I got an important question if I’m playing a song but i don’t wanna only play the root note of each chord what can I do to get away from the root note and play different notes that’s sound good?
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Root note problems
- Thread starter Kay101301
- Start date
- Feb 12, 2006
- 52,447
- 176,650
- 14,248
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
Fifths
Roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and boots and pants
Or really any of the notes in the chords that the guitar or keys are using.
The truest answer is any note that sounds good. Because the notes that sound good are in that chord or some related mode.
Think about what an A major looks like on a piano or guitar. Or if you make the partial chord on your bass. Any of those notes are a companion to the root of a song in A major, just as an example.
But really, almost any note can be worked through a progression in some context.
If it sounds good it is good. And I’m a big believer that the primary basis of music theory is to help us translate what sounds good and why.
Boom. Soap box.
Roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and roots and fifths and boots and pants
Or really any of the notes in the chords that the guitar or keys are using.
The truest answer is any note that sounds good. Because the notes that sound good are in that chord or some related mode.
Think about what an A major looks like on a piano or guitar. Or if you make the partial chord on your bass. Any of those notes are a companion to the root of a song in A major, just as an example.
But really, almost any note can be worked through a progression in some context.
If it sounds good it is good. And I’m a big believer that the primary basis of music theory is to help us translate what sounds good and why.
Boom. Soap box.
If you're playing runs then any note that sounds good but once you move away from the root or fifth of the chord you will change the sound of the chord quite a bit. If you're pedalling there is not much else outside of the root and fifth that will work for very long without tension.
Try using the 3rd or 5th up or down the scale instead the root.
You can play any notes you want. However if you want to sound good, you need to learn what works and what doesn't. The way to do this is to learn music theory and study what great players do...as well as when and why they do it.
It's usually the bass's role to play the lowest note in the chord **. Sometimes the lowest note is the root, but it can also be another chord tone like the 3rd or 5th. When the bass plays the root or fifth it changes the sound fairly significantly.
Chord Inversions:
Root Position, bass plays the root.
1st Inversion, bass plays the third
2nd Inversion, bass plays the fifth
3rd Inversion, bass plays the seventh
** The other instruments have far less impact on the overall sound when they play different inversion as long as the bass is playing the root lower than their lowest notes. As a result, other instruments tend to have a bit more freedom. In many playing situations, the other musicians will be annoyed if you don't accept your role as the bass player.
Example: The notes of G7 are G,B,D,F
As long as the bass is playing G lower than the other instruments, guitar and keys can play any inversion and it's still a G7 chord.
If the bass stays on a tone other than the root, the chord will likely be notated as a slash chord. For example if the bass plays the third, the slash chord is G7/B, and it's no longer G7 chord. Slash chords are often used when the composer wants to add motion to the bass line.
The most important notes in any chord are the root, 3rd and the 7th. The 3rd defines a major or minor chord. The 7th defines M7, m7 or dom7. The fifth adds little to the tonal character and is often omitted.
So, depending on the song, the arrangement and the instrumentation you could drop in a 3rd or 7th where appropriate, perhaps with a passing note to the next chord in the sequence.
Examples only. There an infinite number of combinations you could consider. Personally, I'm partial to the sound of the minor 6th chord
but that's just me.Here's some links to a chord player set up with different inversions/slash chords
www.scales-chords.com
www.scales-chords.com
www.scales-chords.com
www.scales-chords.com
www.scales-chords.com
G7 Piano Chord
G7\B Piano Chord
G7\D Piano Chord
G7\F Piano Chord
G7\A Piano Chord
Yes, you can play a note other than the root on the first beat of the measure ... exactly twice in a gig without getting fired. It goes like this:
1st time, BL asks himself, "was that a mistake?"
2nd time, BL reassures himself, "no, the bass player is just making interesting, informed, artistic choices with the music."
3rd time, "Okay, I've had enough of this kid ..."
So once is not enough, three times is two many, twice is optimal.
1st time, BL asks himself, "was that a mistake?"
2nd time, BL reassures himself, "no, the bass player is just making interesting, informed, artistic choices with the music."
3rd time, "Okay, I've had enough of this kid ..."
So once is not enough, three times is two many, twice is optimal.
I'd suggest learning music theory. It will open your mind.
The 5th is a solid counterpart to the root. After those two, the 3rd and the 6th are the next ones.
Add the 2nd and you have the major pentatonic scale!
I would say it always depends on the context. I use penatonic notes to move around if it’s appropriate. But unless it’s something weird or like a melody part on the bridge 99% of the time I’m playing the root on the downbeat.
A great song to learn note for note when thinking about sliding around away from the root is American Girl. Lots of 3rds and slides in that. Tasteful stuff
A great song to learn note for note when thinking about sliding around away from the root is American Girl. Lots of 3rds and slides in that. Tasteful stuff
This is why people write music. A song is made up Of melodies and contra melodies et al. Not just random notes picked at the last minute as part of the chord
I did a bit of work on studying walking bass lines (not my strongest subject), and one of the things I observed is that the note choice can relate a to which beat you are on. This depends on the context (genre and song) but some beats will work best with safer note choices like roots and fifths, and others tolerate more dissonant intervals. Many times you can play particularly dissonant or chromatic note choices as passing tones on the way to a strong root or fifth if you play them on an “and” between beats. You’ll notice it sometimes works better to approach the target note from above or below depending on the feel you are going for.
There are any number of possible answers to your question but ultimately are you talking about serving the song or serving yourself? Also, if your are in a band with a singer a lot of what you do as a bass player affects what they do as a singer. Occasionally you can slip in some "out" notes during instrumental sections but be mindful of what you are doing to support the singer.
I used to pedal the flat 7 on "Dixie Chicken" to the point my guitarist asked me when I was gonna get around to playing the root!
I guess I'm a fan of tension...BBB
And let's not forget that minor pentatonic that functions so nicely under a bunch of major chords. The blues - so demanding and forgiving at the same time! 
BBB
BBB
There are many sides to this. I’m going to mention one.
I’ve spent my entire bass playing “career” coming up with whatever sounds good to me. That’s one facet of creating music that is fun. When no one complains I know I’m doing something right. Especially when my band mates are proudly opinionated.
Good luck.
I would suggest a bit of reading, specifically fundamental theory and harmony. He's not replied to the thread yet, but when he does, @mambo4 has a useful *.pdf file linked from his signature line - you might start there.
Rules, especially musical rules, are made to be broken. It's how we break them that makes the magic happen....or not.