Do these notes work in your mind?

[MichelD]

I'm playing along with a demo recording a friend made in order to learn the song to record a bass part on it.

He's got a bar of D, a bar of F#m, half a bar each of G and A7 then one bar of D

D F#m G A7 D
//// //// // // ////

The tempo is pretty relaxed so I've been playing a descending line : D--C# over the D chord,

B --A over the F#m and then simply the root G and A for those chords and root -five for the last D, then the line repeats three more times before the chorus.

The thing is that it sounds okay to me, but I am not hitting the root or even the fifth for the F#m, I am actually playing the four and third of F#m.

Is that acceptable?

If he wants root-five all the way through on all the chords I can do that too, I just wanted to play something different but totally serve the song too.

 

[bholder]

Sure, they work in my mind, but my mind's a fairly scary place...

...if you like the way it sounds, it's all good. Well, helps if your bandmates like it too...

 

[Papageno]

The line is in D major. F#min is the iii chord, which rather weak; it is essentially a substitute for the I chord (D). So it is not critical at all not to outline it very explicitly. Furthermore the descending scale leads strongly to the cadence IV V I, which is then clearly outlined by the roots G A D.

 

[MichelD]

The line is in D major. F#min is the iii chord, which rather weak; it is essentially a substitute for the I chord (D). So it is not critical at all not to outline it very explicitly. Furthermore the descending scale leads strongly to the cadence IV V I, which is then clearly outlined by the roots G A D.

Thank you.

 

[Mushroo]

Descending bass lines like D-C#-B-A-G are solid, timeless choices. Reminds me of composers like Pachibel and Bach.

May I humbly suggest, that your bass line kind-of-sort-of reminds my ears of the following progression, which is a "staple" chord progression used in pop songs like "No Woman, No Cry" or "Don't Stop Believing":

D - A/C# - Bmin - G

Or in Roman numerals:

I - V - vi - IV

(If you are not familiar with the notation A/C#, it means "A major, 1st inversion" or "A major with C# in the bass.")

 

[Flamingo21]

Yes, those notes totally work in my mind.

FTR, I graduated in Theory of Classical Music.

 

[dreamadream99]

I've been playing a descending line : D--C# over the D chord, B --A over the F#m and then simply the root G and A for those chords and root -five for the last D

The bass line is not required to be root based. You can play other notes, as long as the songwriter is OK with that. I say that because, when you play a bass note that is not in the current chord, you are altering the harmony of the song—therefore altering the songwriter’s intent.

 

[BassChuck]

No, not acceptable, not at all. You must quit playing bass immediately and surrender your instrument (I'll send you my address). Any further attempt on your part to create music will result in an erasure of music history and we will all be forced to admit that Pat Boone is actually hip.

 

[Malcolm35]

The bass line is not required to be root based. You can play other notes, as long as the songwriter is OK with that. I say that because, when you play a bass note that is not in the current chord, you are altering the harmony of the song—therefore altering the songwriter’s intent.

Yes, yes, yes, yes. If we follow the chords and play notes of the chord, they ask us back and sometime give us money.

 

[kevindahl]

Is this an instrumental part? If not, you really have to think about the melody as well. Play what feels and sounds good to you. If your friend does not like it then change the part, no biggie. BTW, there is nothing wrong with playing roots and fifths. That's our bread and butter.

 

[lfmn16]

Is that acceptable?

Acceptable to who? If it sounds right, it sounds right.

The purpose of music theory is not to keep you from writing what you want. I'm 100% pro education, but part of knowing what you're doing is knowing when to step outside the box.

 

[JimmyM]

Acceptable to who? If it sounds right, it sounds right.

The purpose of music theory is not to keep you from writing what you want. I'm 100% pro education, but part of knowing what you're doing is knowing when to step outside the box.

While I wouldn't call playing a 4th over a chord "stepping outside of the box" you are exactly right. Theory doesn't exist to tell you what to play...it exists to explain what people have played.

 

[lfmn16]

While I wouldn't call playing a 4th over a chord "stepping outside of the box" you are exactly right. Theory doesn't exist to tell you what to play...it exists to explain what people have played.

Well, maybe that was a bit of hyperbole.

 

[bearfoot]

If it sounds good, it is good.

I like that it's not too cliche either. When you move B to A underneath the F#m, you're essentially changing the chord itself into a more floral Bm7add9 ,walking down to G.

 

[MichelD]

Is this an instrumental part? If not, you really have to think about the melody as well. Play what feels and sounds good to you. If your friend does not like it then change the part, no biggie. BTW, there is nothing wrong with playing roots and fifths. That's our bread and butter.

It accompanies the vocal and a brief solo over the same chords.

I'm going to record it and also record a simpler more root-oriented bass part and compare to see what works best.

 

[mambo4]

sounds good > belongs to the chord or key

When you play non chord tones matters perhaps more than which non-chord tones you play.
you are helped by the fact that your non-chord notes happen in mid phrase , where you can build tension via dissonance,
rather than at the start or end of the phrase, where the usual expectation is release (consonance)
This is the magic that lets chromatic passages work so well.

 

[Flamingo21]

When you play non chord tones matters perhaps more than which non-chord tones you play. You are helped by the fact that your non-chord notes happen in mid phrase , where you can build tension via dissonance, rather than at the start or end of the phrase, where the usual expectation is release (consonance). This is the magic that lets chromatic passages work so well.

This is a very good point.