Chord tones for C & G

[mrcbass]

I've found that trying to use the third in a major chord on bass for anything than a passing tone, rarely works well. All of the "rules" are just guidelines for place to start forming ideas. Use your ear to determine if a given "rule" works. You're discovering that it doesn't in this case.

 

[HolmeBass]

Currently just trying to memorize chord tones and just mess around creating bass lines. came across this backing track. Honestly just roots, fifths, and there intervals are sounding decent to me. but that may be just due to lack of experience.

Listening to the backing track, you listed the chords in the wrong order.

It’s G, Am, C. That’s I, ii, IV.

Sometimes playing the 3rd down low can change the sound of the chord too much, in case you were playing the E really low. Also starting with the root before moving to other chord tones can sometimes help.

Also there’s nothing wrong with roots, 5s, and octave.

 

[Mushroo]

I played with the track, and while it isn't one of the very best, there's nothing strange going on that might prevent the 3rds from fitting in.

You don't hear the Bb's?

 

[MotorCityMinion]

If the E doesn’t sound good don’t play it.

"There's nothing wrong with roots, 5s, and octave."

This makes absolute sense.

This is where theory takes a dive. In this case, what you don't know, won't kill you. Try and start with root-5th, keep it simple until you know it, bop around a little bit then advance from there. That track has a nice bounce to it as well.

This would sound nice with a fret less.

 

[Max Bogosity]

I played with the track, and while it isn't one of the very best, there's nothing strange going on that might prevent the 3rds from fitting in.

You don't hear the Bb's?

But the piano is playing the major thirds - B and E. A hundred and some years of blues-derived popular music would argue that a flat third in the lead over a major third in the harmony is just fine.

I’m curious exactly what the OP is playing and if it sounds strange to anyone else.

 

[lermgalieu]

"There's nothing wrong with roots, 5s, and octave."

This makes absolute sense.

This is where theory takes a dive. In this case, what you don't know, won't kill you. Try and start with root-5th, keep it simple until you know it, bop around a little bit then advance from there. That track has a nice bounce to it as well.

This would sound nice with a fret less.

Yeah, agreed, my guiding principle is that you shouldn't play things you don't hear. The OP read kind of as if he was looking for people to change the way he was hearing things. Certainly try other stuff, but if it doesn't sound right, skip it until/unless it does. And as others have said, try to figure out why it doesn't sound right. Full disclosure, I have not listened to the track, but it sounds from some of the comments that what the other instruments are doing might be foreclosing that note. You and the band are a team.

 

[SoCal80s]

What beat you place a note in makes a big difference too. If you're playing a 3rd on the downbeat, it probably will sound odd. And sometimes that's good when needed for effect, but not in a basic line. At least 80% of the time, you will want the root on the downbeat. 5ths work best in the next strongest beat, which might be the 3, or 2 and 4 depending on the song. And thirds would work best on the next strongest beat or as passing tones. 7ths I use only as passing tones. (There are many exceptions, of course).

 

[drumvsbass]

What beat you place a note in makes a big difference too. If you're playing a 3rd on the downbeat, it probably will sound odd. And sometimes that's good when needed for effect, but not in a basic line. At least 80% of the time, you will want the root on the downbeat. 5ths work best in the next strongest beat, which might be the 3, or 2 and 4 depending on the song. And thirds would work best on the next strongest beat or as passing tones. 7ths I use only as passing tones. (There are many exceptions, of course).

^^^^^This^^^^^

 

[Mushroo]

But the piano is playing the major thirds - B and E. A hundred and some years of blues-derived popular music would argue that a flat third in the lead over a major third in the harmony is just fine.

As a sax solo it's fine. But pedagogically, as an instructional video, it's weak-sauce. The video is called "easy backing track in A Minor" so a beginner student naturally thinks they should play the A Minor scale. Then they're like "why does this sound so weird? I don't get it."

 

[Flamingo21]

Agreed. It should have been called G major.

 

[Mechanical]

As a sax solo it's fine. But pedagogically, as an instructional video, it's weak-sauce. The video is called "easy backing track in A Minor" so a beginner student naturally thinks they should play the A Minor scale. Then they're like "why does this sound so weird? I don't get it."

A minor (Aeolian) is the relative minor for C major (Ionian). The only "weird" note in the key of G major (Ionian) would be the flatted 7th (F natural). So yes, I agree that the instructional video could and should be better. (As they all can)

I would suggest that the OP play simple lines like 1-5-3-5 in quarter notes over each chord, because those are the chord tones for each and listen for the quality of the 3rd. Because it shouldn't sound weird.

 

[funkifiedsoul]

Use your ear to determine if a given "rule" works. You're discovering that it doesn't in this case.

Agreed.
Let your ears be the final judge.

 

[sokolasty]

Agreed. It should have been called G major.

I tried as G major with F#, but it dis-sounds. F works just fine.

To my ears it's C major / A minor (on my level it's the same) and I use only what I find in Cmaj/Amin scale.

Bb and Eb hurt my ears.


It's a pity OP left the thread, I wonder how he changed lines.

My .02:
Absolute basic rules I invented:
Root - third - fifth - note next to next root. It has a musical charm of T-800 without one and a half leg, but works as a stating point.
Sevenths and seconds are useful as a passage, one must not hang on it.
One should not hang as well on any note but root, as long as we speak of bass fundamental, not soloing.

 

[BassChuck]

If a note doesn't 'work', check what comes before and after. Sometimes the problem is more in the total sound of the phrase, not just a note. Or, if you want to talk musically, 'think horizontally, not vertically.