Bass for Guitarists
Strings you know, an octave down, a new job.
A bass is tuned E, A, D, G, like the four lowest strings of a guitar, an octave lower. The fingering is not the hard part; the job is. Most bass lines are built on the root, the fifth and the octave: the A5 shape, A E A.
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Same notes, different job
On guitar you fill space; on bass you hold the floor. The bass says which chord it is and where the beat is: play the root of each chord on beat 1 and the song already sounds right. Everything else is decoration.
- Bass E A D G = guitar E A D G, an octave down.
- Root on beat 1 of every chord.
- Lock in with the kick drum, not with the guitar.
Root, fifth, octave
The power chord you already know is the bass player’s main shape: root on the low E, fifth two frets up on the next string, octave two frets up on the one after. For A, that is the 5th fret, 7th, 7th — A, E, A. Walk between them in time and you have a bass line.
- A5 shape: low E 5, A 7, D 7 = A E A.
- Root–fifth–octave–fifth is a complete bass line.
- Move the same shape to any root on the low E string.
Walk into the next chord
To sound like a bass player, use the last beat of a bar to approach the next root from a half step below or above. From A to D, play A, E, A and then C# on beat 4 into the D. If a Guitar Pro file has a bass track, More Than Modes can show it on a bass fretboard and play it, so you can learn the real line.
- Approach notes: a half step below or above the next root.
- Fewer notes, more groove.
- Play along with the drums first, the band second.
On bass, the root on beat 1 is the whole job. Root, fifth and octave in the A5 shape you already know get you most of the way there.
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