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:

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.

Bass Line Progressions

7 Comments

Chris on September 1, 2016 at 6:37 am

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
- David on September 19, 2016 at 4:48 pm
  
  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
Dan on June 16, 2016 at 10:15 am

Awesome page and info! Thanks for demystifying bass for me!
Reply
Niss on May 24, 2015 at 3:06 pm

Nice work
Reply
Garren M. on September 6, 2014 at 9:42 pm

I appreciate the information very much. I received a better understanding in the theory of bass by reading just this article alone.
Reply
- David on September 7, 2014 at 5:25 am
  
  Thanks Garren. I always appreciate hearing when this information is helpful to people.
  Reply
Tim Johnson on March 1, 2014 at 11:14 am

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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