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Bass Lesson 08 - Root 3rd 5th 3rd

Note - the bass lines in lessons 1-11 can all be played with E Blues Backing Track No Bass which you can download from the Bass Guitar Lessons home page or here: mp3 wma

Bass Line 08 - Root 3rd 5th 3rd

08 Bass Line Root 3rd 5th 3rd mp3 wma
Drums and bass only. Approx 1 minute, 1.4mb.

In this lesson we are going to introduce the 3rd degree of the scale to a bass line using the root and the 5th notes. The 3rd we are playing in the bass lines below is a Major 3rd. The 3rd degree of the scale determines whether or not a chord is Major or minor. Most blues bass lines use the Major 3rd; however you'll often use the minor or flat 3rd (b3rd) to walk up to the Major 3rd. Well look at walking up and down to chords a bit later on.

The tab for bass line root 3rd 5th 3rd for each chord played on Bass Line 07 is played as follows;

Bass line over the E chord:
G|--------------------------
D|--------------------------
A|--------------------------
E|--0--0--4--4--7--7--4--4--
Chords
|---E-----------------------

Bass line over the A chord:
G|--------------------------
D|--------------------------
A|--------4--4--7--7--4--4--
E|--5--5--------------------
Chords
|---A-----------------------

Bass line over the B chord:
G|--------------------------
D|--------------------------
A|--------6--6--9--9--6--6--
E|--7--7--------------------
Chords
|---B-----------------------

If you aren't sure which chord is being played when, the progression is the standard blues progression that we used in Bass Lesson 01 - Blues Bass in E which is:

The turnaround in bar 12 for the above bass line is played as follows:
G|--------------------------------------------------
D|--------------------------------------------------
A|--------------[(7) = tied; let previous 7 play]-----
E|--0--5--6--7--(7)--7--7--7----------------------
Chords
|---B-----------------------------------------------

In lessons 01 through to 07 we've now used all the chord tones from a dominant 7th chord. The chord tones from a dominant 7th chord are; the root, 3rd, 5th and b7th notes. In lesson 09 we will add the 4th degree of the scale to a bass line. This is moving away from the chord tones and will create a nice walking bass sound.

Bass Lesson 09 - Root 3rd 4th 5th