{"id":146316,"date":"2024-11-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-27T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=146316"},"modified":"2024-11-25T11:40:49","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T19:40:49","slug":"guitar-basics-how-to-connect-chords-with-bass-runs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/guitar-basics-how-to-connect-chords-with-bass-runs\/","title":{"rendered":"Guitar Basics: How to Connect Chords with Bass Runs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Guitar Basics: Connect Chords with Bass Runs | Spice Up Your Open Chords, Part 4\" width=\"1290\" height=\"726\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Kg-cTDbwZB0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So far in this series of lessons on chord embellishment basics, we\u2019ve talked about adding or changing notes in the open chord shapes\u2014<a href=\"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/decorating-open-chords-with-hammer-ons-and-pull-offs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">using hammer-ons and pull-offs<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/guitar-basics-how-to-use-sus-and-add-embellishments-with-open-chord-shapes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sus and add chord voicings<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/add-a-blues-flavor-to-your-rhythm-with-simple-chord-embellishments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bluesy colors<\/a>. Now let\u2019s turn our attention to the bottom of the chords: the all-important bass notes. Playing single bass notes is a great way to thin out your accompaniment, so you\u2019re not continually strumming, and you can go a step further and create simple bass runs that carry you from one chord to the next. That\u2019s the focus of this lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019ll start off with a series of examples that use a bass run to connect two chords, and then we\u2019ll try out bass runs in a few classic progressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Up and Down the Scale<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The foundation of the examples in this lesson is the bass\/strum style\u2014a bass note followed by a chord strum. That\u2019s known variously in guitar-speak as the boom-chuck, boom-chick, or (as Gillian Welch refers to it in this issue) boom-chang. Whatever you want to call it, you can see the basic move in the first half of each measure in <strong>Example 1<\/strong>. On the G chord in measure 1, for instance, play a G bass note (the root of the chord) on the sixth string on beat 1, and then strum the upper strings on beat 2.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, after that G bass\/strum, play a short bass run that leads to the next chord, C; play A and B notes on the fifth string on the way to the C bass note in measure 2. You are simply walking up the major scale to reach the next chord. Once you arrive on the C chord, resume the bass\/strum, this time with an alternating bass: play a C bass note on beat 1, and a G on beat 3. For the G bass note, keep holding the C shape and just shift your ring finger over to the sixth string.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Continue this pattern for the rest of Ex. 1. Work through the example two bars at a time, going from G to C, C to F, A to D, and E to A. In each pair, walk up to the second chord. If you think of the first chord of the pair as the I chord, you are walking up to the IV\u2014a very common move.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the F chord, shift your ring finger over to the fifth string for the alternate bass note, as you did on the C chord. Going from A to D and from E to A, you\u2019ll need to move quickly away from the first chord shape after the strum in order to fret the bass run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In <strong>Example 2<\/strong>, try the same basic pattern starting on minor chords. In the first two measures, play a bass\/strum on Am and then a bass run leading to C. Then do the same with Em to G, and Em to Am. As with the earlier examples, the bass run is climbing the corresponding scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can also reverse any of these bass runs and descend from one chord to another. <strong>Example 3<\/strong> shows how that might go with a few chord pairs from Exs. 1 and 2. Play bass runs that descend from C to G, C to Am, and G to Em.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re going between G and D chords, the bass run looks a bit different because the root bass notes of these chords are not on adjacent strings, as they were with all the chord pairs we looked at previously. <strong>Example 4<\/strong> shows how you might play a bass run from a G chord to a D, and then from a D chord to a G. Going from D to G, you could walk up the fourth string and land on the open third string for G, but that third-string G note is pretty high and doesn\u2019t really register as a bass note. So instead, drop down an octave to the open sixth string, as shown, and walk up to the G.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Chromatic Runs<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You also can play bass runs that move chromatically\u2014that is, in half steps, or one fret at a time\u2014rather than sticking to scale notes. In the first two bars of <strong>Example 5<\/strong>, go from a G to an Am with a bass run that ascends from G to G# to A. Do the same in the next two bars from C to Dm, with the bass run C to C# to D.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bass runs don\u2019t always have to start on the root of the chord. In <strong>Example 6<\/strong>, play a bass\/strum on E major and then a bass run that climbs the fifth string, approaching the root of the B7 chord chromatically\u2014A, A#, B. In <strong>Example 7<\/strong>, the bass run goes the opposite direction. Play an Em and then a bass run that descends the fifth string: B, A#, A. In both of these examples, the key is timing the bass run so that you land on the root of the next chord right on the downbeat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One song that uses a short chromatic bass run like this is the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/4eMLCV2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Grateful Dead\u2019s \u201cRipple.\u201d<\/a> The song is in the key of G, and the chorus (\u201cRipple in still water\u2026\u201d) kicks off with an Am. You can make the transition between G and Am with a bass run like the one in <strong>Example 8<\/strong>. Play one measure of a bass\/strum on G (with a little hammer-on for decoration), and then in measure 2, walk the bass down from B to A# to A, leading to the Am chord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Making Connections<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Bass runs really come to life when you use them in longer chord progressions. Here are a couple of examples inspired by classic songs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example 9<\/strong> is based on the verse progression from <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ZqOOBG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Neil Young\u2019s \u201cComes a Time,\u201d<\/a> which has an easygoing country\/folk feel in the key of G. Use bass runs throughout this eight-bar progression to move from chord to chord. Going from G to Bm in measure 2, play a chromatic bass run up the fifth string. In measure 4, walk the bass from B up to D. In measures 6 and 7, walk the bass down to Am and then back up to C. Throughout, the bass runs add momentum to the progression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, for <strong>Example 10<\/strong>, run through the progression from the ever-popular traditional song <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YXUMrW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cHouse of the Rising Sun.\u201d<\/a> The song is in 6\/8 time\u2014count the beats in two sets of three. The chords change almost every measure, so there are lots of opportunities to practice connecting bass runs. Here the bass runs mostly fall on the last two eighth notes of the measure, leading to the root bass note of the new chord on the downbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In measures 9 and 10, fret the low G bass note with your pinkie while continuing to hold down the chord shape (Am and then E7). On the E chords in measures 7\u20138 and 12, toggle between E and E7\u2014this is the kind of bluesy embellishment discussed in the previous lesson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of course bass runs can be overdone\u2014you wouldn\u2019t want to use one for every chord change necessarily. It\u2019s important to leave space and not compete with vocals or other things going on with the music. But bass runs, used tastefully, are a great tool for giving a little nudge to your chord progression and groove. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"760\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-1-4.png?resize=760%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Guitar Lesson: How to Connect Chords with Bass Runs musical notation and tablature, page 1\" class=\"wp-image-146320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-1-4.png?resize=760%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 760w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-1-4.png?resize=371%2C500&amp;ssl=1 371w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-1-4.png?resize=768%2C1035&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-1-4.png?resize=223%2C300&amp;ssl=1 223w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-1-4.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"757\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-6-9.png?resize=757%2C1024&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Guitar Lesson: How to Connect Chords with Bass Runs musical notation and tablature, page 2\" class=\"wp-image-146321\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-6-9.png?resize=757%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 757w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-6-9.png?resize=369%2C500&amp;ssl=1 369w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-6-9.png?resize=768%2C1039&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-6-9.png?resize=222%2C300&amp;ssl=1 222w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-6-9.png?w=1081&amp;ssl=1 1081w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 757px) 100vw, 757px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"831\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-10.png?resize=1024%2C831&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Guitar Lesson: How to Connect Chords with Bass Runs musical notation and tablature, page 3\" class=\"wp-image-146322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-10.png?resize=1024%2C831&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-10.png?resize=500%2C406&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-10.png?resize=768%2C623&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-10.png?resize=300%2C243&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/AG350-BASS-RUNS-EX-10.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/products\/no-350-january-february-2025\" name=\"magazine\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 150px; height: 198px; margin: 0px 20px 10px 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/001_350_Cover-150px.jpg?w=1290&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Acoustic Guitar magazine cover for issue 350\"><\/a>\n<p style=\"font-family: sans-serif; margin: 0px 0px 15px 0px;\">This article originally appeared in the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/products\/no-350-january-february-2025\">January\/February 2025<\/a> issue of <em>Acoustic Guitar<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ll start off with a series of examples that use a bass run to connect two chords, and then we\u2019ll try out bass runs in a few classic progressions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":146318,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"We\u2019ll start off with a series of examples that use a bass run to connect two chords, and then we\u2019ll try out bass runs in a few classic progressions.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1663],"tags":[1961],"ppma_author":[1559],"class_list":["post-146316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fundamental-techniques","tag-january-february-2025"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/IMG_1492.jpg?fit=1200%2C659&ssl=1","authors":[{"term_id":1559,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"jeffrey-pepper-rodgers","display_name":"Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/About-Us-8.jpg","url2x":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/About-Us-8.jpg"},"user_url":"https:\/\/www.jeffreypepperrodgers.com\/","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":"Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers, founding editor of <em>Acoustic Guitar<\/em>, is a grand prize winner of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest and author of <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3P3hwn9\"><em>The Complete Singer-Songwriter<\/em><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/store.acousticguitar.com\/collections\/instruction\/products\/beyond-strumming\"><em>Beyond Strumming<\/em><\/a>, and other books and videos for musicians. In addition to his ongoing work with <em>AG<\/em>, he offers live workshops for guitarists and songwriters, plus video lessons, song charts, and tab, on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/jeffreypepperrodgers\" target=\"blank\">Patreon<\/a>.\r\n"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146316"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146316\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":146574,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146316\/revisions\/146574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146316"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=146316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}