Chord Progressions Archives

Explore how to groove in 6/8 time on bass, using triads, transitions, and timing inspired by Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home to Me."

Learn how to craft melodic bass lines using only two simple chords. Explore arpeggios, inversions, and creative phrasing in this Bass Gym lesson.

Learn to create funkier bass lines using dominant chords. Explore two essential chord voicings and easy methods to improvise with extra groove.

Learn how to begin improvising a bass line for a rock song or country song. In this lesson, we cover the steps to learning how to improvise a great bass line to support the song.

This lesson adds a new song to your blues repertoire, but don’t worry, it’s not another 12-bar. “She Caught The Katy” by Taj Mahal is simply a great tune with a funky bass line. We’ll dig into the chord progression, work through the different sections of the song, and get you playing in no time.

In this lesson, we’ll keep it groovy with a classic country bass line. We’re featuring “Jolene” by Dolly Parton and how this relatively easy bass line still requires us to be aware of many musical concepts.

In this “Keep It Groovy” lesson, Ryan Madora plays through a very common chord progression in jazz and pop, the 1-6-2-5 chord progression. We’ll learn how to integrate different concepts to begin building a walking bass line.

In this Keep It Groovy lesson, Ryan Madora covers how to create a simple bass line using minor triads. Taking inspiration from the drum groove, we can find a rhythm that works, apply the arpeggio, and create a simple yet effective groove!

We’re all about that bass, and Ryan Madora’s latest “Keep It Groovy” breaks down the song in this lesson. Not only is this a fun tune to play, but it outlines a classic chord progression, the “ii-V-I.”

In this new “Keep It Groovy” bass lesson, Ryan Madora covers a quick and easy bass line to add to your repertoire – Steve Miller Band’s classic tune, “The Joker.” This line perfectly outlines a 1-4-5 chord progression in the context of a rock song.

One of the most common phrases spoken at a jam session is “it’s just a one, four, five!” Long story short, it’s a very helpful hint... if we know how to find our ones, fours, and fives.

This week in The Brown’stone on No Treble, Rich Brown shares a fantastic exercise that will help you play almost any progression anywhere on the fretboard.