Let’s back up a bit. Most people agree on the basic elements of music— the “big three”: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Now, what is the bass’s function regarding these elements? Although all instruments are responsible for all aspects of music, certainly vocalists are more concerned with melody, drummers with rhythm, guitarists with chords (harmony), and so forth. The bass’s responsibility is really two-fold: harmony and rhythm. Rhythm can be understood as combining time, tempo, and groove (style). Having a strong sense of time and broad experience of grooves is vital. Supporting the harmony is also the bassist’s responsibility. We don’t usually play chords, like a keyboardist, but we do play the chord tones; this is the basis of the bass line. So, understanding chords, their sounds, and their symbols is very important for a good bassist—more important, in fact, than the scales from which they are derived. For example, a Cm7 chord has four chord tones; C is the root, Eb is the minor 3rd, G is the 5th, and Bb is the b7th—but there are numerous scales that could support this chord, depending on the circumstance. Knowing the chord tones is more important here.

Okay, I trust you are convinced that chord tones are critical to bass playing, so now let’s look at different chords and chord symbols to understand the notes that make up the chord. Generally, Western harmony is tertiary harmony, meaning it’s built in 3rds; so, knowing the root, we can build from there in 3rds. You could also say that the chord tones are the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th of a scale, but that is not the approach we are taking. We shall look at chord symbols and then understand what notes compose the chord.

There are four basic triads (all made of the root, 3rd, and 5th): major, minor, augmented, and diminished. Ex. 1 shows the arpeggio forms of the four basic G triads. All of the triads have the root; G major has a major 3rd and perfect 5th (GBD), G minor has a minor 3rd and perfect 5th (GBbD), G augmented has a major 3rd and sharp 5th (GBD#), and G diminished has minor 3rd and flat 5th (GBbDb). 

The root is the strongest and most representative sound of the chord. The 5th is the note that most supports the root (due to the overtone series), and the 3rd defines the chord as major or minor (the two tonalities Western music is based upon). Look again at Ex. 1 and get these chord tones under your fingers and into your ears. Also, make sure you see the chord symbol properly for what it is.

We now can go up another 3rd and add a 7th. First (see Ex. 2) we add a major 7th (F# in this case). Notice that in the chord symbol Gmaj7, G is the triad and “maj7” refers to the 7th. In other words, the “maj” does not refer to the major 3rd. This will be clear in the second chord, which is Gmmaj7 (G minor major 7th). This is a G minor triad with a major 7th. Again, get these under your fingers.

Ex. 3 demonstrates adding a flat 7 (F in this case) on top of the different triads. Notice a Gm7b5 is not a diminished 7 chord, although some refer to it as “half-diminished.”
 These are the basic chord symbols used in millions of tunes. There are more, however. Basically, if the number used in a symbol is less than 7 (i.e., 2, 4, 5, or 6), then the chord is a triad with that note added. See Ex. 4 for some of these. You’ll see that a G6 is a G major triad with an E added. (E is a major 6th above G.) We’ll check out additional chord symbols in an upcoming column.

Ed Lucie
Ed is currently freelancing in the Boston area. He holds a MM in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory and has served as assistant professor at Berklee College of Music and Bass Department Chair at Los Angeles Music Academy.