Major Chords Workbook

Lesson Workbook
Welcome to…

Playing over Major Chords

This workbook has everything you’ll need to get the most out of the lesson. The bass
lines are notated in both standard notation and TAB and include a full analysis of what’s
being played. There’s also a handful of fingerboard diagrams too, that clearly show all of
the shapes being used. At the end of the lesson, there are some suggestions for how
you can develop your ability to play over major chord across the whole fingerboard and
use the 2-note cells to create awesome bass lines of your own.

How to use this pack

We’ve carefully designed this resource pack to fit perfectly with your online lesson.
It’s best to follow it through from the beginning, as it runs in tandem with the video.

Before you start, here’s a quick breakdown of what you’ll see throughout the workbook.

Press this to watch the video Written task

Watch out for this! Helpful hints

Now turn over and let’s get going… Happy practicing!

Have a questio
n about this less
on, or anything
else? Get in to
uch!
 Knowing the Harmony

Knowing the harmony of the chords you play over is a MUST, especially
if you want to fully understand what you are playing and be able to play
fluently across the bass.

This lesson breaks this down into very small chunks, which means being
able to play over chords and outline ‘their sound’ is actually much easier
than you might have first thought.

The 2 chords using in this lesson are:

R E 5
A A C# E

R E 5
D D F# A

The exercises and bass lines in this lesson make use of the Root & 3rd of
each chord.
 Root Notes

To begin with, we need to acquaint ourselves with the chords we are

playing over, so the diagrams below show all the positions on the
fingerboard the Root notes of each chord (A & D) can be played.

You can see how we’re moving up the fingerboard in octaves. This just helps identify each
position shift. If this doesn’t work for you and you prefer to move in a different way, that’s
perfectly fine.
 Roots and 3rds

This next group of diagrams show all of the permutations of playing

the Root & 3rd of the A major chord, in every position possible.

Open string and 3rd @ 11th fret of D string. This can only be used with chords from the
open strings i,e. E, A & D.

10ths: Root on E string and 3rd 1 fret higher on the G string.

This is similar to how a Root & 3rd is played in a major chord arpeggio, or a major scale, or a
major pentatonic scale.

Root & 3rd played on the same string. Again, this mirrors a major chord arpeggio pattern
and also a major scale and major pentatonic scale too.

3rd played one string below the Root.

3rd played two strings below the root.

 Roots and 3rds

This next group of diagrams show all of the permutations of playing

the Root & 3rd of the D major chord, in every position possible.

Open string and 3rd @ 11th fret of D string.

10ths: Root on E string and 3rd 1 fret higher on the G string.

This is similar to how a Root & 3rd is played in a major chord arpeggio, or a major scale, or a
major pentatonic scale.

Root & 3rd played on the same string. Again, this mirrors a major chord arpeggio pattern
and also a major scale and major pentatonic scale too.

3rd played one string below the Root.

3rd played two strings below the root.

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14
The Root being
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? ∑ ###
The notation below shows how the 6 Root & 3rd shapes can be
used to play a melodic bass line over the 2 chords (A and D).
¤
Open string and 3rd, 1 octave up (10th)

A 3rd down 2 strings from the Root

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 Using the Root & 3rd in Bass Lines

When you use these 2-note cells and connect them with other 2-note cells
in different positions, your fluency playing over chords will improve.

When playing over pieces with even more chords, these cells can help
you move between chords and connect those chords easily.

The following bass lines show some different approaches to this. Some 5
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 Using the Root & 3rd in Bass Lines

This next piece uses 3 chords. It’s Bass

a common chord progression and
Bass Guitar, Bass Guitar Bass Guitar, Bass Guitar 77
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Using the Root & 3rd7in Bass Lines
¤ 5 5 5 5 7 9 9 5 5
X 5 5 7 7 0 5 5 2 2

This is a Reggae style piece, with just 2 chords again (A & D).

The
## use
∑ of the Root & 3rd here is very much
∑ in keeping with the idiom,
?#
however, some liberties have been taken, to show you just how effective
these two notes can be in any style.
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4 7
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5
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∑
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4 7
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AA D
D
# A D
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∑
∑
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2
2 4
4
¤¤ 2
2 4
4 2
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5
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AA D
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3
2
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4 5
5 5
5 5
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5
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AA D
D ˙˙
?# # A ˙˙ ˙˙ D j œœ ˙
?####
?# ˙ ˙ œœ œ œœ ŒŒ ŒŒ ŒŒ œœjj
œ
 ¤ 4 7 4 5 5 5
5 5 4 7 7 4 5 5 5 5
¤ 5 5 7 5

A D
?### A D
?### œ œ œ œœ œœ Œ ‰ ™ œrr œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ ∑
œ œ œ Œ ‰™ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ∑
2 4
¤ 2 4 2 4 5 5 5 2 4
5 5 5 5 2

Using the Root & 3rd in Bass Lines

¤ 2 4 4 5 5 5
5 5 5 5

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3
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¤ 2 4 2 4 5 5 5 2 4
5 5 2 4 5 2 4 5 5 5
¤ 5 5 5

A D ˙
?### A ˙ ˙ D j œ
˙ ˙ œ œ œ Œ Œ Œ œj ˙
?### ˙ œ œ œ Œ œ Œ Œ œ œ
˙ œ
6 7
6 7 7
7 4 5 7 9
¤ 5 7
7 4 5 5 7 9
¤ 5 5

A
˙ ˙ D œ ˙
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6 6 4 7 11 11
¤ 7 5 5
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A œDD œ ˙™
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9
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9 11 9 11 11 0 7 9 7
¤ 0 9 9 11 11 7
9 11 9 11 11 0 7 9 7
¤ 0 7

A D
?### A Œ œ Œ œ œœ œ œ D œ œ œ
?### œ Œ œ Œ œ œ œ œ Œ œ Œ œ œ œ
œ œ Œ Œ œ œ œ
œ œ
4
4 7 4 7 7
¤ 7 7 5 4 5
5 4 0 7 4 7 7 0 2
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?### ∑ ∑
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¤¤ 0 7

AA D
D
œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
?##### œ ŒŒ œœ ŒŒ
?# œœ ŒŒ œœ ŒŒ œœ
œ œœ œœ
4

Using the Root & 3rd in Bass Lines

4 7 4 7 4 7
¤¤ 7 4 7 4 7 5 7 7 5
5 7 0 7 5 5 0 2
5 0 0 2

Lastly, it’s swing. This technique is a little more difficult to demonstrate in a

walking
∑ bass line, because the very nature
#### ∑ ∑ of walking lines mean they are
?#
?# ∑
typical much freer (harmonically speaking).

The
¤¤ use of Roots & 3rds is shown in a few different ways, throughout this line.

AA
?# # œ
œ œœ œœ œ œœ œœ œœ œ œœ œ œ œœ œœ œ œœ bb œœ
?#### œ œ œ œ œ
7 6 4 4 6 Bass 7Guitar, Bass Guitar 4 11
¤¤ 7 6 4 7 4 6 7 4 7 4 4 7 7 6
7 2 4 7 5 4 7 5 7 6
Bass Guitar, Bass Guitar 5 5 11
?### 2
?### DD
?##### œœ œœ œœ œœ
?# œœ œœ œœ œœ 2œ œœ œœ œœ œœ œœ
2œ œœ œœ œœ
¤
¤ 5 5 9 9 7 7 5 5 5 5 4 5 7
¤¤ 5 5 9 9 7 7 5 5 5 5 0 2 5 5 4 5 7
5 0 2 5

A
œA œ œ œ œ œj œ œ œ œ
?### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œj œ œ œ œ
?### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
6 9 9
7 6 7 7 7 9 11 11
¤ 6 7 4 5 7 9 9 9
7 5 6 7 7 7 9 11 11
¤ 7 4 5 7 9
5

œD œ œ œ œ œ œ
?### œD œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
?### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ
œ œ œ œ #œ nœ
11 14 13 11 9 7 6
0 9 7 7
¤ 11 14 13 11 9 7 6 9 5 4 5 6 5
0 9 7 7
¤ 9 5 4 5 6 5

A
?### A
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ #œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
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6 9 9
7 6 7 7 7 9 11 11
¤ 6 7 4 5 7 9 9 9
7 5 6 7 7 7 9 11 11
¤ 7 4 5 7 9
5

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?### œD œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
?### œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ nœ
œ œ œ œ #œ nœ
11 14 13 11 9 7 6
0 9 7 7
¤ 11 14 13 11 9 7 6 9 5 4 5 6 5
0 9 7 7
¤ 9 5 4 5 6 5

A
?### A œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ
?### œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ nœ #œ
œ œ nœ #œ
œ œ œ œ
7 7 4 6 7 4
¤ 4 7 4 7 7 2 3 4
5 7 7 5 4 6 7 4 5
¤ 4 7 4 7 7 2 3 4
5 5 5

?### œnœj #œ œ œ nœ #œ
?### œnœj #œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ nœ #œ œ #œ œ œ œ nœ
œ œ œ œ
œ
œ œ œ
nœ
3 4
¤ 5 5 7 5 7 8 9 5 5 2
5 7 2 5 3
¤
 Watch now!

Development Study Guide

1. Major Chords - Major chords make up 50% of the harmony that exists.
Knowing the structure of those chords and being able to play the
arpeggios of the chords in multiple places on the fingerboard, will
serve you well.

2. Root Notes - Knowing where to play the root notes of the chords you
are playing over, anywhere on the fingerboard is great for helping you
better understand the bass and the harmony you are playing over.

Tip. Start with just one position. When you are confident you ‘know’ the
notes, move to a second position and keep repeating this until
you’ve played all of the notes, in every position possible.

3. Know the Notes - Patterns are fine, but learning the names of the notes
in chords and where to play them is a much more useful tool.

Tip. You will play the same notes repeatedly throughout your bass
playing lifetime. The sooner you learn them and where to play them
on the fingerboard, the much easier playing bass will become for
you.

4. Above the 12th fret - Playing above the 12th fret can be unfamiliar and
fills many of us with dread, because it’s unknown territory. However, if
you can play below the 12th fret, everything beyond that point is just a
repetition. That said, take is steady. Most of our time is spent at the
lower end of the fingerboard, so stretching out, is a skill that you can
acquire slowly.
 Development Study Guide

5. Moving around the bass - The 6 shapes will help you move around the
fingerboard, will help your technique and will help you develop a
consistent way of playing. They will also enable you to outline major
chords much more easily.

6. Technique - The articulations/techniques used in this lesson; slurs,

slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs & muting, will all help your bass lines
shine a little more. If you are not comfortable with using them, practise
them slowly.

7. The Sound - The sound of our bass lines are of paramount importance
and these 2 notes (Root & 3rd), are perfect for helping you not only
play strong bass lines, but also melodic lines. The 3rd especially is
instrumental in this and is a great note to use when connecting, or
moving between chords too.

Tip. This technique works equally well when playing solos, or melodic
lines. The 3rd is a supremely melodic choice of note and sounds out
the tonality of a chord beautifully.
 Summary…
Playing over chords is what we do as bass players in every single song that we
play. Having a command of chord notes is critical to helping you play with
confidence and the Root & 3rd of a chord, are the 2 most important notes you
can choose to play. Learning the 6 shapes in this lesson will benefit you hugely,
but knowing the notes in chords will help you even more. Major chords make up
half of the harmony you are likely to hear and play, so the sooner you can
understand those chord notes, the quicker you’ll be able to use them to their full
potential.

✔ Learn to play the Root notes in every place possible on the

fingerboard.

✔ Learn the 6 ways of playing the Root & 3rd of a Major chord.

✔ Practise using them in bass lines of your own, or see if you can pick
them out in the bass lines you already know.

✔ Experiment and have fun coming up with lines that inspire you and
keep listening to how sweet the 3rd of a major chord sounds!

Congratulations on completing the lesson.

Look forward to seeing you again.

Happy Practicing!
Get in touch! T
ell us what you
’d like to learn in a
lesson?
Keep an eye o
ut for the follo
wing lessons:
Different way
s of using a lo
The 2 things t oper pedal to
hat are preven practise
If you don’t pr t in g you from im
actise it, don’t proving
Why do singe expect to play
r s play the best b it
The Best Patt ass lines?
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ou improve yo
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ass
Full courses, helpful resources, transcriptions of some
killer bass lines and much more, coming soon…