Bass Note Rhythm Patterns
In Lesson Four you were introduced to bass note rhythm patterns in ^ time. When playing a progression in * time the following bass note rhythm patterns are commonly used.
Pick the bass note of the chord on the first beat and strum the first three or four strings of the chord on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th beats. Play the following bass note rhythm pattern holding a G chord shape.
Bass Note Rhythm Pattern
The best bass note to pick is the lowest note of the chord that has the same letter name of the chord. This is called the root note. When strumming, chords also sound best when the root note is the lowest note you strum.
- When playing a G type, pick the 6th string note (G note), e.g., G and G7 chords
- When playing a D type, pick the 4th string note (D note), e.g., D, D7 and Dm chords
- When playing a C type, pick the 5th string note (C note), e.g., C and C7 chords
- When playing an A type, pick the 5th string note (A note), e.g., A, A7 and Am
- When playing an E type, pick the 6th string note (E note), e.g., E, E7 and Em chords
- When playing a F type, pick the 4th string note (F note), e.g., F chord
Practice this rhythm technique on each chord separately at first, remembering to hold the full chord shape even though you are not playing all the strings.
Play the following turnaround progression using the same bass note rhythm pattern. Remember to play the root note on the first beat of each bar.
Bass Note Rhythm Pattern
Play the following chord progression using a variation of the previous bass note rhythm pattern which contains eighth note strums on the second beat.
Bass Note Rhythm Pattern Variation 1
Bass Note Rhythm Pattern Variation 2
A variation to this bass note rhythm pattern is to play the bass note on the first and third beats and strum on the second and fourth beats. Play the following bass note strum rhythm pattern, also holding a G chord shape. Play the root note of the chord on the first and third beats of the bar.
Apply the previous variation to the following chord progression, which contains two chords in each bar.
