Using Power Chords On The Bass

[greghagger]

Chords on the bass you say?

 

Yes! Chords definitely have their place in certain bass lines and can be very effective to fatten up the sound.

 

Although chords are utilised more frequently in solo bass tunes, bass players like Andy Fraser and Geddy Lee have been using them for years in fully-blown Rock songs.

 

The humble power chord is king here and is easy to learn and throw in where appropriate. 

 

I've made a new video explaining some options for playing chords on the bass and in it I’ve also showcased a few chordal bass lines from songs by artists such as Stanley Clarke and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

 

Find out more in my latest YouTube lesson.

 

 

[itu]

Stan's song theme starts with the neck dots on one string. Connection to school, and learning the neck? (Just guessing.)

 

 

Chord spacing

The more important detail is about why the chords sound good when we travel up the neck, and not so much down low. Well...

 

Frequency doubles when going up an octave. The frequency difference of a played octave is decent around the neck, even down there in the half position. A fifth does not work anymore when you go down low: from 42 Hz (E) to 62 Hz (B) the f difference is only 20 Hz. Not too far from let's say a detuning effect, but muddy anyway.

 

Let's take the basic tuning A, 440 Hz and put a fifth (E, 659 Hz) on top of it. Now the difference is already over 200 Hz, and the sound is fine.

 

The lower you go, the further away the notes have to be. Playing with a piano may be complicated, if the pianist loves to go down. You need a 5 string, or low tuning, or simply stop playing. There has to be some space between you and the next note upwards. Arrangers know this well.

 

Hopefully someone now understands why chords are nice, but not every chord anywhere around the neck. And that we may need to have some space between instruments, if there's a chord, although some unisono or octave playing can be very effective.

[greghagger]

10 hours ago, itu said:

Stan's song theme starts with the neck dots on one string. Connection to school, and learning the neck? (Just guessing.)

 

 

Chord spacing

The more important detail is about why the chords sound good when we travel up the neck, and not so much down low. Well...

 

Frequency doubles when going up an octave. The frequency difference of a played octave is decent around the neck, even down there in the half position. A fifth does not work anymore when you go down low: from 42 Hz (E) to 62 Hz (B) the f difference is only 20 Hz. Not too far from let's say a detuning effect, but muddy anyway.

 

Let's take the basic tuning A, 440 Hz and put a fifth (E, 659 Hz) on top of it. Now the difference is already over 200 Hz, and the sound is fine.

 

The lower you go, the further away the notes have to be. Playing with a piano may be complicated, if the pianist loves to go down. You need a 5 string, or low tuning, or simply stop playing. There has to be some space between you and the next note upwards. Arrangers know this well.

 

Hopefully someone now understands why chords are nice, but not every chord anywhere around the neck. And that we may need to have some space between instruments, if there's a chord, although some unisono or octave playing can be very effective.

Thanks for the great intel on frequency in relation to chords. I didn’t really know that side of things. 
 

I do love the effect that is created in sone of Avishai Cohen’s music where he plays upright with very low notes being played on the piano. You can hear that frequency difference between the two instruments and it causes a sort of natural chorus effect.