If you’ve ever played a fretted instrument, you know that each note is one fret, or half step, away from the next. This is true for bass guitar as well.
Learn the intervals below and above your root and you’ll have a roadmap for transposing chords on-the-fly. This can help to expand your sound without using a capos or changing your tuning.
Keys
Bass players can produce a wide variety of musical tones on their instrument. This diversity is enabled by the use of keys, which are positions on a fretboard that correspond to different musical pitches. Understanding the role of keys in music theory empowers bassists to make better choices when creating riffs and walking bass lines.
Each key has its own unique sound quality and vibe. It also defines which chords, melodies, harmonies and walking bass lines will work well together. Using notes within a given key also prevents awkward note combinations that don’t sound good when played together.
Bassists typically play in four or five keys depending on their genre of music. Some styles require the use of sharp keys while others work best in flat ones. Some songs may also need to be transposed for different instrumentation. For example, a guitar driven band will probably want to transpose Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” into an Eb Major key so that the open strings can be used.
To get started, bassists should focus on learning the first twelve keys of a given musical key. Each of these keys can be played in a number of patterns on the fretboard. These movable patterns can be used to play any major scale on the bass. Each of the green notes in these scale patterns represents the tonic note of a given key. To play a specific scale, position the green note over the correct fretboard shape. Using these patterns allows bassists to build multi-octave scales without having to learn a lot of additional fingerings. This makes it easier to play complex harmonic melodies and walking bass lines. Bassists can also combine these shapes to form larger chromatic scales.
Scales
Scales are the building blocks of bass lines. They give a song a specific sound vibe and mood, and when combined with chords, melodies, harmonies, and walking bass patterns, they form the foundation for great songs. Knowing which scales to use, where they are on the fretboard, and how to position them allows you to create riffs that are in tune and complement the overall sound of the song.
Understanding the different types of bass scales will help you elevate your playing and musical composition. There are a few key types of bass scales that every beginner should know:
Major scales are a staple for any bassist. They are the most common and important type of scale, as they provide the basis for all musical chord progressions and melodies. They also lend a bright, cheery feel to music and are the foundation of many popular genres, including rock, pop, and country.
The minor pentatonic scale is a favorite among bassists for its ability to create a soulful, expressive feel in music. It consists of five notes and can be played in any minor key without risking hitting clashing notes. To practice this scale, start on the A string and play C (middle finger), D (index finger), E (ring finger) G (pinky finger). Repeat this pattern over the other strings in a cycle until you reach the next note one octave higher.
The whole tone scale is an intriguing scale that consists of six notes each separated by a whole step. This gives it an ambiguous, otherworldly quality that is often used by composers like Claude Debussy to add a sense of mystery and tension to music. It can be a challenging scale to master, but it is also an essential for creating bass lines that have a unique and distinctive sound.
Chords
The bass guitar is often used as a chord instrument to accompany pianists, guitarists, or singers. Learning to play basic chords on the bass can help you become a more versatile bass player and learn to play music in any key. Chords on a bass are played the same way as they are on any fretted musical instrument, so knowing the layout of notes on the fretboard is important.
Understanding keys and scales on the bass can help you understand how to play chords and other musical harmonies. A chord is a group of notes that sound together, and the notes in a chord are usually related by their position on a scale or by their root note. For example, a C major chord is made up of the notes C, E, and G an octave higher. The order of the chords on a bass guitar can change depending on the key of the music it is in, but the pattern of the roots will always be the same.
To learn how to play bass guitar chords, it is helpful to first learn the scale of your chosen key. Then, you can begin to practice chord patterns on your bass using the fretboard diagrams below. The open circles on the bass fretboard diagrams represent the root of each chord, while the black dots are the chord- and scale-tones. Note that a bass only requires three strings to complete an octave, so the chord and scale diagrams presented here are for a 3-string bass.
A good starting point for beginners is to learn simple 2- or 3-note chord voicings that are easy to fret. As you master these, you can slowly work your way up to larger voicings that use more chord tones. Some bass players also like to use outside notes (notes that are not part of the chord or key) in their playing, especially if they are linking chords together while walking a bass line. However, it is important to remember that theory is just theory and your ears should be the final judge of what sounds best.
Modes
Modes are a great way to expand your bass playing and give it an extra musical spice. They are also quite easy to learn and just need a bit of practice. They should be thought of as scales and they all have their own fretboard pattern on a standard 4-string bass guitar. Each mode has it’s own sound quality and you should really listen to them to notice this. For example the C ionian mode has a bright and happy feel to it. You’ll hear this on songs like Midnight In Harlem by the Communards or in the song Fight for Your Right to Party by The Prodigy. The aeolian mode on the other hand has a very soothing and relaxing feeling to it and you’ll hear this in many blues songs or the song Hysteria by Def Leppard where Chris Wolstenholme plays a riff using aeolian.
Dorian is another very important bass mode and you’ll hear this in lots of different genres of music. You can find it on songs like So What by Miles Davis or Carry On Wayward Son by Kansas City Funk and Rock band Sting. The phrygian mode on the other hand has a dark and mysterious sound to it and you’ll hear this in songs like The Strokes’ song Good Times.
The Lydian mode starts on the fifth degree of a major scale and you’ll hear it used in jazz music and in pop songs by artists like Elton John. You can also find this in the song Hypnotized by Def Leppard which has a very strange sound to it.
Mixolydian is a common bass mode and it starts on the sixth degree of a major scale. You’ll often hear this in jazz music and it gives your bass lines a very interesting and distinctive sound. Locrian is another uncommon bass mode and you’ll hear it in some jazz songs as well as the song Ten Summoner’s Tales by The Strokes. You can also use it in walking bass lines where you outline a harmony.
Tuning
It’s important to keep your bass guitar in tune, and using a free app or clip-on tuner is a great way to do it. Start with the E string, and compare it to a reference note (either on another instrument, or the A on the piano, for example). Adjust the tuning peg until the reference sound matches. It’s common for instruments to go out of tune over time, so it’s important to check them frequently.
Bassists produce sounds in a variety of ways, from fingerstyle techniques like slap-and-pop, where the player hits lower-pitched strings firmly with their thumb and pulls higher-pitched strings upward to snap against the fretboard. Other techniques, such as tapping, where the player strikes the low strings with the palm of their hand, or hammer-ons, pull-offs and string bending, can add nuance to your playing.
While standard EADGBE is the most commonly used tuning, there are many other options available for bassists to choose from. Some musicians use alternate tunings to achieve different tones or ranges, while others just prefer the way they sound. For example, Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten often play with four-string basses tuned a full tone down from EADGBE, which gives them an extended low range.
There are also other tuning options, such as Drop D and Standard D, which both offer bassists a more aggressive sound by dropping all the strings an octave. This can be easier for beginners to adapt to, as the relationships between the strings are still maintained. Other popular options include D-G-C-F, which is similar to Drop D but allows the bassist to play chord shapes with the same fingers, and C-G-C-F-E, which can provide an even deeper tone.