8 Tips for Playing Chords on Bass Guitar
If you’re a beginner bass guitar player, the concept of chords may be the last thing on your mind.
“That’s just something guitarists and keyboardists deal with. What does that have to do with me? Don’t bassists just have to play one note at a time?”
Typically, yes – but playing chords and double stops on the bass can add some serious flavor to even a simple bassline when appropriate.
Here are a few quick tips for playing chords on the bass.
8 Tips for Playing Chords on Bass Guitar
- Alter your right hand technique.
- Omit notes.
- Play high on the neck.
- Space out your notes when playing lower on the neck.
- Curve your fretting hand fingers.
- Know common chord shapes.
- Shape your tone properly.
- Experiment!
1. Alter Your Right Hand Technique.
Using your thumb, index finger, and ring finger will allow you to play the notes of a chord one by one or in unison with control over your playing.
Plucking closer to the bridge will give your chords clarity and help you avoid unwanted muddiness in your sound.
2. Omit Notes.
Avoiding muddiness is one of the most important principles to keep in mind when playing chords on the bass. One way to accomplish this is by taking the “less is more” approach. Rather than playing every note in a given chord like a guitarist would, we as bassists tend to leave certain notes out.
The fifth is often omitted from major and minor chords since it doesn’t define the chord type, and even when absent the human ear often implies this chord tone. In some cases – like a diminished seventh chord, for example – we can even omit the third since the fifth has more say in defining the chord’s sound.
3. Play High on the Neck.
Like I mentioned in #2 above, avoiding muddy tone is imperative when playing chords. Another way you can achieve this is by utilizing the higher register of the bass guitar’s range.
Think about an acoustic guitarist – when they play chords, they’re usually playing closer to the headstock rather than the body. If we play chords on bass the same way we’d play them on an acoustic guitar, it would sound pretty awful.
Give it a try! Play a G major chord: second finger on the third fret of the E string, first finger on the second fret of the A string, and let the open D and G strings ring out… sounds pretty nasty, right?
4. Space Out Your Notes When Playing Lower on the Neck.
“What? I thought you just said to play high notes when playing chords?”
This might seem like I’m contradicting #3, but you can play chords using the low spectrum of the bass’s range. Make sure to space out each chord tone with open voicing shapes, meaning that the interval between the lowest note and the highest note exceeds an octave.
The major/minor tenth is an easy way to incorporate this best practice. For example, rather than playing a major third above a low G you can bump the B up an octave to play a major tenth – same note, but with more space between the root and the third.
5. Curve Your Fretting Hand Fingers.
If you’ve ever take guitar lessons, you were probably taught to curve your fretting hand fingers so that every note can ring out when the right hand strums. As bass players, we’re told the opposite – since we typically play one note at a time, we need to mute the strings that aren’t in use by flattening our fretting hand over them to dampen the sound.
When playing chords on bass, think like a guitarist. Curve your fingers a bit more than you normally would so that every chord tone resonates.
6. Know Common Chord Shapes.
The chordal possibilities are endless, but here are a few basic bass guitar chords (using the note F as the root) to get you started.
Legend: Green=root. Blue=third. Orange=fifth. Purple=seventh.
Major Triads
Minor Triads
Major, Minor, and Dominant Seventh Chords
Diminished/Augmented Chords
Note: for the fully diminished chord above – this one can be seen as an F fully diminished seventh chord omitting the third OR a B diminished triad in second inversion. The chord spelling depends on the context of the song, but either way you’ll get a diminished sound when playing this shape.
7. Shape Your Tone Properly.
I hate sounding like a broken record… but in your quest to play chords AND avoid muddy sound, you need to shape your tone accordingly.
My personal preference? Dial back on your tone knob, cut the bass just a hair, boost the mids, and adjust the treble to your personal taste.
It may sound ludicrous to cut the bass on… well, your bass! But as you dive into more advanced concepts you’ll find that different techniques require different tonal adjustments.
8. Experiment!
I’m almost positive I’ve mentioned this quote before on the blog, but Victor Wooten once said (paraphrasing), “Music is all about learning the rules and knowing when to break them.”
What I’ve written above is NOT the end all way to play chords – it’s simply a starting point, a launching pad to spark your understanding. Then you’ll start asking questions like, “What if I play this chord this way? Or what if I use a second inversion for the I chord when coming out of a V chord?”
Try incorporating open strings in your chords. Play around with harmonics. Add some effects, like chorus or reverb, to your tone. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
By now you’ve probably figured out that playing chords on bass is not the same as playing chords on an acoustic guitar. Chords can help you understand melody/harmony, add color to your basslines, and prepare you for your solo bass act if you choose to go that route.
Have any comments, questions, concerns? Drop them below – I’d love to hear from you. As always, thanks for reading!
4 Replies to “8 Tips for Playing Chords on Bass Guitar”
Thank you
You’re welcome :). Thanks for reading!
Great lesson, thank you
Thanks for the feedback, Jerome! Glad you enjoyed it.