# Bass Chords



## thedarkoceans (Jul 2, 2011)

hhhmmmm so,i fell in love with bass chords.yes,like playing more than one note at the same time . what kind of chords do you use more and what do you suggest ( i dont want to stretch a lot my poor hands)
thanx anyway,tdo.


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## Varcolac (Jul 2, 2011)

I wouldn't suggest more than three notes in a chord on bass, and even that's getting dangerously close to mud. Power chords, of course, as well as two-note root-third chords. 

Songs to check out for an example of that:
Paul Gilbert playing impossible guitar arpeggios, with Billy Sheehan playing the underlying chord progression of E-Esus4-D5-E5 as two-note chords on bass. Most prominent in the intro and outro, but the same bass chord work pops up in the verses.


Geddy Lee playing power chords in one of my favourite Rush songs. Note that as the drums and guitars get busier he goes to playing single notes so he's not competing with Lifeson and Peart for space.


Stanley Clarke being Stanley Clarke. He uses a sort of flamenco guitar technique to hit his chords on this song, using his fingernails in a downstroke. Gets a similar harsh attack to his slap style, but with a much more "guitar-like" rhythm to it. The song's also a masterclass in dynamics for bass, with Clarke going from in-your-face slap-pop-flamenco madness to sitting right behind the keyboard player with hardly any attack at all.


Oh, and harmonics. Bass harmonic chords work beautifully, as these two songs show. Because the harmonics are far higher than the fretted notes, you can get away with more extended chords without it turning into bass-farts. However, you're more limited by the number of notes available as harmonics.


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## deevit (Jul 3, 2011)

Varcolac said:


> I wouldn't suggest more than three notes in a chord on bass, and even that's getting dangerously close to mud.



I play a lot of chords and a lot of them are 4 note chords. Basically, if your tone is mud your chords will be too. Get a clear sound and you are good. Ik mostly use my bridge pickup and make sure you use enough mids, it's all in the mids. Don't go crazy with the lows.
And play high up the neck. It sounds better and you have more reach.

I'd suggest getting comfortable with the basics, major, minor and dominant. Use the root, 3 and 7. These three are the most important too give that major, minor or dominant sound in any chord.

Let's use the key of E as example. 

For a Major chord on bass there are 2 figures you could use. The first is the basic 1, 3, 7 figure, in the second the 3 is played an octave higher wich gives a little more clarity. 


```
fig 1

G  - 8 ----
D  - 6 ----
A  - 7 ----
E  --------

fig 2

G - 13 ---
D - 13 ---
A -------- 
E - 12 ---
```
The same idea for Minor;


```
fig 1

G - 7 ----
D - 5 ----
A - 7 ----
E --------

fig 2

G - 12 ---
D - 12 ---
A --------
E - 12 ---
```
And Dominant;


```
fig 1

G - 7 ----
D - 6 ----
A - 7 ----
E --------

fig 2

G - 13 ---
D - 12 ---
A --------
E - 12 ---
```

Those are some basics for you to have fun with, hope it helps! Good luck!


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## Explorer (Jul 3, 2011)

deevit said:


> Basically, if your tone is mud your chords will be too. Get a clear sound and you are good. Ik mostly use my bridge pickup and make sure you use enough mids, it's all in the mids. Don't go crazy with the lows.



I can't agree with this section more. 

Sadly, not every instrument is up to playing cleanly. It's always worth running any potential purchase through an acoustic amp to see if it can manage that... if, of course, you're interested in playing clean. For some people, that's not a concern.


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## SirMyghin (Jul 3, 2011)

Bass chords aren't much different than guitar chords, if you learn to build them on one, you can build them on the other. Some voicings work better than others and your mileage may otherwise vary.


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## Murdstone (Jul 3, 2011)

Joe Lester uses some nice sounding bass chords throughout the album Prehistoricisms by Intronaut. Great album, it's a shame they toned down the bass on the newer album.


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## thedarkoceans (Jul 4, 2011)

deevit said:


> I play a lot of chords and a lot of them are 4 note chords. Basically, if your tone is mud your chords will be too. Get a clear sound and you are good. Ik mostly use my bridge pickup and make sure you use enough mids, it's all in the mids. Don't go crazy with the lows.
> And play high up the neck. It sounds better and you have more reach.



thanks,i already knew that,but it's helpful to hear from someone that uses chords a lot.i never use lot of lows,i always throw up mids/midhighs/treble.


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## Encephalon5 (Jul 12, 2011)

Dave's Six-String Bass Resource Page


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## SD83 (Jul 13, 2011)

Great... now that I tried it, I realised that I completly suck at playing chords (I need about half a second to switch positions) but that they sound awesome (and clear as piano chords... well not exactly that clear, but really clear... stainless steel strings & piezos supporting the PUs might help). Thx for making me feel like a complete noob again  and for some inspiration


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## MassNecrophagia (Aug 1, 2011)

Every now and then and when I run some charts with friends, I'll comp chords if another bass player shows up. It's an excellent exercise and it never hurts to learn something unusual for your instrument


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