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Theory and Technique Three by Rhayn Jooste

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14 years ago

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Theory and Technique Three by Rhayn Jooste…

Chord : a unit of two or more sounds Harmonic: overtone/s above a fundamental note
Theory
This month we are going to looking into harmony and how to produce harmonics. Harmony or Chords are produced by simultaneously sounding two or more intervals or notes. In our western scale these are generally intervals of a third stacked on top of each other and when played together they fall into the basic categories of: major, minor and dominant. So, where do we get all those cool sounding jazz chords? Well we continue adding thirds on top until we reach the sound pallet we desire. Of course its all but impossible for a bass player to play a full maj 9th chord on the fretboard as this is 5 notes played together. So the trick is to select the best tones out of the chord to imply or nail the tonality desired. A good rule of thumb is the 3rd and 7th notes plus the extra tone, in this case a 9th.
When we play two or more chords in a row in a music we are playing a chord progression. Music is magical because of this. Its the the way chords are placed next too each other in a progression that keeps producing the endless amount of ear catching sounds we have. Also the fact that any note of the chord can be a root, thereby creating inversions and different sounds. The variety of melody that can be produced over any on progression is staggering which is why we have a lot of repetition of certain chordal combinations. Some progressions are firmly ingrained in the landscape, such as the Blues ( I – IV – V) or Jazz’s (ii – V – I). Other are waiting to be discovered or more likely rediscovered. The bottom line is chords have functions and a job to do, learn as many as you can.
Technique
Harmonics are around us as string players all the time, when you pluck a string it sets the fundamental note vibrating along with its natural overtone series. Yes, that means when you play the A string you are not actually playing just an A, but a combination of A and its octave, octave + 5th, 2nd octave, 2nd octave + a 3rd and so on. (see music for example) This series is available as fundamental notes when you start dividing the string by playing harmonics – technically called non vibrating dead points or nodes. These nodes are available when plucking a string with a left hand finger directly above the fret wire. As bass players we are lucky that our strings and instruments and the sound wave they produce are bigger and badder than the rest. So our ability to access these harmonics is increased, which means notes that are fuller in tone and volume. Size sometimes does matter!
To produce a natural harmonic, place the finger directly above the fret wire of the desired position, lightly touching the string and avoiding all contact with the fretboard, in other words – float. Pluck the string and almost simultaneously remove the finger. The quicker its removed the better the tone and sound of the harmonic. This action will divide the string into vibrating sections, of which each portion will determine the harmonic produced. Play the 12th fret and you divide the string in half and get an octave.The fun for bass players is that when you combine two or more harmonics with fret notes you are able to produce awesome sounding chords. Any one that has played Jaco’s Portrait of Tracy will know what I am talking about. Included is a chart of chords used or could be used in the study – by no means exhaustive.
I have written a study that is loosely based on Jose Feliciano’s Affirmation chord changes. The use of notes ringing over one another to produce chords – accamponellas, is utilised a lot. Just remember when you play a harmonic at the 12th fret its an octave, at 7th its a fifth, at the 5th its the second octave and at the 4th its a major third. Armed with that knowledge you should be able to create your own chords. The knowledge and clever use of chord inversions will aid creating more complex sound textures. Theimportant thing to take away is that the more you experiment with the harmonic chords the more you will find and create new sounds – especially on a bass. (Harmonics have been brought down the octaves for ease of reading and writing on the stave)
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20 April Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram

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April 20, 2026

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TOP 10 Basses of the week

Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…

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April 13 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram

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April 13, 2026

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TOP 10 Basses of the week

Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…

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April 6 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram

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April 6, 2026

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TOP 10 Basses of the week

Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…

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Mar 30 Edition – This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram

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March 30, 2026

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TOP 10 Basses of the week

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Melissa Auf Der Maur: Music, Bass, Gear, Hole, New Memoir, and More…

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1 month ago

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March 23, 2026

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Melissa Auf Der Maur: Music, Bass, Gear, Hole, New Memoir, and More…

Photo: Self-portrait by Melissa Auf Der Maur

Melissa Auf Der Maur is a Canadian bassist who played with Tinker, Hole, and The Smashing Pumpkins. She released her own work and is a photographer with photos published in Nylon, Bust, and National Geographic. She released her ‘90s Rock Memoir “Even The Good Girls Will Cry” on 17 March 2026. 

KB: Did you always want to be a singer-musician growing up?

I’ve played music my whole life. In school, I played trumpet and sang in a children’s choir, so music was always within me. My mother was the first female disc jockey on the Montreal airwaves; her record collection played a huge role in my inspiration and love of music.

KB: When did you start playing bass, and why this instrument?

When I was 19, the early 90s music explosion began to percolate in tiny clubs around the world. I was lucky to be a ticket girl at Montreal’s underground music club. In one year, I saw Hole, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins, White Zombie, and The Breeders – all had female bass players. That’s when the seed was planted. By the age of 22, I was the bass player of Hole.

KB: Which brands of basses have you used in your career, and which one are you using now?

The first bass that I learned on was a vintage Squier Precision. Hole was sponsored by Fender guitars, so I upgraded to Fender Custom Shop Precisions. That is all I play, but I have a cool vintage 8-string Greco that I use on recordings to thicken up guitar parts.

KB: What equipment do you use or have you used with your basses?

Ampeg SVT amps and cabinets, a couple of Sans-Amp pedals, and that is it.

KB: How did you become a member of Hole, and what is your fondest memory of that time?

Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins was helping scout a replacement for (RIP) Kristen Pfaff, Hole’s bass player. My band, Tinker, opened for them on the Siamese Dream tour, so Billy had seen me play and could vouch for me. Courtney trusted her talented friend, and that was it. I initially said “no thank you” due to my commitment to my photographic studies and the drama and chaos surrounding the band during the “Live Through This” album release. Courtney took it as a good sign that I said no, so convinced me to reconsider, and soon after, I accepted their invitation, in the name of helping put females in the male-dominated landscape of rock music. My fondest memory is every show we played as a mostly female band, symbolizing what a woman could do in a rock band. Every show had a purpose: get more women to play music.

KB: You are a photographer as well. What makes a great picture? Do you shoot in color or b/w?

I started shooting photographs at age 15. Initially only shot black & white and worked in the art school darkroom. In university, I took a color photography course, and shifted mostly and forever to that, because it was easier to process film on the road when I joined a rock band. I experimented with many cameras, point and shoots, manual, polaroids, medium format, and vintage finds. The trick to a good photograph is to shoot many and all the time – the magic is in the edit and selection process.

KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with or wish you had?

??I’ve been lucky to collaborate with some of my favorite musicians in my career. I would still love to collaborate with a new generation heavy electronic artist on an analog bass, heavy electronic drums, and synths collaboration project. Take me out of my usual zone, merging the past and future: my love of 80s dark new wave and new artists exploring that genre. It was very futuristic back then, and we are now, after all, living in the future. I am in the mood to play bass to heavy beats I want to dance to.

KB: What are your 7 favorite bass lines in music across all genres? And why these 7?

“Mountain Song” – Jane’s Addiction (love a rambling, rolling bass line – feels like the ocean waves)

“Black Top – Helmet” (was the first bass line I taught myself)

“Gold Dust Woman” – Hole from “The Crow 2” Soundtrack (it was my first bass line contribution to the band)

“Get Ready” – The Temptations (Motown just feels so good, because of the bass)

“Lucretia My Reflection” – Sisters of Mercy (makes me want to hit the dance floor and play bass simultaneously)

“Be My Druidess” – Type O Negative (full chord bass playing at its best by iconic, demonic, Peter Steele, RIP)

“Romantic Rights” – Death from Above (1979 – unique distorted overdriven tone, combined dance rhythm and melodic intelligence, all in one shot – also! Shout out to a bass & drum only band, which is awesome, and we should have more of, but the bass player needs to be a killer to fill that role.

KB: What are you currently up to?

Releasing my ‘90s Rock Memoir “EVEN THE GOOD GIRLS WILL CRY”. Visceral healing process, it was to get it out of me and write it, but I suspect the real magic will begin by putting it into the world and reflecting with others on what the magic of the ‘90s was all about. Powerful music decade that carried us into what is now a brave new world of digital corporate weirdness – may the past shed a light on our future. That’s my hope for this book release and tour.

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