Help - What notes are applicable for non-scale notes?

[Phil Smith]

Originally posted by Howard K
C/B is basically CMaj7 with the bass playing the 7th. You can play C major or B lochrian.. I;d stick with the C Major personally, and ust accent the B.

If you just accent the B, you blow the whole purpose of the C/B chord in the progression, the chromatic movement of the harmony.

 

[Howard K]

If you just accent the B, you blow the whole purpose of the C/B chord in the progression, the chromatic movement of the harmony.

Yeah, I s'pose that's right...

Basically, I don't think the bass playing B while the guitar plays C sounds good in this context.
The chromatic harmony doesnt really work here. Out of a 4 chord progression resolving to C the 2nd chord has the most tension, yet it doenst resolve sufficiently in the progression, to my ears at least

IMO of course

 

[rabid_granny]

Originally posted by Howard K
C/B is basically CMaj7 with the bass playing the 7th. You can play C major or B lochrian.. I;d stick with the C Major personally, and ust accent the B.

When you say accent, do you mean just put more emphasis (stronger attack) when I play the B? If I accented the B, would this also include playing the B on the first beat of the bar?

I've found that two things work so far...either playing the B for a whole bar or arpeggiating a Cmaj7 chord.

Could I go C C Bb F and let the guitar play a C C/B Bb F progression?

 

[Phil Smith]

Originally posted by rabid_granny
When you say accent, do you mean just put more emphasis (stronger attack) when I play the B? If I accented the B, would this also include playing the B on the first beat of the bar?

I've found that two things work so far...either playing the B for a whole bar or arpeggiating a Cmaj7 chord.

Could I go C C Bb F and let the guitar play a C C/B Bb F progression?

You can play whatever you want, the question ultimately is this; Are you serving the music with what your playing rhymically and harmonically? Does it sound and feel good? Why would you play C | C | Bb | F over a C | C/B | Bb | F progression?

 

[rabid_granny]

Originally posted by Phil Smith
You can play whatever you want, the question ultimately is this; Are you serving the music with what your playing rhymically and harmonically? Does it sound and feel good? Why would you play C | C | Bb | F over a C | C/B | Bb | F progression?

I've realized that I'm not too sure what playing rhymically and harmonically actually means. Sure I could play something but understanding the theory behind is rewarding.

As for the C C Bb F progression, the first real is because I couldn't think of any good notes for the bar of Bb. Second, I've noticed that something that sounds like a multiple chord progression is actually just one chord. I think "So What" and "Footprints" are examples of heads that have parts that sound like chord changes but are actually just one chord. Third, I've been playing around with the idea of tension...if I play C and the guitar plays C/B, it places more emphasis on the Bb F parts.

Just trying to make some sense out of the madness.

 

[Howard K]

I've realized that I'm not too sure what playing rhymically and harmonically actually means.

Playing rhythmically just means playing a rhythm.
You could play one note per bar, or two, or however many you want, in any rhythm you want!

For example:
1 2 3 4
1 2&3 4
1 2 3&4&
1&2 3&4

etc etc

Playing harmonically... well, when any two or more notes sound together they create a harmony.
So by playing bass in a band, then you are creating harmonies.


So, from phils post:

Are you serving the music with what your playing rhymically and harmonically? Does it sound and feel good?

The question bascially means does the rhythm and the notes you're playing suit the music.. the second sums up the same thing into something that makes sense in laymans terms "does it sound and feel good" - that's the ultimate question really isn't it

Third, I've been playing around with the idea of tension...if I play C and the guitar plays C/B, it places more emphasis on the Bb F parts.

Spot on! Keep it up! A bass player who can add and resolve tension in the right places with one note... well, that's what it's all about in my opinion
That's the power of bass, you only need play the simplest lines, the few right notes in the right place and it works magic!

 

[rabid_granny]

Cool. Thanks for everyone's input. I'll keep plugging away at this song.