Les Claypool uses a lot of chords, mainly power chords but there are some other songs that he uses different ones. I can remember now the version he did of in the court of the crimson king at bonnaroo with the Claypool Lennon Delirium
@@sugmabass3743 His basses actually have regular gauges. He did however, in his early days, switch out his E string for an A and the D for a G and then tunes the thing to regular EADG tuning. Makes chords sound better and they're easier to play.
In the 80's I played with a fine bass player(for about 1 year) that used these kinds of chord techniques. I didn't know how really good he was until I heard some of his isolated tracks and I was blown away. So even though these are great suggestions, if you want to be heard, play what gets heard.
Anybody else catch when Russell, from a music store based in the UK, played Jaco's version of "America the Beautiful"? How awesome was that?!!!!!! Great tutorial. Thanks for posting!!!!!
Dude ok, John Paul jones plays a lot of chords, but if you want the God of all things musical and bass from theory to divine technique. Invest yourself into Cliff Burton. On the surface a legendary badass bassist. Under the surface a god. Also Lemmy kilmister played bass like a rhythm guitarist so if you can't find bass chords in Motörhead songs I think you're lying man. Anyway Peace and good luck.
I'd also put Steve Harris in there, he uses them alot. Although he almost always uses the same finger position for chords (e.g. D and G string 9th fret and A string 7th fret, always with the one fret space) he creates this great blend of single notes and chords in fitting spots. Iron Maiden's 'The Red and the Black' is a good example with the intro bass chords and many more chords throughout the song.
with the right setup even low chords will sound great and not at all muddy. get rid of the mids with your amp's EQ and use the bridge pickup and a pick - there you go.
something this video fails to mention directly is the concept of musical space. I see a comment below mentioning justin chancellor of tool. Perfect example - he and adam jones switch roles regularly. If the people you're playing, don't get in your fucking way, the bass can do whatever, whenever, especially if you have a C string.
xlaythe exactly what i was thinking, it pissed me off that he said as a bass player you shouldn't be playing chords at times, I find that BS because you can do whatever you want in music
The german Hardcore-Band Fjort from Aachen is a good example for chords on bass in these kinds of genre. While Chris plays almost only melody on guitar, David lays a foundation with chords on bass. Off course it sounds muddy at times, also due to the low tuning in Drop-C (C-G-C-F) and dozens of effects (Distortion, Fuzz, Rerverb/Delay), but it works out very well for the typ of music.
for those that don't want to omit the 5th/octave (arpeggiating is a perfect scenario for this) you should show the standard triad, first inversion and second inversion shapes (6 total to show both major and minor triads).
Dude you're a legend, seem like a really nice dude and you're honest but great at playing, I loved that A/D tune, dunno what it is though 😅 anyways great job!
I play lots of Chords on bass, playing with Pitch Shifters and many other pedals. Chords with an open String sound amazing, no idea who would wanna dismiss that.
Geddy Lee uses chords a lot as well as Les Claypool. They are also in power trios so they need to be able to fill a lot of space between the drums and guitar. Plus you can't forget Stanley Clarke. School Daze.
I'm in a 3-piece band that covers a wide variety of genres. Using chords helps fill in the gaps a lot of times. But not so much like the ones in this video, in the middle at least. Lots of power chords. I use the 5th and octave add a lot; our you can put the third between the root and octave instead and get a smile out of your guitar player. NEVER play the 7th with the octave below down low, it sounds absolutely horrible for some reason; if you must, to accent things, leave the root out!!! The guitarist is playing it on at least one string somewhere already. On some songs pedal the root and alternate or "arpeggiate" the 3/5 and the octave or walk between them if you're capable. Musicians look for the guy on rhythm guitar but there isn't one! And yeah, darnit, as a bassist, if you want to do this stuff, you finally have to learn what those little letters/numbers are after the root!!! Going between a "C" and that "Cm7" thing changes everything, darnit!!!
I'm thinking about Jack Bruce's bass solo on the West, Bruce + Laing "Live n Kickin" LP, major use of drone strings and chords. From way back around 1972. It's quite a composition in and of itself.
Jeff Berlin uses chords as well as Michael Mannring. Chords unbeknownst to bass players are a good way to understand not only the bass but music in general. One can actually use the bass as a primary compositional tool rather than the guitar or piano.
surprised you didn't mention 4ths. They seem kind of dorky since that is what the bass is tuned in. But really they have this cool neutral character, slightly both consonant and dissonant. They are a great way to add texture to a melody. I picked it up playing upright actually but transferred it to electric. Also, all of this approach to chords on bass changes as soon as you hook up a fuzz/distortion/overdrive. I started doing that in high school and it was kind of controversial? It wasn't until later that I found out people had been doing that since the 60's, and folks like Cliff Burton had kept on with it. Overdrive on bass makes 'muddy' chords sound better, and power chords amazing. But you quickly learn to stick to single intervals. Which brings me to my next point. For some folks, two notes is not a chord. It's an interval (or note cluster). Since it only has two notes it's not defining a key the same way a 3 or 4 note chord narrows the possible key to only a few candidates. That is how I learned it at least. English guitarist Robert Fripp made a statement to that effect in an interview I read once. But his point was that learning intervals was better in the long run than learning chords. Chord guru on bass? Might want to check out this not very well known bassist, Les Claypool? I think he was on MTV back in the 70's. His style is very much 3rds, 7ths and 10ths. Right up your alley!
I put a 5th at the top of voicings all the time, especially if it's part if the melody, which it often is. To suggest that one should never play the 5th in a chord voicing is not good advice. You're telling people to artificially limit themselves. There's just no reason for that. I'll make a short list of intervals that work as part of bass chords: Root Flat 2nd 2nd minor 3rd major 3rd 4th diminished 5th 5th augmented 5th 6th dominant 7th major 7th octave flat 9th You get the idea.
How do I make John the fisherman sound good ifit's fairly low. I've seen it done before, the chord doesn't sound muddy when other people play it, but something changes when I do and it sounds muddy.
Great Video! Always love to learn something new. I'm wondering about those "beats" you mention at about 2:30. Can you (or someone else) please provide a source, where i can learn more about them? I really like those wobbling noises and want to learn how to control and use them (not all the time, but sometimes it's just necessary to start a little earthquake).
"Double Stops on Bass Guitar" would be a more accurate title. Playing two pitches (interval) simultaneously on a string instrument is a double stop. The simplest chord is a triad which has three pitches. If you eliminate one pitch of a triad, you no longer have a chord. It's just a matter of nomenclature.
Like he said on bass you get a lot of overtones playing two strings normally makes 3-4 distinct pitches there’s a tiny amount of fretboard where triads don’t sound like absolute garbage. Actually came to this video just to see if I just sucked or they always sounded bad lol
_BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK TO BUY SIRE let me tell you something - Marcus Miller is a legend indeed, he is the most inspire dude, as a bassist and as a person also - but small thing he is really need to know earnestly - those Sire Bass guitar from indonesia arriving to the client in a embarrassing shape, full of Defects all over the necks and bodies!, i have tried to get one of those bass guitar 3 times... and 3 times i hace to send them back to Thomann's guitar with the worst client support ever
This man looks like he just came from his job at sea world
this possibly earned him a firing
#legaliserosewood
william chassé legolas mirkwood
Les Claypool uses a lot of chords, mainly power chords but there are some other songs that he uses different ones. I can remember now the version he did of in the court of the crimson king at bonnaroo with the Claypool Lennon Delirium
Drillkicker "Break the rules"? Nah he's using the rules to his advantage if he's playing chords.
Maximiliano Herrera. He also plays a piccolo bass, it has thinner strings so it sounds less muddy/cleaner.
@@sugmabass3743 His basses actually have regular gauges.
He did however, in his early days, switch out his E string for an A and the D for a G and then tunes the thing to regular EADG tuning.
Makes chords sound better and they're easier to play.
Bane64 same difference, thinner strings so it's less muddy/cleaner sounding.
In the 80's I played with a fine bass player(for about 1 year) that used these kinds of chord techniques. I didn't know how really good he was until I heard some of his isolated tracks and I was blown away. So even though these are great suggestions, if you want to be heard, play what gets heard.
That was one of the most simply explained chording on bass, Ive Ever Heard..... Great job!
Very useful video, thanks!
Ben Shepherd, Peter Hook and Justin Chancellor are my inspirations if we're talking about chords on bass.
Justin Chancellor
Lou Barlow of Dinosaur Jr. almost exclusively plays chords to match Mascis, he's a good one to study for bass chords.
Kain Womack woah, Barlow getting some recognition!
dinosaurs rhythm section is insanely tight live. lou barlow is a totally underrated bassist
Yeah they get looked over way to often, nice MBV icon by the way, Debbie Googe is way underrated too.
Aiden R unfortunately Lemmy and Cliff Burton get most of the praise for being tight, heavily distorted, chord playing genius'.
sure for the most part it is power chords but badly is far from the truth
This guy is funny. I watched all his videos just to have a good laugh LOL :D
Anybody else catch when Russell, from a music store based in the UK, played Jaco's version of "America the Beautiful"? How awesome was that?!!!!!! Great tutorial. Thanks for posting!!!!!
Janek Gwizdala is the guru! He made an entire solo album with just bass, pedals and looping, "American Elm". He uses high C-string most of the time
For Chords on Bass, Thundercat is amazing, Definitely worth checking out if you're into this stuff
The last part for Goodbye Angels by RHCP is all about 10ths on bass! Check it !
Reese Morin it's not chords tho
Thanks for making me aware of ideas to add to my repertoire of techniques. I am a total single note player trying to step up my game. This helps.
Dude ok, John Paul jones plays a lot of chords, but if you want the God of all things musical and bass from theory to divine technique. Invest yourself into Cliff Burton. On the surface a legendary badass bassist. Under the surface a god.
Also Lemmy kilmister played bass like a rhythm guitarist so if you can't find bass chords in Motörhead songs I think you're lying man.
Anyway Peace and good luck.
I'd also put Steve Harris in there, he uses them alot. Although he almost always uses the same finger position for chords (e.g. D and G string 9th fret and A string 7th fret, always with the one fret space) he creates this great blend of single notes and chords in fitting spots. Iron Maiden's 'The Red and the Black' is a good example with the intro bass chords and many more chords throughout the song.
Dragon Balance Stanley Clarke is the bass chord guru
with the right setup even low chords will sound great and not at all muddy. get rid of the mids with your amp's EQ and use the bridge pickup and a pick - there you go.
something this video fails to mention directly is the concept of musical space. I see a comment below mentioning justin chancellor of tool. Perfect example - he and adam jones switch roles regularly. If the people you're playing, don't get in your fucking way, the bass can do whatever, whenever, especially if you have a C string.
xlaythe exactly what i was thinking, it pissed me off that he said as a bass player you shouldn't be playing chords at times, I find that BS because you can do whatever you want in music
that's a great sounding bass
Amazing Teacher. Your approach is great. Wish I had a single bass instructor in my area. Thank you
I love how you start a list with zero index ;)
The german Hardcore-Band Fjort from Aachen is a good example for chords on bass in these kinds of genre. While Chris plays almost only melody on guitar, David lays a foundation with chords on bass. Off course it sounds muddy at times, also due to the low tuning in Drop-C (C-G-C-F) and dozens of effects (Distortion, Fuzz, Rerverb/Delay), but it works out very well for the typ of music.
for those that don't want to omit the 5th/octave (arpeggiating is a perfect scenario for this) you should show the standard triad, first inversion and second inversion shapes (6 total to show both major and minor triads).
This guy looks like Marv (Daniel Stern)from Home Alone
Dude you're a legend, seem like a really nice dude and you're honest but great at playing, I loved that A/D tune, dunno what it is though 😅 anyways great job!
I like this guy. Lots on here appear to dislike what he has done here, or they don't like him.
I play lots of Chords on bass, playing with Pitch Shifters and many other pedals. Chords with an open String sound amazing, no idea who would wanna dismiss that.
Geddy Lee uses chords a lot as well as Les Claypool. They are also in power trios so they need to be able to fill a lot of space between the drums and guitar. Plus you can't forget Stanley Clarke. School Daze.
chords are quite a bit by Geddy Lee on the Vapor trails
The mumbling at the start and the poor acting (not insulting, I chuckle'd) made me subscribe
I'm in a 3-piece band that covers a wide variety of genres. Using chords helps fill in the gaps a lot of times. But not so much like the ones in this video, in the middle at least.
Lots of power chords. I use the 5th and octave add a lot; our you can put the third between the root and octave instead and get a smile out of your guitar player. NEVER play the 7th with the octave below down low, it sounds absolutely horrible for some reason; if you must, to accent things, leave the root out!!! The guitarist is playing it on at least one string somewhere already.
On some songs pedal the root and alternate or "arpeggiate" the 3/5 and the octave or walk between them if you're capable. Musicians look for the guy on rhythm guitar but there isn't one!
And yeah, darnit, as a bassist, if you want to do this stuff, you finally have to learn what those little letters/numbers are after the root!!! Going between a "C" and that "Cm7" thing changes everything, darnit!!!
Steve Harris does power chords pretty much all of the time. And Billy Sheehan sure does love the octave and occasional fifth to fatten up the sound :)
I'm thinking about Jack Bruce's bass solo on the West, Bruce + Laing "Live n Kickin" LP, major use of drone strings and chords. From way back around 1972. It's quite a composition in and of itself.
peter hooks bass lines from twenty four hours and love will tear us apart are great examples of utilizing open strings
The One, THE GOD, Lemmy....
I think Peter Hook, Lou Barlow and Lemmy would disagree with "if you're playing chords you're doing something wrong" theory.
Janek Gwizdala for sure, check out his solo album "American Elm" loads of chord movements there :)
Jeff Berlin uses chords as well as Michael Mannring. Chords unbeknownst to bass players are a good way to understand not only the bass but music in general. One can actually use the bass as a primary compositional tool rather than the guitar or piano.
True. Bass chords are underrated, a lot!
Can you do a comparison of IBANEZ SR vs MARCUS MILLER M SERIES vs CORT ARTISAN ? Come on, now, hop on !
Steve Bailey also uses a bunch of cords and his playing
surprised you didn't mention 4ths. They seem kind of dorky since that is what the bass is tuned in. But really they have this cool neutral character, slightly both consonant and dissonant. They are a great way to add texture to a melody. I picked it up playing upright actually but transferred it to electric.
Also, all of this approach to chords on bass changes as soon as you hook up a fuzz/distortion/overdrive. I started doing that in high school and it was kind of controversial? It wasn't until later that I found out people had been doing that since the 60's, and folks like Cliff Burton had kept on with it. Overdrive on bass makes 'muddy' chords sound better, and power chords amazing. But you quickly learn to stick to single intervals.
Which brings me to my next point. For some folks, two notes is not a chord. It's an interval (or note cluster). Since it only has two notes it's not defining a key the same way a 3 or 4 note chord narrows the possible key to only a few candidates.
That is how I learned it at least. English guitarist Robert Fripp made a statement to that effect in an interview I read once. But his point was that learning intervals was better in the long run than learning chords.
Chord guru on bass? Might want to check out this not very well known bassist, Les Claypool? I think he was on MTV back in the 70's. His style is very much 3rds, 7ths and 10ths. Right up your alley!
two octaves love.
Russell, you are the cream of the cream
Left-hand techniques/practice, please. Always looking for tips/tricks to improve.
Love this guy.
This video just made me feel great about my bass playing level!
You have my exact same bass, I did a review on my channel of it!
The Jaco stuff sounds nice on the flea jazz bass
Is this similar to the Squier Classic Vibes 60s Jazz Bass?
I am gonna start the bass journey in a week and this of all the video I've watched has been the most interested one I swear. So fuckin cool dude!
4th intervals work superbly on D and G string... try it folks!
I put a 5th at the top of voicings all the time, especially if it's part if the melody, which it often is.
To suggest that one should never play the 5th in a chord voicing is not good advice. You're telling people to artificially limit themselves. There's just no reason for that.
I'll make a short list of intervals that work as part of bass chords:
Root
Flat 2nd
2nd
minor 3rd
major 3rd
4th
diminished 5th
5th
augmented 5th
6th
dominant 7th
major 7th
octave
flat 9th
You get the idea.
Good lesson ..thanks
Janek Gwizdala uses a lot of chords, he's excellent!
That pedal that allowed you to record / repeat that walking line, what is it ? Thanks and great playing
That's a looper pedal. Probably the best practice tool - and even way more than that. Check out this list: www.thomann.de/gb/looper.html
Cheers //Kris
How do I make John the fisherman sound good ifit's fairly low. I've seen it done before, the chord doesn't sound muddy when other people play it, but something changes when I do and it sounds muddy.
THAT bass is beautiful
Great video. Thanks.
Janek Gwizdalla is a chord master! Great vid btw
Great Video! Always love to learn something new.
I'm wondering about those "beats" you mention at about 2:30. Can you (or someone else) please provide a source, where i can learn more about them?
I really like those wobbling noises and want to learn how to control and use them (not all the time, but sometimes it's just necessary to start a little earthquake).
The are when the sound waves have distructive interference.
Ah, thanks! Now i know what to search for.
Awesome video, thanks
Love the Jaco bits
Thank you man 👍
This is great! Thanks for the simple delivery.
I was taught a chord consists of at least three notes, two are double stop. Interesting tutorial. Thanks
I thought double stopping was playing the same note on different octaves, hence the 'double' part. Any other pair of notes was an interval.
@@nathanwahl9224 Well, then you learned something.
Mike Kerr laughs at you!
being a guitarist love this video
Can you tell me the name of the pedal you're using? Thanks
Russell is the man!
Definitely Thundercat is someone to listen to for bass chords, he's the cooliest
Also, please do make a video about voice leading, I have no idea what that is
OOOoooooh, so you were the one who stole Scott's (bass lessons) bass!
"Double Stops on Bass Guitar" would be a more accurate title. Playing two pitches (interval) simultaneously on a string instrument is a double stop. The simplest chord is a triad which has three pitches. If you eliminate one pitch of a triad, you no longer have a chord. It's just a matter of nomenclature.
Like he said on bass you get a lot of overtones playing two strings normally makes 3-4 distinct pitches there’s a tiny amount of fretboard where triads don’t sound like absolute garbage. Actually came to this video just to see if I just sucked or they always sounded bad lol
Thanks for the vid bro! Super helpful
Really nice and helpful video.
Love this video.....
name of the songs?
This here folks is a fine example of what I like to call TUNNEL VISION
joy division!
Chord Guru when it comes to bass, Steve Bailey, no one knows chords on the bass better than him.
Nice tutorial.
thanks so much
good one.. thanks
Justin Chancellor plays a bunch of chords in tool songs.. They also sound much better played with a pick..
Richard Bona plays chords. Victor Wooten plays chords
What is this double thumb thing all about?
that intro
gotta love this dude
why are you not in transformer?
THAT's what I'm talking about!
Jeff Berlin is thee guy I think of when I think about chording on the bass
janek gwizdala, evan brewer
funny and instructive ! Thanks !
Lou Barlow -Dinosaur Jr.- and Ferdinand Richards -Etron Fou Lelublan- (cords on the bass...)
I love you man.
First thing I thought of was Snow by RHCP
YAGNI ftw!
A good chord-bass player could be Hadrien Faraud, and besidde that I think, he is probably the best bass player in the world:-)
What if u like mud
The band won’t
flea bass
the one and the ten
_BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK TO BUY SIRE let me tell you something - Marcus Miller is a legend indeed, he is the most inspire dude, as a bassist and as a person also - but small thing he is really need to know earnestly - those Sire Bass guitar from indonesia arriving to the client in a embarrassing shape, full of Defects all over the necks and bodies!, i have tried to get one of those bass guitar 3 times... and 3 times i hace to send them back to Thomann's guitar with the worst client support ever