Day 8.

Lesson III - Chord basics and connecting notes.

So, again, where is this leading ? To chords. Why chords ? Because the rest of the music structures that you'll be playing within, played by guitar players and piano players, even horn players, but not drummers, will be made up of chords. Singers will be singing notes to fit into the chord structures. Lead players (guitar, harmonica, flute players...) will be playing notes to fit into the chord structures. All this stuff in previous pages leads to the following ideas:

Definition: chord: any group of three or more notes (pitches) sounded together. Chords are groups of three or more pitches.

Three notes, exactly, sounded together, are triads (also, chords); triads are chords. But not all chords are triads. Triad means three. Many chords have four or five notes or positions in them.

Two note 'chords' are not defined as chords; they are called diads and sometimes, double stops.

A Chord, as defined above, is created by grouping together three (or more) notes played at about the same time. But, what notes ?

Well, basic major chords are made up of the 1st position and the 3rd position and the 5th position notes in the scale. This is the definition of a major chord.

What notes are in a C major chord? C, E and G. Play them on your bass one after the other in sequence - a 'chord-based bass note sequence'. (I use this rather long but very explicit term to indicate that you are playing separate notes, not playing all the notes together as a guitar player might when playing a chord. This term also means that you will play the notes which, by definition of the specific chord mentioned, make up that chord.) Play them, the notes C, E and G, in two or more locations. Starting with the C note on the E string, 8th fret and with the C note on the A string, 3rd fret. How about the C note on the D string, l0th fret?

What notes are they in an E major chord? E, G# or Ab and B. Play them on your bass as chord-based bass note sequences in several locations. Pick a few other chords, maybe D major and G major and Bb major. Name the positions of each scale in your mind as you play them, ie.: 1st, 3rd, 5th.

Definition: sequence: a regular succession of related notes.

Basic minor chords are made up of the 1st position and the flatted 3rd position and the 5th position notes of the major scale or, more simply put, the 1st, 3rd (which is the flatted 3rd of the major scale) and 5th positions of the minor scale. More on formulas which describe how to form chords several pages from now.

What notes are in an A minor chord? A, C and E. 1st, b3rd, 5th. Play them on your bass as a chord-based bass note sequence. Name them in your mind.

What notes are in a C# minor chord? C#, E and G# or Ab. Play them on your bass as a chord-based bass note sequence. Find a couple of different locations. Pick a few other minor chords, maybe F minor and Bb minor and D minor. 1st, b3rd, 5th.

Note: when we call a chord merely by a letter, ie., 'C,' it is a major chord. We are just dropping mention that it's a major.

How does this benefit you ? When someone plays a chord or says that we're in the key of . . . whatever, you now know the basics of what notes to select on your bass in order to play a bass part (which is really the whole bottom end (low frequencies) of the band's sound!). You won't be floundering. If someone plays a C chord, you'll know that the notes, C, E and G (1st position, 3rd position and 5th position) are the basic notes that you can use ( in different combinations and sequences ) to play along with the C chord. When the C chord is changed to an F chord, you'll know that to play along with the F chord you just have to find an F note on your bass and play the 1st, 3rd and 5th positions of the F scale.., and follow the chord changes as they happen. For example if the chord changes to an Em ( E minor ) you'll just play the 1st, 3rd and 5th positions of the E minor scale, (1st, b3rd, 5th of the E major scale), etc., etc., for all other chords. Often the 1st, 5th and the octave will be the most important positions (notes) for you to play. As you play by following the chord changes you'll note that sometimes the same notes appear in different chords. This can make your note decisions easier and we will cover this idea in more depth later.

Stop here and go back over the previous information. Play it all again, too.

End of day 8.