“Bass Gym 101 – Chords & Harmonic Accompaniments” Instructional Book Available Now
Start stretching because it’s time to hit the gym again. Marek Bero has added a new book to his Bass Gym 101 series to strengthen your knowledge of chords and harmonic accompaniments. The author acknowledges that bass is primarily a melodica and rhythmic instrument, but learning to play chords gives us “a tremendous amount of insight.”
“We learn to hear and also ‘see’ chords. In many cases we will have to adjust our fingering and voicing (the way the chords can be interpreted),” he explains. “On the bass, we very often play double stops (two notes at once) and power chords (either as a double stops with a root and a fifth or as a triple stops with a root, a fifth and an octave). These are the simplest chords that we can incorporate into our bass lines right away.”
Knowing chords gives us an understanding of the connection between intervals, scales, and chords while also improving fingerboard visualization, expanding our playing register, challenging our technique, and more.
As with the rest of the Bass Gym 101 books, the new Chords and Accompaniment edition has 101 exercises to cover the subject. “I was especially careful to write each exercise in a practical, musical way,” Bero adds. “These are not just boring etudes or purely mechanical practice. You can take the exercises and use them in a song or jam session with a drummer or other musician. Or use them in your own original composition. There are no limits to your imagination and creativity.”
Bass Gym 101 – Chords & Harmonic Accompaniments is available now in paperback from Amazon and Bassline Publishing.
Bass Gym 101 – Chords & Harmonic Accompaniments Exercise Methodology:
- 1-10: Practicing double stops
- 11-20: Practicing double stops and open strings
- 21-29: Tenth chords
- 30-39: Chords with three notes – triple stops
- 40-49: Grooves with double stops and chords
- 50-60: Seventh chords
- 61-65: Ninth chords
- 66-70: Sus4 chords
- 71-75: Chords using all four strings
- 76-80: Flamenco style chords
- 81-90: Voice leading
- 91-101: Etudes and grooves in different musical styles
