When you’re looking for a specific note, whether it’s one you’re hearing in your mind or one you’re hearing someone else play or sing, use this one-string chromatic approach to make finding it more efficient: Play only on your G string and play only one fret at a time, step by step in sequence, from the open G string to the octave G at the double dot of your finger- board. One of these notes is a match for the one you’re hearing and a couple of others simply sound good with it. By playing the 12 notes in
that range, you’re covering all the notes in the chromatic system, leaving none out. Staying on one string allows you to keep track of which notes you’ve played and eliminated; otherwise you may be jumping around the fingerboard without a plan, wasting time and energy on notes you’ve already tried. The G string is the highest pitched string on your bass and the notes are easiest to hear, so take a ride on that G string. (Oh, and keep it clean in the G-string joke department.)
145
Chapter 6: Creating the Groove
Figure 6-20:
Finding the root in a two-note relationship.
==Root
Notes =
=Root Notes
==Root c)
a) b)
Notes Resulting
Chord Major
Major
Resulting Chord ChoiceRoot
ChoiceRoot
=
= Notes
Notes
Notes
Notes
=
= ChoiceRoot
ChoiceRoot
Resulting Chord
Minor
Resulting Chord
Minor
Notes
=
ChoiceRoot Resulting Chord
= or
Major Minor
Notes
=
ChoiceRoot Resulting Chord
= or
Major Minor
Resulting Chord
Resulting Chord
146 Part III: Making the Moves, Creating the Grooves
Pivoting the note that’s at the center of your jam harmony allows you to create new chords that relate to it and to each other. The new chords then give the music a fresh direction by adding variety and making it more inter- esting. After all, no matter how smokin’ hot a groove is, how interesting can you make a song if it stays on the same chord for three hours?
The trick to pivoting a note is to take the central note of the chord and move it away from the center. (Refer to the preceding section for help in finding the central note of the chord.) Of course, the note is still the same — it’s really not going anywhere — but the movement is implied. You actually move the new chords around the note — that’s the pivot.
When you hear a note that’s central to a musical phrase or a chord or scale, usually you hear it as the root (see Chapter 5 for more on chords, scales, and roots). You can add to that root note another note in a specific place that turns the original root note into a different chord tone, the 3rd for example, of a different chord. In other words, the note that was the root of one chord is now the 3rd of another chord, and a different note becomes the new root.
Your original note is still an important part of the harmony, but it’s not quite so central anymore. How can you get away with simply changing the root in the harmony? You’re the bassist and roots are your business!
The root is the bassist’s business, whether you’re choosing it or you’re listen- ing for it from another player, especially from the soloist (or whoever’s play- ing the melody). Always listen to the other players, too, because sometimes another player may initiate a new chord sound, in which case you follow the guidelines of the previous section for finding two central notes. The diagram in Figure 6-21 shows you the best choices for pivoting the central note.
When you create new chords in a jam, keep in mind that it’s easier to move around from chord to chord if you’re playing a simple groove rather than a complex one. (Check out the earlier section “Covering the ‘basses’: Creating dominant, minor, and major grooves” for more information on simple and complex grooves.) The rule of thumb is this: The more chords you have and the faster they change, the simpler your groove needs to be. Often the best initial move is to simply lay down a pumping eighth note rhythm on the root.
(Head to Chapter 8 for the eighth note rhythm on the root.)
Let your own ear be the final judge whether a choice you make sounds good or not; give it a little time to ferment, especially in a jam session. To let a groove ferment, you have to keep your choice of chords consistent and repeat them over and over again to give the other players a chance to get familiar with the duration and sequence of your chords (also called progression) and to respond with musical phrases that enhance the new progression.
147
Chapter 6: Creating the Groove
Figure 6-21:
The best choices for pivoting a note and the resulting chords.
Central Note
=
Pivot
(add a new note as root) Resulting Chord
= or
Major Minor
Resulting Chord
(add a new note as root) Chord Central Note
=
Pivot
(add a new note as root)Pivot
Resulting Minor
Central Note
=
Resulting Chord Major