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Chord Construction Archives

Bass & Creativity: The ii-V-I and Voice Leading
Bass & Creativity

Bass & Creativity: The ii-V-I and Voice Leading

The ii-V-I is one of the most common chord progressions in music. As bassists, we have a horizontal view of the harmonic movement. Today we’ll see how other instruments view the progression and implement voice leading to build interesting lines.

Making Arpeggios Musical
Ask Damian Erskine

Making Arpeggios Musical

Q: I know how to outline chords but how do you play them so they don’t sound mechanical or like an exercise? Any particular patterns that you like when approaching a chord? Thanks bud for all of your hard work! A: I’ve written quite a bit about playing arpeggios and inversions through changes (using the Real Book or iReal Pro...

How to Reharmonize a Song
Ask Damian Erskine

How to Reharmonize a Song

Q: I’ve heard jazz musicians talk about “reharms”, which are just reharmonization of a song (or so I’m told). Can you explain how to “reharmonize” a song? A: There was a time where I was also mystified by whatever the process of reharmonizing a tune might be. I figured that it must require some deep, deep level of understanding of...

Teaching (and Learning) Chords on the Bass
Ask Damian Erskine

Teaching (and Learning) Chords on the Bass

Q: I had a student ask if there was some way of learning chords like kids learn multiplication tables. Sounds like it would be handy but I couldn’t think of anything like that. Any ideas? A: I assume your student was thinking of the grid-like table for learning multiplication. I also couldn’t think of a way to do that visually,...

Chord Voicing on Bass
Ask Damian Erskine

Chord Voicing on Bass

Q: I know you have covered bass chords before, but what I was wondering is about the actual chords, not the progression played as arpeggios. I try playing chords my guitar buddies have shown me, and they sound awful on bass but great on guitar. What chords played on bass sound good? A: Bass players are somewhat limited with their...

Chord Construction: A Guide for Bassists
Ask Damian Erskine

Chord Construction: A Guide for Bassists

Q: I’ve been playing bass for about four years, and I’ve had difficulty with understanding chord construction on the bass. I know my scales and their modes inside and out, and I know a lot about the fretboard. My technique is good too, but I figured when I was starting out that I really didn’t need to know chords “because...