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Jazz Chords for Bass

By Elizabeth White

I'll admit it, I started playing music on guitar, which led me to see my 6-string electric bass as a chordal instrument. So I took guitar jazz chords I'd learned and translated them to bass. These chords in their full fingering are pretty much only going to be useful on bass guitar, but I wouldn't hesitate to use them, in some form, on upright bass.

Explaining "Drop 2," "Drop 3" & "Drop 2 Drop 4" Structures
When 7th chords are written out, the notes are for the most part, as near to each other as possible. That's fine for piano, but those fingerings are a nightmare on every stringed instrument I've played. So in jazz guitar there are "drop" chords that are supposed to be easier (I'll argue against that claim on some fingerings). You spell the chord straight up in any inversion, and then drop the designated note(s) (counting from the top) down one octave.

This is how you would find/write "drop" chords. These are all Cmaj7s. The first is a "Drop2", the second is a "Drop3", and the last is a "Drop 2 Drop 4"

Because bass is tuned in perfect 4th intervals between the strings you can move these chords anywhere on the neck, and across strings, with ease for as many strings as your bass has. The colored note in the fingering is the root of the chord. Strings that are not fingered are not played

Triad Chords:
Major


Minor


Drop 2 Chords:

Note: because Drop 3 and Drop 2 Drop 4 chords spread across nearly 2 octaves they simply won't fit on a 4 string bass. So I've written them out for 5 string bass.

Drop 3 Chords:



Drop 2 Drop 4 Chords:



9ths:




   Maj9 chord            Min9 chord

13ths:

These are the two most common 13th chords. The first fingering only has the Root, 7th, 3rd up an octave, and 13th. The second fingering is Root, 3rd, 7th, 9th, and 13th and it is an extension of the 9th chord shown above. I'm only doing dominant 13ths because you so rarely see maj13, or min13, much less fully or half diminished 13ths.

Enharmonic Chord relationships
Enharmonic means using two names for the same pitch; or chords that are two things at once. Example: B is also Cb, and Ax (double sharp). Bb could also be Cbb(double flat). My favorite example: a C7(b5) = Gb7(b5). Not many chords retain the same quality, but if you start on a different root, and do some creative enharmonic spelling you can get bunches of different chords.

1. Fully diminished 7 chords: every note in the chord can be the root - an F dim7 is also a Ddim7, G#dim7, a Bdim7, or any enharmonic spelling thereof.
2. 6 chords: are the same as their relative minor 7: C6 = Am7
3. Min6 chords: are the same as their relative "half diminished (ø)" or "minor7(b5)" depending on what you want to call it that day. Cm6 = Am7(b5), or Aø7

For practice, a really good drill is to run these chords through the Circle of 4ths, one group of chords at a time. I do this either by finding all the keys in one spot. Find a C, then an F, then a Bb, but try to stay in one position as much as possible; or by finding all four chords of one root ascending the neck, then move on to the next key, ex: find all Cs up the neck, then all Fs. Just so you can remember, the circle of 4ths goes C, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb/F#, B, E, A, D, G, C.

D.C. Al Fine

I'm pretty sure this will be of little use in most band settings, but in jazz it could be helpful to know these chords as reference points for walking bass lines (I find arpeggios are hard to remember in the heat of a jazz jam) and for doing small combo gigs, solo arrangements, and avant-garde music.

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Feel free to email me with questions and comments, Elizabeth White Email - EAWhite@moment.net