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King of Chords E-Zine, Issue #005 -- 5 golden rules of basslines
November 10, 2006
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Five elements that generate great bass lines

1. Play the root of the chord

2. Play the root followed by the notes of the chord

3. Play the root followed by the notes of the scale

4. Use a pentatonic scale for each chord

5. Walking bass lines

What about guitar playing? well I,m sure this is gonna be very helpful

Understanding how a bass line functions is crucial if you want to transcribe the chords of a song.

The bass line will help you calculate the chord progression.

The chord progression is used to determine the key of the song.

Then you can extend the chords within the key and use the Major scale for your guitar solo.

don't forget to get your mp3 tracks by clicking the graphic below

5. Walking bass lines

Walking basslines link the roots of each chord via its scale notes.

If you run out of space you fill the gap with a chromatic non scale note.

Example.

The key: - G major G A B C D E F#

The chords: - Am7 & D7

(they are the second chord of G Major and the fifth chord of G Major)

||: Am7 / / / | D7 / / / :||



Getting there too soon? use CHROMATIC NON SCALE NOTES …. near the end of the bar.

Check out “Hey Joe” by Hendrix(below) and most Big Band bass parts

|| C / G / | D / A / | E / / / | E / / / ||





However



When the chords are too close or to distant we follow the root on beat one with a chord note and proceed to walk up or down the scale from that position.

More solutions for other chord progressions in G Major below.

||:Am7 / / / |C / / / :||

A E D C# C E F# G

||:Am7 / / / |Bm7 / / / : ||

A E D C B F# G G#

||: Am7 / / / |G / / / : ||

A E F F# G D C B

||: Am7 / / / |Em7 / / / : ||

A G F# F E F# G G#

By observing the above we become aware of the permutations involved.

Here is bassline that may be mistaken for supporting E7 or E

||E F# G G#|A / / / ||

but an understanding of walking bass rules allows it to be used for Em7 also.

So, walking bass, "king of bass lines"

Linking roots using scale notes, and adding chromatics at the last moment.

There`s more , sure is!

When chords change key strange things are possible!!


NEXT MONTHS NEWSLETTER



More walking bass:- changing keys and a recap.


CHORD PROGRESSION OF THE MONTH



Purple Rain by Prince


click below and go to Worldphonic listen to my latest tracks


finally the Easy Blues eBook is here




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