guitar lessons for beginners of the Earth – How to play instantly Killer bass guitar parts in the
The foundation of country guitar playing is a strong bass part take a listen to Johnny Cash or Chet Atkins and you will know what I mean. Country music depends on a solid bass line to support the story being presented by the vocalist: alternating bass for traditional country, descending bass lines for ballads, and boogie woogie style runs for country rock and western swing.
With so many styles to choose from it’s difficult to know where to start, so let’s start at the beginning.
Step 1. Learn to play clean chords before adding in the bass.
I always amazed at how many players do not know how to play chords with 100% correct bass notes; chord books and chord diagrams on sheet music have a lot to answer for here!
The first thing to do before creating any type of bass run is to check your standard open string chord shapes to see if you have the correct note in the bass.
Here is a check list for you:
A, Am, A7 = 5 string chord, bass fifth string
B, Bm, B7 = 5 string chord, bass fifth string
C, Cm, C7 = 5 string chord, bass fifth string
D, Dm, D7 = D string chord, bass fourth string
E, Em, E7 = 6 string chord, bass sixth string
F, Fm, F7 = 6 string chord, bass sixth string (played as a bar chord)
or
F, Fm, F7 = 4 string chord, bass fourth string (played as a four or five string chord)
G, Gm, G7 = 6 string chord, bass sixth string
The most important thing about playing bass parts on the guitar is to make sure you play the correct bass note on the first beat of the bar.
Using the reference chart above this is how I would start your practice session.
4/4 time = b /// |b /// | b /// | b /// | etc
In this example the bass note would be played on the first beat and the remaining three beats would be strummed.
Important: when strumming always strum the remaining strings don’t play the bass note as part of your strum e.g., if you where playing a “D” chord you would play the fourth string as your bass note on the first beat then play three strings (the remaining strings of the “D” chord shape) for the rest of the bar.
In 3/4 time this is how you would play the bass
3/4 time = b// |b// | b// | b// | etc
Step 2.
Alternating bass
Here is an alternating bass reference chart for you to study; the first number is the first bass note the second number is the alternate bass note (second bass note).
, Am, A7 = 5 / 6 /
B, BM, B7 = 5 / 6 /
C, Cm, C7 = 5 / 6 /
D, Dm, D7 = 4 / 5 /
E Em, E7 = 6 / 5 /
F, Fm, F7 = 5.6 / (bar chord version)
F, Fm, F7 = 5.4 / (five string version)
G, Gm, G-7 = 6 quarters /
In 4 / 4 / During the first bass note is always played in the first pace at least until the second bass note is always played on third victory.
Substitute low in 4 / 4
4 / 4 = b / b / | a / b / b / | /b / b / |, etc.
Do not forget to start playing the bass the pieces little by little, the goal for 100% accuracy … Speed is a byproduct of precision that will come in time and as always have fun with my guitar.
