Running with the Bass

Runs Over Major Chords

First, lets discuss what a major chord is. A major chord is designed to give a natural full sound. It normally sounds rich, and warm. A major chord is formed when you play the 1st (the root) of the scale with the 3rd and the 5th of the scale. So, a C major chord is made up of C - E - G where the C is the root, the E is the 3rd and the G is the 5th in a C major scale. The fingerboard below shows the three notes in the C chord on the bass. In a musical chord chart, major chords are written as just the letter of the root note such as "C" or "A". In some cases a major chord is also written as Cmaj.

Notes of the C Major Chord.

Playing a C chord on a guitar using the standard bar fingering technique, the notes played are C - G - C - E - G. Notice that there are two C's and two G's but only one E. This limited reliance on the E or 3rd to make a natural sounding chord is very important for bass players to take note of. Using the 3rd of a scale too often or hanging on the 3rd will make your bass playing sound awkward and off key. Therefore, playing the pattern shown above in the C chord over and over again is not the best choice. Bass players should stick to the 1st, 5th, and octave of the scale.

Simple bass run.

If you do not want to play the third at all (which is very acceptable), this pattern can be played with the 1st and 3rd finger instead of the 2nd and 4th. This may be a lot easier for many of you. I often use the 1st and the 3rd fingers myself as we will see in the later examples.

Simple run using first and third finger.

By bouncing between the 1st, 5th and the octave, we have improved our sound over just sitting on the root and pounding out quarter notes as so many bass players do. However, this too will soon become boring and tedious on the ears. To spice things up, we need to add passing or accent notes to our pattern. The two easiest notes to add to the pattern are the 4th and natural 7th of the scale.

Fingerings for the 1st and 5th plus 4th and natural 7th accent notes.

Notice that the normal 7th (the major 7th) of the scale has been replaced with the natural seventh of the scale. The natural 7th of the scale is the note played when you play a 7th chord (e.g. A7). Only an experience run master should attempt to put in the major 7th. The natural 7th of the scale will give a much better sound against a major chord. Please note that a natural 7th should never be used against a major 7th chord normally written in chord charts similar to Dmaj7 or sometime C+B (the B is actually the major 7th of the C scale, normally this type of notation is only seen in non-professional tablature because it is not standard music notation). Check your chord chart or ask the guitar player if he is playing a major 7th chord. Although your guitar player may not know either because they often learn to play by ear as well!

Once again, the 1st and the 3rd finger can replace the second and fourth finger in this pattern. Since the 4th and the 6th are never used, the first/third fingers are actually preferred by most bass players in this case. Use the 4th and natural 7th notes only as accents to the notes you are moving to. By varying your pattern of these notes and following the chord pattern of the song with the root note of your scale, you will begin to sound like a much better bass player.

Finally, you can add in the 3rd and the 6th of the scale. I try to never sit on the 3rd or the 6th of the scale for more than a 8th note. Although, adding the 3rd and the 6th into your runs and fills can really jazz them up, overuse of the 3rd and 6th will make the pattern sound messy or even off key.

Possible accent notes, including the 3rd and 6th.

Below are a number of MIDI examples of the different patterns that can be used with these different techniques. If you have a MIDI plug-in installed such as Beatnik, controls for playing the files should appear in the page. If you don't have a plug-in installed, you can download the MIDI files using the links below. These are only examples. You should find your own style by blending these notes to your taste or style of music. Please note that these MIDI files were recorded with a keyboard and not a real bass, therefore, they lack the expression that you will surely build into your playing. This allowed me to make the files small so they could be downloaded and reviewed quickly.

In the next installment of this article, we will be talking about minor and 7th chords as well as runs working between moving chords.

Thanks for reading this article. You may also like to check out the Hanging Ten On Bass which can be found on the Bass page right here on Harmony Central. If you have comments or suggestions for me on this series, please feel free to email me at cliffnotes@hamony-central.com. I do read all my email and your ideas and suggestions are very helpful.

Keep Jamming bass dudes,

Cliff

Cliff Suttle (cliffnotes@harmony-central.com) has been studying music for over twenty years including studies at the University of Michigan. Fluent on keyboards, guitar, and bass, Cliff is currently playing in an all original rock band Middle Earth. Cliff's motto: Understand the theory and you can play anything.