More on Bass Note Rhythm Patterns
In Lesson Nine 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.
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 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 an F type, pick the 4th string note (F note), e.g., F chord
Practice this rhythm technique on each chord separately at first.
Remember to hold the full chord shape even though you are not playing all the strings.
Play the following turnaround progression using bass note rhythm pattern 1. Play the root note of the first beat of each bar.
Now try a chord progression using a variation of bass note rhythm pattern 1 which contains eighth note strums on the second beat.
Bass Note Rhythm Pattern Variation 2
Bass Note Rhythm Pattern Variation 1
Another variation 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 variations to the following chord progression which contains two chords in each bar.
Once you are comfortable playing bass note rhythm patterns, try using this technique to accompany the following melody.
Pickup Combinations
Guitar Setups…
The electric guitars of the 1950’s and 60’s traditionally had either single coil pickups or humbuckers. Although both companies had exceptions, Fender guitars like the Stratocaster and Telecaster usually had single coil pickups, while Gibson guitars like the Les Paul and the 335 had humbuckers. In the 1970’s people began to experiment with both types of pickups on the same guitar. Today there are many guitar manufacturers using the single, single, humbucker combination shown here, making the guitar far more versatile.
