Chord Progressions

Simple Bass Line Progressions
What is a Bass Line Progression?

A bass line progression is a progression where the bass note (the lowest pitched note) of a chord is changing and following a predetermined or predictable pattern. A “bass line progression” is also called a “walking bass line”. There are two generic types of bass line chord progressions: ascending (the bass line goes higher in pitch) and descending (the bass line goes lower in pitch). The bass line progressions can be pictured as going up or down a small set of stairs.

Bass Note is Usually the Root
One thing to understand first, is when any chord is being played, it’s bass note (or lowest note) is the root note of the chord (unless we are told otherwise). Thus the bass note of a G chord, a Gsus, a Gm7, a Gdim, etc. is a “G” note. If we need to change the bass note of a G major chord to a B, for example, we would write it kind of like a fraction: G/B. We often call these “slash” chords. The Dm7 chord with a C note in the bass would be written ‘Dm7/C’. An A7 with a C# note in the bass would be written ‘A7/C#’.
The I - V/3 - vi Progression

A common bass line progression occurs with a I chord (the root chord) and the vi chord (it’s relative minor). For example, the C chord’s relative minor is Am. C is the I chord and Am is the vi chord. But there often is a transition chord played between these two chords: the V chord with its 3rd note in the bass, or V/3. The V chord in the key of C is G major, and G’s 3rd note is B, thus we have G/B. Our progression could look like this: C – G/B – Am

Listen to this progression in C:

This is a descending bass line progression. The bass line follows the notes of the C major scale in descending pitch: C, then B, then A.

Other Examples
We could follow this I – V/3 – vi in any key, and the pattern would sound the same. Look at the following chart:

Descending Bass Lines
You can reverse the order of this pattern to create an ascending bass line progression: vi – V/3 – I.

Click for PDF

For three printable bass line progression charts, click the button below.

7 Comments

  1. This is a great lesson and perfect for me in my Chord studies. The finger picking pattern above sounds beautiful. Am I correct that the pattern is:

    e|———-0————————3———————–0————————0—————|
    B|——-1—-1——————3—–3—————–1—–1——————1—–1————|
    G|—-0———-0—–0—–0———–0—–0—–2———–2——2—–2———–2———|
    D|——————————————————————————————————|
    A|–3—————3—–2——————2—–0——————0—–0—————–0–3—|
    E|——————————————————————————————————|

    And repeat? Thanks for posting all this!

    Reply
    • Looks great! Thanks for the kind words. The only exception might be the last note I might be playing the 2nd fret on 3rd string… but you may have meant a walk up back to the C with a 2nd fret on the 5th string… But either way sounds good.

      Reply
  2. Awesome page and info! Thanks for demystifying bass for me!

    Reply
  3. Nice work

    Reply
  4. I appreciate the information very much. I received a better understanding in the theory of bass by reading just this article alone.

    Reply
    • Thanks Garren. I always appreciate hearing when this information is helpful to people.

      Reply
  5. Thank you for helping me understanding chord progressions. My eyes were open this morning and for the first time I understand from you explanation…I am grateful.

    Thanks again,

    Tim
    Bass player

    Reply

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