bassist, author, clinician, educator
July/August
1998
Making Chords Work On Bass
by Michael Dimin
This is the first in a series of lessons using chords. These lessons introduce
a few ways to use chords and give you the tools to incorporate them into
your playing. There are three ways to use chords:
- As an embellishment to your really groovin' bass line,
- As an accompaniment or "comping" style supporting the ensemble or a soloist,
- As a vehicle for soloing or playing solo pieces in a chord-melody style.
This
lesson will deal embellishing your really groovin' bass line. First,
lets take a look at the playing and voicing of chords. The most important
aspect of playing chords on bass is the choice of notes and their
voicing. Because of the low frequency of the bass, a chord voiced
in a "closed" position (root, third, fifth, seventh) will
sound muddy. In choosing the voicing for a chord, strive for clarity
and definition while trying to faithfully represent the chord and
its function. We must determine which notes of the chord are important.
Choose the notes that give the chord its unique sound and determine
its function within the piece. For most major, minor and dominant
7th chords, voice the root, third and seventh of the chord. The root
is obviously important. The third and seventh, the "guide tones",
give the chord its major, minor or dominant quality. Spread the voicing
of the chord tones to lend clarity and definition. As a general rule,
voice chords with the root on the A string as: root, third and seventh.
For chords with a root on the E string, voice the chord as: root,
seventh and tenth (third up an octave).
Playing chords on bass is accomplished by using a triple stop, the plucking
of three notes simultaneously. Use the side of the thumb to pluck the bass
note (on the E or A string). Use the index and middle finger to play the upper
structure of the chord (index and middle fingers on the D and G strings, respectively).
Exercise 1 shows bars measures 9 & 10 of a funky blues in G. The chords
are descending chromatic dominant 7ths moving from the V chord (D7) to the
IV chord (C7). Exercise 2 is 2 bars of a funk line in F. The chord tones are
arpeggiated, and held to give that chordal quality. Exercise 3 is a reprise
of a slap exercise containing chords from my last lesson on right hand slap
technique (May/June 1998). Finally, Exercise 4 is a Jaco style line in E using
harmonics to define an E13 chord.