Playing Bass Scales Under Chords

There are two types of bass guitar players. One kind has learned to play a few chords and the root notes but has not gotten beyond that. The other kind of bass player learns how to properly use bass scales under chords and has an endless variety of new things to play. Which kind of player are you?

If you’re a bass player you know about playing the root note of whatever chord the rest of the band is playing. It’s possible you also know how to play the triads; or the three notes that make up the chord the band is playing. Learning and using these things is OK but they just scratch the surface of what really talented bassists do which is to play bass scales under chords.

If you are playing three note chords,or triads, you’re really playing notes from either a major or a minor scale. And these basic scales are a good staring point. Always remember that even though a song may be in the key of G, when the players shift to the C chord you should be playing a C scale, either major or minor, not still playing a G scale. Even though the notes are almost all the same, the secret to this is to at least start thinking in scales per chord.

It might be simpler to think only about five note scales at first. These are called pentatonic scales. There’s a pentatonic major and a pentatonic minor scale. The pentatonic scales are the three notes that make up the chord plus two additional notes. If the middle note in the chord is a major note you would be playing the major pentatonic scale, if the middle note is a minor note you would be playing the minor pentatonic scale. You can also use the minor pentatonic scale under seventh chords, but we’ll get into that in another article.

Let me give you an example. The guitar player is playing a C major chord. Those notes are C, E, and G. The correct pentatonic scale to play under this chord is the major which is C, D, E, G. A. Just five notes. If the guitar player is playing a C minor chord which is C, E flat, and G; you would play the minor pentatonic scale which is C, E flat, F, G, and B flat.

Once you mastered the two basic pentatonic scales, the next step in your playing is to learn both the complete major scale and the complete minor scale. Each if these scales will always sound right under certain chords. Also remember that when you use pentatonic scales, it does not matter what key the song is in, only what chord is being played at the time, which determines what scale you should be using.

Try using these simple scales under chords the next time you play and you will begin to see endless new possibilities for your bass playing.

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