Bass Chord Fingering

[Youngatheart]

Hi,

Can anyone point me in the direction where I might find a resouce that shows the fingering for bass chords something like you see for guitar? Sorry I know it sounds a bit lazy but for some reason I can't get my head around how I would structure the chord.

[skywalker]

Chords are rarely played on a bass but any tutor book will show you where the notes are.

Learn the notes of each chord, all over the neck and go forward from there

[bassbloke]

Try this

[url="http://www.studybass.com/tools/chord-scale-note-printer/"]http://www.studybass.com/tools/chord-scale-note-printer/[/url]

It doesn't help with fingerings, but does show you where the notes are on the neck.

However, if you really want to get maximum benefit, use this as an opportunity to learn [b]why[/b] chords are structured in a certain way and don't just learn the shapes.

One final piece of advice. Don't play all of the notes in the chord. The trick is to pick those notes that really define the chord. For 7 chords, root & 7th works well, for standard chords, root and third, for diminshed chords, root and flattened 5th. On 9th chords, root, 5th and 9th sounds good, etc...

Edited May 26, 2008 by bassbloke

[bubinga5]

[quote name='Youngatheart' post='206854' date='May 26 2008, 09:28 PM']Hi,

Can anyone point me in the direction where I might find a resouce that shows the fingering for bass chords something like you see for guitar? Sorry I know it sounds a bit lazy but for some reason I can't get my head around how I would structure the chord.[/quote]
Youngatheart, get the book Chord Bassics by Jonas Hellborg, its old but an invaluble source for bass chords!!!

[Youngatheart]

Thanks for all the sound advice. I appreciate it's not something I'm likely to use on a regular basis but something I feel I should understand. with double stopping for instance what determines which note you use along with the root?

[Youngatheart]

[quote name='bubinga5' post='207135' date='May 27 2008, 11:36 AM']Youngatheart, get the book Chord Bassics by Jonas Hellborg, its old but an invaluble source for bass chords!!![/quote]

I'm searching now! Thanks for that.

[Hit&Run]

Chuck Rainey's done a book on it, though I doubt it'll have tab in it:
[url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Complete-Electric-Bass-Player-Chording/dp/0825624290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211893288&sr=8-1"]chuck's chording[/url]

[wulf]

Guitarists can play four, five and six string chords because their notes are at a higher pitch. Drop that down an octave to the range of the bass and you will find that many of the shapes create a muddy effect.

The two routes that get you out of this are:

(1) less notes - a simple double stop often creates a powerful enough sound

(2) wider separation between the notes (either skipping a string or playing chords on higher strings against an open lower string).

If you want one shape to get you started, try the classic root - fifth - octave power chord. Start on the root note with your first finger, put your third finger two frets up on the next string and then your fourth finger up another string (so 5 - 7 - 7 if starting on A on the E string or D on the A string). The fifths thicken the sound without cluttering it too much and you can play this against any major or minor chord (it is only "wrong" when you start to get into diminished territory and other harmonic further reaches).

Wulf

Edited May 27, 2008 by wulf