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Author Topic: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions  (Read 3350 times)

Offline gospeluuke

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Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« on: July 28, 2014, 03:39:05 PM »
How do you use piano tutorials on youtube or piano chorded songs on this website to figure out the bass progressions for songs? I'm having a bit of trouble.
Piano tutorials are easier to find but I'm not sure how to apply them to bass.

Thanks.
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Offline JMac31

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2014, 06:01:52 PM »
Are you saying you know the chords the piano is playing and want to know what notes to play on the bass?

The bass player should follow the same chord progression as the piano player. It is safe to play chord tones (root, third, and fifths). It is important to know whether it is a major or minor chord to know whether to play a major or minor third, but roots and fifths are always safe. You can get away with other notes if they are properly placed (e.g. notes approaching the next chord). When in doubt stick to roots and fifths.

Not sure how much music theory/lingo you know, so here are some examples.

If it is a G chord the root is G the the fifth is D. The root is the note the chord in named after and the fifth is the fifth note in your major (or minor) scale.
If it is a Bb major chord the root is Bb and the fifth is F. In this case the major third in D.
If it is a Bb minor chord the root is still Bb and the fifth is still F. However, in this case you would want to play the minor third which is Db.

We see here a major third is the third note in your major scale while the minor third is the third note in you minor scale.

Hopefully this was helpful and addresses your question. If not let me know.

Offline gospeluuke

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2014, 08:39:28 PM »
Yes. This helps in sutuations where I have the chord progressions. And thanks for the tip in terms of the "3rd".

But I am still a little confused how to apply that to the piano charts on this site. For example, the have the song broken down in terms of LH and RH. And I understand LH is your bass notes. But the LH sometimes changes notes, when it is not necessarily a chord change and it sounds off when I try to duplicate that. Should I just stick with 1 or 5 of the chord or play that different note?

I hope I am making some sense.

...I get major and minor scales. I know the number system. And most of the basics of bass guitar...

Maybe I am overthinking this...
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Offline JMac31

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2014, 12:46:27 PM »
Right the piano charts on this site can be difficult sometimes. The LH is a good place to start, but not always the best note to play. It is also good to look at the RH which will be playing the chord (or some inversion of it). The LH usually plays a single note (but not always the root!). Let's look at an example. Since you know some theory this should make sense. If anything is unclear just ask!

Here is the start of a song I pulled from here: http://www.learngospelmusic.com/forums/index.php/topic,27555.0.html

Eb / Eb-G-Bb Go-      <--- Here the LH is playing the root. Notice RH has an Eb major (Eb root, G third, and Bb fifth).
F / Db-F-Ab od          <--- Here the LH has a chord tone (the third), but not the root. Notice the RH has a Db major chord.
G / Eb-G-Bb of          <--- Here the LH again does not play the root. Notice the RH again has our Eb major chord.
Ab / Eb-Ab-C mercy, <--- Here the LH has the root! Notice the RH has an inversion of an Ab major (Eb fifth, Ab root, and C third)
Db / F-Ab-Db God of <--- Here the LH has the root. Notice the RH has an inversion of an Db major.

Playing the piano LH notes on this song shouldn't sound "wrong" because in each case the LH has a chord tone, but it is good to know the root note. The root note is almost always the best note for the bass to hit (especially if the chords are changing fast and you only have time to hit one note).

You probably picked this up, but an inversion is just the with notes "out of order".  For example:

C major: C-E-G
1st Inversion: E-G-C
2nd Inversion: G-E-C

For more info on inversions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(music)
It is good the recognize inversions because it will help you find the root note.

Hope this helps!

Offline gospeluuke

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2014, 02:18:30 PM »
Totally helps! I think its time I memorize some common inversions. So i can recognize the "1" right away. Thanks!

God Bless!
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Offline Wesley16

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2014, 09:16:04 AM »
Thanks JMAC31 for sharing this information, it really helps me.. :)

Offline floaded27

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #6 on: November 17, 2014, 09:13:04 PM »
Piano tutuorials on youtube are a little easier for this because you can hear whats going on. Many folks will spell out the chords and give the bass note, if they dont, just pause the video and see what the left hand is pressing. I would advise to watch those with bass in hand ready to play whenever you can, rather than just watching and trying to play it on your own later.

Chord charts are a bit harder because 1) you cant hear whats going on 2) some folks dont understand tutorials and cant keep it simple 3) sometimes the chords are just wrong.
Im not sure of your level, so I dont know how much you can learn by ear from the song. I usually use them for just certain parts of a song i cant quite catch by ear, but some people may need the chart for the entire song.

The easiest way is to let the chart supplement what you know to play, rather than relying on it to learn to play the entire song. Its easier when the words are there, but even when they arent, try to listen to the song while looking at the chart to place where each chord comes in the song. That helps when there are like 6 chords stuffed into a single bar, or one chord is held for a while. Its hard to place those just looking at the chart.

This way you get to see where the changes are. And then you begin to connect what you hear and commit it to your musical vocab.

Make sure you break the song into sections and follow it that way. Trying to ingest the entire thing at once may be overwhelming.

You'll get the hang of it.

Personally I hate the LH/RH thing. I'd much prefer Cmaj7/E (or E/Cmaj7 if the bass is put on the left) rather than E / C - E - G - B when it comes to charts.
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Offline SketchMan3

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Re: Using Piano chords or tab to figure out bass progressions
« Reply #7 on: November 17, 2014, 09:25:48 PM »
Use your ears. If it sounds off, it probably is.
... lies the entrance to "Garloz"
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