Theory help - bass note for these chords.......

Placidcasual79

I confess to being pretty ignorant about music theory - I am trying to put a baseline to a chord two chord sequences - but the bass note either isnt the one I thought it'd be or the bass is out of tune....

I dont know the name of the first chord but I play an arpeggio on the 5th fret on the 5th string 7th fret on the 4th strong and 6th fret on 3rd string....... I think that the bass not should be a D..... but it doesnt sound right.... it seems to sound better as a C sharpe..... can that be right or is my bass or guitar out of tune?

In another part of the 'song' I play an arpeggio with the 7th fret on the 5th string the 5th fret on the 4th string ad 4th fret on the 3rd string - I think the bass note for this should be E or A -  can it be both?

Sorry for my vague ramblings......

LionAquaLooper

On your first arpeggio yes I'd agree a D bass should be the one because that 3 notes you're playing are part of the D maj 7 chord. Don't know why it wouldn't sound right. But you're right also in that C#  bass would also fit because C# is part of the D major scale.

On the 2nd arpeggio, either A or E bass should work. The 3 notes you played are E, G, F# which are part of the G major scale, of which A is also part of.

I don't have my guitar to hand and I'm slightly sleepy so I'm working this out purely from my brain and it might only be functioning at 75% though  

Placidcasual79

LionAquaLooper said:

On your first arpeggio yes I'd agree a D bass should be the one because that 3 notes you're playing are part of the D maj 7 chord. Don't know why it wouldn't sound right. But you're right also in that C#  bass would also fit because C# is part of the D major scale.

On the 2nd arpeggio, either A or E bass should work. The 3 notes you played are E, G, F# which are part of the G major scale, of which A is also part of.

I don't have my guitar to hand and I'm slightly sleepy so I'm working this out purely from my brain and it might only be functioning at 75% though  

That is much appreciated @LionAquaLooper.....thats a real help - I have no idea about any of this stuff - I just have to go off my ear - I am pleased the C sharp fits as it sounded better to me, I just didnt realise it could be right. 

thanks again. 

viz

Do you know what key the song is in? Things will fall into place then. In situations like these, that can be really helpful. The method is:

1) determine the song’s “home note”. So you can say: this song is “in A” or whatever. 

2) determine the “tonality”. To say if it’s “in A major” or “in A minor”.

3) then you’d possibly go on to worry about whether it was “natural” or “modal”. Allowing you to say “it’s A minor dorian” or whatever. That’s not as critical at this stage. 

if you knew the answer to those first 2 questions, you’ll be 90% of the way there. Then what you’d typically do is write out the harmony - meaning the positions - the context of each chord.

So for yours, it’d be good to know the other chords in this song, then we could work put what key the song is in, and the harmony of each chord, and then for your two chords we could work out whether they were a “1 chord” or a “2 chord” or whatever. That would tell us the appropriate bass note. 

Otherwise it’s a bit like saying “I’ve seen this word “SET” in a book - what does it mean?” Well it could be something to do with tennis, or glue, or tables, or model trains. Context matters. 

————————————

In the absence of context however, your first chord could well be D (with a maj 7), or B minor (with a 9); it’s actually unlikely to be a C# chord - but again we’d need to know the harmony to rule it out completely.

Your second chord is probably an E minor chord. (The notes are actually EGB, @Lionaqualooper). It could indeed also be an Am9 chord too. Depending on context

If we knew the song were in D major, the two chords would therefore be the 1 chord and the 2 minor chord. D, Em. Or if the song were in D mixolydian, the chords could be the 1 and the 5 minor chord, D, Am. 

If the song were in B minor, they’d be the 1 chord and the 4 minor chord. Bm, Em.

My money’s on D and Em. 

————————————

Having said ALL of that, the bass note doesn’t even have to be the root of the chord, so even if the song were in D, and the chords were the 1 and 2 chords, you wouldn’t have to play D and E in the bass. You could play other passing notes. 

Summary: what’s the song in and what are the other chords?

Placidcasual79

thank you @viz ;

I literally know nothing about music theory (in my defence I am a drummer)...... it's not really a "song", more sort of a propulsive rhythm type thing..... it has 4 parts.....
the verse -  is a repeating arpeggio - I slide up to the 5th fret from the 3rd on the 5th string and also play the 7th fret on the 4th string and the 6th fret on the 3rd string - I repeat that with a few variations and melody lines 
the chorus -  is sliding from the 7th fret on 4th string to the 5th fret and then the 4th fret on the 3rd string - I also play the 7th fret on the 5th string (the root note - I think its an E?).....
there is a bridge or breakdown that has a repeating melody were I play the open 5th string at the same time as 5th then 4th then 2nd frets of the 4th string.....
the coda -  I play the 5th fret on the 6th string, the 7th fret on the 4th and 6th on 3rd - I play this like a "chord" - that is - I strum it - it has a drown quality - as I play I bend the note on the 6th string..... 


This probably doesn't help any - but I appreciated the your attempt to help - I dont know what key that is - but they are the other chords or shapes I am using....

LionAquaLooper

Yes sorry the second arpeggio is E G B (not F#). Thanks for clarifying @viz ;
See i told you i was a bit groggy last night

Cranky

Is the fifth string the B or the A?  This way of string identification always confuses me.

Placidcasual79

Cranky said:

Is the fifth string the B or the A?  This way of string identification always confuses me.

For me it's the A......... just how I do it...... 

viz

So

x3xxxx -> x576xx

xx7xxx -> x754xx

x05xxx -> x04xxx -> x02xxx

?


if it is, then:

Your home note is D
Your tonaility is major
So you’re in D major

Your chords are Dmaj7 - Em - A7, which are I - ii - V7

The D chord has D A C# (the 1, 5 and 7 of D major). It’s missing the 3, so theoretically it’s neither major nor minor, but what with its major 7th and the following chords, it’s pretty certain. By the way, you swoop up to the D from the C, which is a flat 7, not a major 7. But that doesn’t mean you’re in D mixolydian. But it does sound a little unusual. Not that that matters! Do what you like. Try swooping from the 4th fret instead and see which you prefer.

The E minor chord has E G B (the 1, 3 and 5 of E minor). Nice. I like the way the first note in your arpeggio isn’t the bottom note. 

The A chord: The A chord, being chord V, is called the “dominant” chord for D. You start with the A7 (A and G). The G note forms the “dominant 7th” interval. Then you come down to the 6th (A and F#), and finally the 5th (A and E - which is a power chord). But the memory of the dominant 7th interval still remains so I’m calling that whole section an A7 section. 

Placidcasual79

The first two are correct - but the third would be 5x76 - I guess that wont make much difference as its the first two that set the tone?

It's fascinating to see the chord sequence written out like that..... I have no idea - in fact reading the whole post is fascinating. To see there is a theoretical underpinning that I had no idea about...... (but of course there is)...

I want to say thank you for sparing the time to. go into that @viz - its much appreciated.  

viz

Placidcasual79 said:

The first two are correct - but the third would be 5x76 - I guess that wont make much difference as its the first two that set the tone?

It's fascinating to see the chord sequence written out like that..... I have no idea - in fact reading the whole post is fascinating. To see there is a theoretical underpinning that I had no idea about...... (but of course there is)...

I want to say thank you for sparing the time to. go into that @viz - its much appreciated.  

No prob we love it - but I don’t understand the chord you’ve just written. What do you mean by 5x76? I don’t know which four strings you’re talking about (unless you suddenly pick up a bass guitar!) - can you put the other x’s in?

And when you say the 3rd chord which I’ve written wrong, do you mean this one?

x3xxxx -> x576xx

xx7xxx -> x754xx

x05xxx -> x04xxx -> x02xxx

Placidcasual79

Thanks @viz ...... I am referring to the third - and final, part of the "song" - its like a fade out (in my mind its what I think a coda is - but thats a guess on my part)....

The guitar part is largely one chord - I try and write it out like this - though the notes might be wrong - its standard tuning 

6 (E) - 5
5 (A) - x
4 (D) - 7
3 (G) - 6
2 (B) - x
1 (A) - x

I bend the note on the 6th string 5th fret....... in my mind the bend has a sort of tremolo bar, my bloody valentine type effect on the sound of the chord. 

thanks again for all your effort - its really interesting.