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I thought country bass was simple??

#21
rydin4lifebass said:
Malcolm..so you usually assume this progression?

I I I I
IV IV I I
V IV I I

I guess the chorus/bridge are a different story though. It just seems to out of reach for me. I don't have a good ear at all so that doesn't help. If I understand you correctly, assume that progression and if it doesn't sound right, try something else, like maybe the song has a quick IV for the second bar, or something like that? I see how that helps if I'm just playing with a cd but if I'm in front of people, if I don't know the song its not like I have to to rewind and replay something.
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In front of people - the audience will never know the difference. Your guitar buddy seems like he will not know the difference. So until your ear gets better what difference does it make?

You are trying to make this more complicated than it really is. Chill out, you gotta start somewhere - try the best you can and enjoy the ride.

That progression you listed is a more like a 12 bar blues progression. Country is close to that, but, not as sophisticated. More like:
http://www.cowboylyrics.com/tabs/williams-hank/cold-cold-heart-616.html And then that same progression repeats in every verse and chorus. Country is dirt simple if you make it sophisticated you mess it up. That D7 in the third line, according to theory it should be a Dmaj7 chord, in Country you will not see a lot of maj7 chords just dirt simple dominant sevenths thrown in willie nellie. Grab hold and enjoy the ride.
 
#23
rydin4lifebass said:
Thanks..I like Cold, Cold Heart too so that gives me another one to work on. That is basically this progression, correct?

I I I V
V V V I
I I I IV
V V V I


The intro to that sounds like the last four bars of the verse so that it leads into I (D). Am I right in saying that?
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Don't worry so much with how many bars. Sing the song under your breath and when the next chord comes - irregardless of how many bars have gone by - you change to the next chord.

Not following you on the intro, if you say so.......

Good luck.
 
#25
Another popular chord sequence used in both country & bluegrass is whats called the circle of 4. In the key of A the 4 chords would be A, Bm, D & E with the most common usage as a verse or chorus outro. The most common I run across is from D to Bm to E back down to A and start your next verse. Quit often these are 2 beat changes, simple root note accent pushes it nicely. Not being up on my notation I believe this would be IV, ii, V, I turnaround.

I've been fortunate enough to sit in with some fine guitar players who'll feed you the changes, a quick I, I7 change pretty much makes you go the IV. Or they may walk you to the next change. Working with players like this really helps. They know you're not familiar with it and will help you out until it makes sense to you instead of trying to show you up. To my mind that makes them players instead of wankers.
 
#26
Ever played American Pie? That song annoys me to no end. It uses five simple chords (I ii IV V and vi), I think that's all. But, the order of the chords drives me nuts. We did it the other night. I was watching the guitar player's hand constantly. That's what I mean about just needing to know the song.

Oh, and don't forget about how country music likes to leave out or add a couple of beats here and there. That gets awkward sometimes, too, especially if you don't know the song.
 
#27
MalcolmAmos said:
+ 1,000 Yep, it's root five and chromatic runs. Anything else will get you fish eyes from the guys.
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I have to agree with most of what everyone has posted with a few exceptions. I landed a country gig last fall after coming off of an extended blues gig. In the blues gig, use of chromatic runs works much smoother than in the country gig. I have found it to be safe to stay away from chromatics as much as possible. The band make up is 2-guitards, piano, pedal steel, fiddle and drums. I have to be careful not to step on the pedal steel and more so the piano player who is an older honky tonk type pianist.
 
#32
I read and write a lot of number charts. When I write number charts, I mostly write them according to what the bass and drums are going to play. If it's a one five song, then that root and fifth gets one number. If it's a quarter note walking song, the four quarters get one number. It looks to me like you got a "slow count" chart where each number is actually two bars and the split bar is actually a bar apiece. Charts like that are usually written by lead guitar players or piano players. The only time I will write a slow count chart is if it is a song, often a cha cha or ballad, that changes chords a lot within the bar. Those get written slow count so the song is not all split bars, and I make a note of it in the heading.
 
#33
I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I could have never ventured into the bass guitar world without some knowledge of guitar first. It gave me the basic information on chord asssociation, chord changes, bass runs, timing, and so much more to become a decent country bass player. I have played very little professionally, most of all because of the lack of need for it where I live, but I love jamming good country, but I honestly don't know how I could have proceeded without the knowledge of guitar that I have. Starting cold on bass would have been out of the question for me, but playing some guitar (rythym only) certainly gave me the foundation. I play everything by ear, and have never read charts, tabs, etc., but luckily I could always hear the correct chord changes at the right time, so I guess my ear was a big help. I don't have any idea how you would teach someone to listen for chord changes if their ear couldn't hear it first. Like trying to teach timing and feel...you either have it or you don't, I believe.
 
#34
Alot of the songs we play go back and forth from the basic country thump to walking in other parts. David Allen Coe's perfect country song, "You Never Even Called Me by My Name," walks when it goes into the chorus, and is so important to the the overall feel of the song. "The Whiskey Ain't Workin' Anymore," is another good example of that, and another good one to listen to. Have fun playing country, because the bass is a really important part of most country tunes.
 
#37
Yes, country walking lines mostly use chord tones, but can also use the 6th and other scale steps to move around from chord to chord.

I've written some number charts, but mine don't necessarily show anything but what the chord is, and for how long. Once in a blue moon I have added typical notation, just for rhythm purposes with the note names above them. I like to use Roman numerals because you have the option of using upper and lower case for major and minor (and diminished).
 
#40
Let me see if I'm getting this correctly:
In the verses, its simple root-fifth with some runs to the next chord thrown in.

In the verses, its R-3-5-3 up until "Darlin, Darlin". For a C Chord, this would be C-E-G-E and for a G chord G-B-D-B.
After "Darlin, Darlin", its Rest-5-6-7, so for a G chord it would be Rest-D-E-F ?

Is that what you're saying?

To confirm...the version I have is from the "Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy" album and can be heard by clicking below. Is that in G or C ?

Invalid Link Removed
 

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