Riffs, Major chords, Arpeggios
Bass guitarists often use a technique of playing riffs against a chord progression. A riff is a pattern of notes that is repeated throughout a progression (or song).
The following diagrams illustrate the major chord/arpeggios in the key of A, E, D and B. The first note is also referred to as the root note using an open string. The shorthand for any major chord is the letter which refers to the root note (key).
A
D
E
B
Memorize the finger pattern so you can apply it to the following examples.
Example 6 and 7 use all the notes within each chord. i.e., the 1st, 3rd and 5th notes of the Major scale relating to each chord. To play the notes of a chord one after another is often referred to as arpeggio playing.
Example 7 is a very commonly used chord progression in the key of A.
Example 8 uses the same chord progression as example 6, except it is transposed down to the key of E.
The following diagrams illustrates the major arpeggios in the key of C, F, Bb and Eb. The patterns combine fretted notes and open strings.
C
F
Bb
Eb
Memorize the finger pattern so you can apply it to the given chords. The order of notes in any arpeggio pattern can be changed. There are six ways on how the three notes of a chord Root(1), 3rd and 5th can be arranged.
Formula of the Six
Play the bottom number first and move up as indicated by ↑ Experiment with the different combinations.
Example 9 uses another very popular chord progression combining the arpeggio patterns as outlined previously, but with some variation of the note choices.
Example 10 is a transposition of the previous chord progression down into the key of F.
The following examples introduce the eighth note ( 6 ). In Rock and other popular contemporary music eighth note rhythm patterns are very common because of their strong drive especially when some of the notes are repeated. The example on this page combine some of the chords discussed earlier.
Example 11 using repeated root notes only with a typical eighth note feel.
Example 12 uses the same chord progression as the previous example in the arpeggio playing style.
Example 13 uses repeated root notes only.
Example 14 uses the same chord progression as the previous exercise, but in the arpeggio playing style.
