The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Music Theory

174 Par t 4:Accompanying

Moving Bass

Once you get good at these simple types of accompaniment, you can spice

things up by playing a more complex bass part.

So far, all you have to do is play the root of the chord—in time!—with your left

hand. However, if you listen to just about any song from the pop era, starting

with the Beatles, you’ll hear a lot more in the bass than just the root. That’s

because bass guitarists in the ’60s upped the ante and started playing some

really interesting bass parts.

If you want to add more bass to your piano accompaniments, start by adding

passing tones between the root notes of consecutive chords, like this:

Paul McCartney was one

of the pioneers of this new

style of bass playing, as

was James Jamerson at

Motown. One of the most

influential bass parts ever

recorded was on the Four

Tops’ hit “Bernadette”—

which is James Jamerson

at the top of his form.

Note

Passing notes in the bass.

You’re not limited to the root in the bass, either. Many bass parts provide inter-

est by stopping on the third or the fifth of the chord, instead of on the root. If

you expand on this concept you end up with a walking bass line,such as that

found in a lot of jazz music. A walking bass line goes beyond simple passing

tones by “walking” up and down the scale, like this:

A walking bass line.

As you develop your accompanying skills, you can elaborate on the bass or the

chords in lots of different ways. Just remember to listen to the song and play a

part that’s appropriate.

One Good Strum Deserves Another

Pianos aren’t the only accompanying instruments, of course. If you play guitar,

you have to face many of the same challenges a piano player does when asked

to provide accompaniment to others.

Chief of these challenges, of course, is figuring out what chords to play—

which, you now know, is within your grasp. All you have to do is use the skills

you learned previously in this book.