowest version of the root and the fifth either above or below it and that's it.

Any other note you might want to play you can think of as adding color or character to the bassline.

The third would be a common choice here, as would the sixth. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that the sixth is a more common choice than the third.

Good examples of root-fifth playing:

- Add It Up by the Violent Femmes
- Country Death Song also by the Violent Femmes

Honestly, Root + Fifth is very solid, but also a little lame, unless you can really dress it up like Brian Ritchie in Add It Up, but otherwise as you can see in Country Death Song, which is a pastiche of country music, it's a bit of a joke.

Examples of adding the sixth.
- She Caught the Katy by.. (?) Duck Dunn on bass anyway
- Just My Imagination by the Temptations
- Super Duper Love Song by Joss Stone (basically a sped up rip-off of Just my Imagination)
- I Can't Turn You Loose by Otis Redding (Duck Dunn on bass again)

Putting it all together:
Rescue Me by Fontella Bass

Rescue Me has it all. Root-fifth, sixths, thirds, inversions (playing the third or fifth lower than the root) and a very recognizable little riff.

Ramble On by Led Zeppelin (the pretty melodic line played way up on the neck)

Another master class in putting it all together - root + 5, sixths, a little run with thirds. I'm posting this video because the audio sucks, yet despite this you can really hear the fifths and sixths and the expectancy they add to the music.

Also notice how he plays melodically during the slow bits where there's lots of room under the chords, and then for the choruses he switches back to a more root note approach, though highly rhythmic. This is an important point - you only play the notes you have the room to play, you don't play them all because you can play them all. On a two chord ditty like this, you may want to add more notes to keep it interesting, but otherwise you may want to keep it simpler.

 

[JimmyM]

MarkTAW, I believe the act you're looking for "She Caught The Katy" was the Blues Brothers.

Araillac, every song in the world is made up of chord progressions. And you don't have to be dead fluent in theory to play along with them. But as you keep playing, you do develop a library of cool riffs you can use and an understanding of how to make more. My idea for playing chord progressions I'm just learning is to stick with the root until I get more comfortable with it, then look for places where I can be creative without ruining the song. But it gets way easier the more you do it. It's just that first time, you know?

 

[Ten Four One]

MarkTAW, I believe the act you're looking for "She Caught The Katy" was the Blues Brothers.

Well I know they did it, but who did it first?

 

[Just J]

MarkTAW, I believe the act you're looking for "She Caught The Katy" was the Blues Brothers.

Araillac, every song in the world is made up of chord progressions. And you don't have to be dead fluent in theory to play along with them. But as you keep playing, you do develop a library of cool riffs you can use and an understanding of how to make more. My idea for playing chord progressions I'm just learning is to stick with the root until I get more comfortable with it, then look for places where I can be creative without ruining the song. But it gets way easier the more you do it. It's just that first time, you know?

What he said. Pretty much every song you'll ever learn is based on a chord progression, be it the 12 bar blues (which you should know), or something more complex. I take the same approach as JimmyM, get comfortable with the changes, first, then go from there.

As you get comfortable playing, you'll figure out ways to lead into the next chord.

When playing, you don't have to stick to just the chord tones, but you do want to avoid playing "bad" notes on strong beats.

 

[DocBop]

Well I know they did it, but who did it first?

I used to work for Jesse Ed Davis the guitarist with Taj Mahal who wrote and recorded She Caught The Katy back in 1968. The early Taj stuff is classic examples of simple great Blues. The band on that album was

Taj on vocals and harp
Jesse Ed Davis guitar and piano
Chuck Blackwell on drums
Gary Gilmore on bass

Check out Gary's bass line very different than Duck's with the Blues Brothers I dig the way Gary did the turnaround.