Chords are two or more notes played together. On the bass they are played by either plucking or strumming.

Plucking

Bass chords are best played by having high notes and a low root note played together. Playing all low notes in a chord can be very muddy.

The following major and minor 10th chords use a thumb and finger simultaneously on the E and G strings. (A 10th is simply a 3rd played an octave higher).

• A major chord using this technique involves the 10th being one fret higher than the root note (e.g. C major has the root note on fret 8 on the E string and the 10th on fret 9 but on the G string).

• Minor 10th chords always have the root note and 10th on the same fret. (e.g. C minor has the root note on fret 8 on the E string and the minor 10th also on fret 8 but on the G string).

Example X1

What key is this progression in?

Example X2

Example X2 uses thumb and index fingers for the two note chords and thumb, index and middle fingers for the three note chords. Use plenty of vibrato.

Example X3

Example X3 is in Amin and adds a minor 6th in the third bar. You might notice that the notation has two voices. This is because the rhythm of the open A string notes is different to the higher notes. The only way to notate contrasting rhythms correctly is to assign a different voice to each part like you often do with guitar and piano notation.

Example X4

Example X4 belongs with Example X3 and complements it by resolving to E after starting on Esus4.

Strumming

Most strumming is simply moving your right hand up and down on the strings, with or without a pick.

The next example involves strumming the D and G strings and playing a low D (detuned E string) with your thumb. It uses a funk guitar technique where the right hand strums continuous 16th notes. The left hand mutes some of the chords by holding gently and plays the other chords normally by applying pressure with the left hand.

Example X5

Example X5 has been notated in a simple manner to make the essential notes easier to follow. Please note the following:

• The bottom E string is detuned to D. This low D is played every 2 bars and this note lasts for 8 beats (i.e. 2 whole notes (semibreves) tied together.

• There is also a regular open D string which is emphasised more in the audio track than in the video. These notes have a different rhythm pattern. To write out all three rhythms together would involve writing 3 distinct voices.

• As mentioned above, your right hand plays a consistant 16th note pattern strumming down and up. When a note is an eighth note you actually miss the strings once which doubles the length of the note from a 16th note to an 8th note whilst preserving the down / up strumming pattern.

This piece is deceptively tricky. I would recommend you approach it in the following order:

1. Play the G string notes as written in the notation without worrying about the 16th note strumming pattern.

2. Now include the 16th note strumming pattern creating the additional ghost notes and misses (on the 8th notes).

3. Expand the part to include the regular open D strings. (These are more prominent in the audio version).

4. Now add the long, low D notes every two bars.