Bass Edu
Welcome to the Phil Zone: A Lesson in the Phil Lesh Style
For educational purposes only.
A Lesson in the Phil Lesh Style…
Several things make it difficult to describe, characterize, or analyze Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s style of playing. One issue is the improvisatory nature of the Grateful Dead’s music. Songs are never played exactly the same way twice. Even the songs with a fairly strict structure will vary from performance to performance. Lesh will usually stick to a basic feel like it’s a road map, but how he navigates from point A to point B in each performance varies. This presents a hurdle if you want to learn to play a song the way Phil played it. Which version are you going to learn? For most bands, the studio album version is thought of as the definitive version. For the Dead, the studio version is often the least definitive. The songs are given life on stage, not in the studio.
Another issue is that the Dead aren’t just known for improvisations—the Dead are known for long improvisations. Performances of “Playing in the Band,” “Truckin’,” and “Bird Song,” among others, often last 15 to 20 minutes. “Dark Star” usually lasts longer. And for the most part, once the jam section of the song begins, what Lesh plays in one version won’t translate seamlessly to another.
There are, however, some things he does relatively consistently. So let’s look at several key aspects of Phil’s playing before we dive into some transcriptions.
- Durations. Lesh tends to play short note durations. Think “staccato” rather than “legato” (or “detached” rather than “connected”). Even when leaving space in his line, the space will often come in the form of a short note followed by a rest, rather than a note sustained for a longer duration.
- Lack of repetition. Lesh very rarely repeats himself. This lack of repetition is true from performance to performance of the same song, as mentioned above, but in Lesh’s case, it is also true within a particular performance of a song. He almost never repeats an idea, which sometimes gives his bass lines a “stream of consciousness” feel. They are always looking forward, never looking back. And especially once the improvisatory jam begins, he is increasingly less likely to play a repetitive pattern.
- Avoidance of downbeat. Lesh tends to play “across the bar lines,” and does not hit the root of the chord on the downbeat as often as expected. In most other rock/pop or groove-based music, bass players will hit the root of the chord on every downbeat, or at the beginning of every 2-measure pattern (think the Beatles’ “Come Together,” the Staple Singers’ “I’ll Take You There,” Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour,” et al). As we’ll see in the examples below, Lesh doesn’t completely avoid playing the chord root on the downbeat, but he very often withholds it as a way of building tension.
- Syncopation. Tied closely to the previous idea is Lesh’s frequent (near constant) use of syncopation. Playing through the transcriptions below, you’ll notice how often he plays on the “and” of the beat, rather than right on the beat.
- Register. Phil uses the entire range of his instrument, whether he’s playing a 4-, 5-, or 6-string bass. He’s not afraid to hang out in the upper register for long periods of time.
Phil Lesh – Playing in the Band
“Playing in the Band” is one of the Dead songs that became a vehicle for extended jams. Below are transcriptions of Phil Lesh’s bass line from the first verse of three different performances of this song: 12/9/73 from Tampa, FL (available on Dick’s Picks Vol. 1); 9/9/74 from Alexandra Palace in London, England (Dick’s Picks Vol. 7); and 2/3/78 from Madison, WI (Dick’s Picks Vol. 18). The Grateful Dead played this song almost 600 times between 1971 and 1995. A transcription of a few measures of three different versions is by no means exhaustive, but it will give us an idea of how Phil builds a bass line and how he varies it from performance to performance. We can see what is consistent and what is not.
The verse of the song is based on repetitions of a 10-beat pattern (4+4+2). I’ve transcribed four passes through this pattern and labeled them A, B, C, and D in the excerpt so it’s easy to keep track of where we are.
Glancing at these three transcriptions (example 1), they seem to be wildly different, but there are several things Phil does consistently between all three versions. One thing to notice is that Lesh lands on a strong root D on beat 1 of each 10-beat measure (i.e., the first beat of A, B, C, and D). In the 1980s, Phil would gravitate toward 5- and 6-string basses, but the D he plays in these transcriptions (5th fret on the A string) is the lowest available on the 4-string basses he favored in the 1970s. In other words, he’s playing his lowest, strongest D as a way of keeping the band anchored in this unusual time signature.
Something else Phil Lesh is consistent about in these three performances is his note choices. He plays almost exclusively notes from a D major pentatonic scale (D-E-F#-A-B). In fact, the only note outside of D pentatonic in the transcriptions is the G# near the end of the 3rd measure of the performance from the Alexandra Palace. Even that G# is short and is very much just a passing tone to get to A.
Another similarity is that Lesh emphasizes the “off-beats” in all three versions, though to different extents. The performance from 1973 is the most syncopated.Notice how few notes fall on the beat. His bass line from the 1978 show in Madison is the most regular. The first 6 beats of A and B are exactly the same, a rare instance of Lesh repeating himself. He then begins C the same as A and B, but varies it slightly after a few beats.
As we see from these three performances, Lesh does not have a specific bass line that he plays for this song. He does, however, seem to have basic parameters for his groove that he follows as a sort of framework for variation: 1) improvise with the D major pentatonic scale, 2) accent the first beat of each repetition of the 10-beat phrase with a strong root D, and 3) emphasize the off-beats everywhere else. Given that this song usually includes an extended jam section, Lesh will gradually discard these parameters as the band moves toward free improvisation.
Scarlet Begonias
“Scarlet Begonias” was another staple of the band’s concert repertoire subjected to extensive jamming, often leading into “Fire on the Mountain.” Example 2 is a transcription of the first 16 measures of the jam section in the performance from Alexandra Palace on 9/9/74, starting at approximately 4:35 in the recording. This is where Jerry Garcia and keyboardist Keith Godchaux play the riff that ends the song proper, and is the starting point for the jam that follows. Everything takes off from here. I’ve included a transcription of the riff Jerry and Keith are playing, because it’s important to see how Phil Lesh plays against it. Most bass players probably would have played this riff with the guitar and keyboard. Phil opts for an independent line that acts as a sort of counterpoint against the main riff.
The riff and accompanying parts are based around a B mixolydian scale (think B major but with a lowered 7th—so A natural rather than A sharp), but Lesh is mostly playing notes of a B major pentatonic scale with the occasional addition of E. In the excerpt transcribed, he completely avoids any kind of A, although as the jam continues over the next several minutes, he does begin incorporating A naturals.
In this section of the song, the band is playing a 4-measure pattern. Phil plays the root B on the first beat of each pattern (i.e., downbeat of mm. 1, 5, 9, and 13 of the example). The first two times through the pattern, he plays a C# on the downbeat of the 2nd measure (mm. 2 and 6). Otherwise, bass notes on downbeats are scarce.
As the band begins to jam after this transcribed example, it is clear they’re still thinking and playing in 4-measure groupings. Lesh continues in much the same manner, playing syncopated lines and, at least for a while, hitting a strong B on the downbeat every 4 measures, usually accompanied by a crash in the drums. This helps keep the band together, but also keeps the jam relatively grounded.
As they keep playing, though, Phil Lesh begins to avoid hitting that B at the beginning of each 4-measure pattern. Example 3 is from about a minute later in the jam (approximately 5:44 in the recording). The arrows above the 5th and 9th measures indicate where we expect him to land on B, but he consciously avoids it. This is a common way Lesh builds tension. Hitting the root at the beginning of each pattern is like a release valve. The longer he avoids it, the more the tension builds. When he finally lands back on B on the downbeat of the 13th measure, he releases the tension and can begin building it up again.
That kind of tension and release is important in all music, but in improvised music, you as the bass player have a lot of control over how that tension builds and when it is released. You can think of it like sitting in a chair. When all four legs of the chair are on the ground, you feel entirely stable. If you begin leaning back in the chair and the front legs come up off the ground, there’s a certain amount of tension created. The farther you lean back, the more the tension builds. You can release that tension by putting all four legs back on the ground. Playing the root of the chord (or key, mode, etc.) on beat 1 is the equivalent of having all four legs of the chair on the ground. The groove is stable, and sometimes you want that. In fact, sometimes you need that. Once you begin moving away from the root, avoiding the downbeat, and/or introducing or increasing syncopation, you are creating tension in the music (leaning back in the chair). The longer you do that, the more tension you create–at least to a certain point. Do it too long and you run the risk of losing the sense of cohesion the music originally had.
Phil Lesh – Dark Star
“Dark Star” was a vehicle for some of the Grateful Dead’s most experimental improvisation. The performance shown in example 4, from Veneta, OR 8/27/72 (released as Sunshine Daydream), begins with the song’s intro riff, which leads to an “opening jam.” In this particular performance, the opening jam lasts over 11 minutes before Garcia sings the verse. I’ve only provided the first 16 measures of this jam, but it’s a good starting point.
Phil Lesh’s line here isn’t as syncopated as the ones discussed above, though it remains anything but regular. Notice the arch shapes in Phil’s line each time he moves away from A. He repeatedly ascends, then gradually descends back to A. He gets into the higher register of his instrument early and often. This makes the song feel lighter and less grounded and creates a bigger impact when he finally lands back on the root so heavily. It’s another example of Lesh moving away from the root as a way to build tension, then landing back on a strong A to release it.
Lesh is primarily improvising with an A mixolydian scale. Again, as the jam goes on, he gradually adds dissonance, but he periodically reasserts A mixolydian to keep things from going completely off the rails. In the extended jam section after the verses, the same is true… for a while. At a certain point, the band abandons A mixolydian altogether in favor of some atonal improvisation.
Phil Lesh has an unusual approach to the bass. It is one that suits the Dead’s style of music very well. But it also requires a lot of trust and understanding from other members of the band who may be expecting more traditional bass lines. In most situations, we can’t get away with Phil’s approach to playing. Even in Grateful Dead cover bands, many times bass players either don’t attempt to play like Phil, or perhaps were told not to by other band members. Lesh’s playing, though, is a key component of the sound of the Grateful Dead, probably second in importance only to Garcia’s lead guitar. So, if you’re going for that authentic Grateful Dead sound, give your bandmates fair warning, then dive headfirst into the Phil Zone.
Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue, we will study the triads and their inversions.
In the last months, we have been studying triads in their inversions. This time, we are going to study what is known as the second inversion of the triads.
The second inversion consists of the fifth going on the bass in the triad as we will see below:
C Major Triad (2nd inversion)
G – C – E
C Minor Triad (2nd inversion)
G – C – Eb
C Diminished Triad (2nd inversion)
Gb – C – Eb
C Augmented Triad (2nd inversion)
G# – C – E
See you next month for more #fullbassattack… GROOVE ON!
I first started playing an acoustic guitar in my band but now find myself working as the custodian of the groove in the bass department, plus keyboards, amplifiers and effects pedals akin to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. What happened?
When I started off playing musical instruments as a child, life was simple.
There was the harmonica, my favourite sound to inspire random dogs to ‘howl’ along with a simple tune. Then followed descant and treble recorders, my friend Jill’s piano (and anybody else’s come to think of it), the school organ at lunchtimes and a brief awkward dalliance with a cheap violin. Finally, through Hobson’s choice, I settled on the last instrument standing in the school’s musical armoury – an old, unwanted and completely battered French horn. C’est la vie!
I really enjoyed this unusual curly-belled instrument and had lots of fun playing in the school orchestra and brass band, learning a lot about parts and how all the other instruments wove in and out of each other and the incredible melodies and emotions that followed. I was also a member of the school choir in the ‘alto’ department and fell in love with harmonies – it’s just the best!!
Sadly my dalliance with the world of brass had to stop with the installation of fixed ‘cheese-grater’ dental braces. Subsequently, I moved on to the acoustic guitar which allowed me a good deal of independence enabling me to sing and accompany myself with some cool chords. It also ignited my passion for songwriting.
Being heard
In the early 90s I moved to the north of England to study Media & Performance at Salford University and after singing some of my original songs in a lunchtime concert under the moniker of a band called I Never Used To Like Brussel Sprouts I ended up as one of the founding members of a contemporary folk band called Megiddo with some great guys off the degree course in Popular Music and Recording – namely John Smith, Tim Allen and Alan Lowles.
We wrote and performed all our original songs, self-recorded and released an album called On The Outside and toured the UK folk circuit. In those days if you wanted to test out new songs, a good place to go was our local folk club which was based in a pub in a slightly dodgy area in Higher Broughton.
There were no microphones or amplification of any kind – nothing electronic. Everything was acoustic and au natural. You listened to everyone else playing and when it was your turn – you stood up where you were sat – that was your stage.
Of course when we were booked for the bigger gigs we needed amplification for the instruments and vocals to be heard in these vast spaces – but we didn’t use any overt effects or added jiggery pokery with our instruments (two acoustic guitars and a fretless bass – we sounded natural – like us, but louder.
Credit: Steph Magenta ©1995
Megiddo (L-R Suzy Starlite, Tim Allen, John Smith, Alan Lowles)
A few years later, touched by the hand of fate – in a happy, groove-laden serendipitous happening – everything changed and I accidentally got hooked on playing the bass guitar.
I hadn’t been playing that long before my first professional gig, which happened to be with my husband Simon when we toured the UK to promote his second solo album, The Knife.
Credit: Stuart Bebb, Oxford Camera ©2023
Myself and Simon onstage at the Ramsbottom Festival 2015
Simon is a pro and I was in the band because he loved my playing.
As you know I didn’t start out playing bass as my first instrument and the funny thing is, a lot of other bass players didn’t either…
- Lemmy had just joined Hawkwind as a guitar player when he found out he was surplus to requirements due to Dave Brock deciding he was going to play lead guitar instead. But when the band’s bass player didn’t show up for one of their free gigs because he wasn’t getting paid, he had also inadvertently left his bass and amp in their van. So, Lemmy stepped in, and played bass for the first time live on stage at a gig! (That does make me laugh…)
- Flea from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers started out playing the trumpet and was pretty good at it too by all accounts.
- The Who’s thunderous John Entwistle started out on piano, then moved onto trumpet and French horn before he picked up a bass guitar. (Yey I played French Horn at school)
- Jaco Pastorius was first and foremost a drummer and only stopped playing after a wrist injury on the soccer field made it more difficult to play – that, and a better drummer had rocked up on the scene, so he stepped aside for this guy to take his place in the band. It was only because the bass player left at the same time that he picked up the bass!
- Carol Kaye played jazz guitar and by the knock of opportunity, moved onto bass when she filled in for a recording session when another musician didn’t show up!
- Tina Weymouth – who provided the bass-bedrock of Talking Heads signature sound, started out playing handbells – which has slightly freaked me out as I used to play them when I was a teenager too. Apparently, she taught herself guitar before picking up the bass when she formed the band with David Byrne and her now-husband, drummer Chris Frantz.
It’s all about the sound
Moving forward to today – music is not just about being heard anymore. I’m on a new and exciting trajectory, this time experimenting with my bass guitar making different sounds. From pedals to amplifiers to the big cabinets that house the speakers – you could say I’ve become a ‘cosmic explorer of the sonic palette’!
It sounds extra-terrestrial / inter-dimensional – and sometimes feels just like that!
In the beginning
My first bass guitar set up for the tour with Simon back in 2016 was simple: Mike Lull M4V bass guitar – plugged directly into my Sonic Research ST-300 TurboTuner (a guitar tuner) using the Supertone Mincap ‘A’ guitar cable then with a second cable to the back of the stage where it was plugged straight into an amplifier and speaker cabinet provided for me by the gigs/venues.
Since then I have had two different setups and have gradually added a few more bass guitars to my stable… Oh, and some stunning keyboards too.
What’s all the fuss about pedals?
What are guitar pedals and why use them?
This whole saga began in 2018 when we were touring our debut Starlite & Campbell album ‘Blueberry Pie’. Simon and I had formed a new band and had co-written and produced our first album together.
During the recording process, I played two different bass guitars. A Mike Lull M4V and a black Gretsch ThunderJet, both fitted with flat-wound strings.
You may not be familiar with these two beauties (check out the photos below) but as you would expect they have different sounds (aka tonal characteristics) and volumes (output levels), one being lower (quieter) than the other.
In the studio, you have time to set up each sound and when recording our first album together, Blueberry Pie, I needed a gritty, dirty, fuzzy sound for the solo section of You’re So Good For Me.
For this purpose, I employed the kickass assistance of the Supertone Custom Bass FUZZ by DWJ pedal – which I’ll explain more later – just know that I love it!!
FUZZ!!!!!!!
DWJ Supertone Bass FUZZ pedal
Photo credit: Simon Campbell
On tour, however, I needed to use this fuzz and swap between two different bass guitars for certain songs. This is where the wonders of technology, pedals and effects start to help you out.
Watch this video of our Starlite Campbell Band concert at The Met in Bury, Manchester to hear the ThunderJet in action. Geek alert: bass solo at 01:56 minutes.
Bass guitars
It’s probably a good place to give you some information on the two basses in question.
Gretsch ThunderJet
This was my first ever bass, chosen because I’ve got really small hands and it has a shorter neck – hence the term short-scale (shorter scale = smaller distance between the frets). I also wanted to have that short thumpy 60s sound, similar to Jack Bruce (Cream), Andy Fraser (Free) and Paul McCartney – (I think you may know which band).
The ThunderJet has a semi-hollow body so it’s not too heavy and has a big fat distinctive and punchy sound.
It’s also one of the best-looking sexy basses Gretsch has ever produced with a throwback to their vintage models and often people will ask me about it after gigs… upstaged or what?
Technical stuff
- Mahogany body with arched maple top
- Ebony fingerboard
- Semi-hollow body
- Dual TV Jones® Thunder’Tron™ pickups
- Space Control™ bass bridge
- 30.3-inch scale
- Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Bass – JF324 – flat wound strings
Gretch ThunderJet bass guitar
Photo credit: Simon Campbell
Mike Lull M4V
This guitar is ultra-special to me. Not only was it my wedding present from Simon but it was also made by the late great Mike Lull himself.
This is my old friend, the guitar I had imagined, which has been with me from almost the beginning, through endless hours of learning, making mistakes, jumping around with me when the music takes you high. We recorded most of the songs on Blueberry Pie with this bass and have played many a festival stage together, flown on planes and travelled around the world and back again.
The low end has a big attitude for rock and an elegant versatility that lets you slide up the neck as if you were on your knees sliding across a well-oiled floor! Sometimes I close my eyes and imagine it’s an upright double bass too, the sound and thud of the strings taking me to that smoky downtown bar.
The M4V evokes a fantastic classic vintage vibe with all the wonderful attributes of a 60/70s Jazz bass combined with passive electronics, all in a slightly downsized body shape.
Technical stuff
- Fitted with Hipshot Ultralite tuners with drop D
- Custom Wound Lindy Fralin Single Coil Pickups
- Hipshot Aluminium Bridge
- Mahogany Body
- Graphite Reinforced Maple Neck
- Rosewood fingerboard
- Thomastik-Infeld Jazz Bass – JF344 – flat wound strings
Mike Lull M4V bass guitar
Photo credit: Simon Campbell
Technical terminology/gear
At this juncture, I also needed to get my head around a few basic technical terms and learn about how things work.
What is that saying: It’s not easy because I haven’t learned it yet.
The guitar pick-up
Have you ever wondered how electric basses make sounds in the first place? It’s a fascinating process and the most important part of your electric guitar’s plugged-in tone. Below is a simple explanation:
- Guitar strings are made out of a magnetic metal.
- Underneath the strings sits the ‘pick up’ which is fitted into the body of the guitar.
- The pick up consists of a coil of wire wrapped around a magnetic pole piece (or pieces).
- When you pluck/hit a string – it vibrates which generates a voltage in the coil.
- In a passive bass (more of this later), the pickup(s) are directly connected to volume and tone controls which are then sent to the output of the instrument.
The signal chain
The signal chain is the order in which you place any effects/pedals. At first, I put my tuner first in the chain after the bass guitar the signal can be easily muted for silent tuning.
The pre-amp
This electronic device amplifies a weak signal, such as that from a passive bass.
These are found in bass/guitar amplifiers, studio mixing consoles, domestic HiFis, sometimes within the bass itself (referred to as an active bass) and as external units in the format of a pedal.
There are many different specifications but some are capable of driving a power amplifier (the second stage which amplifies this intermediate signal level to one which can drive a loudspeaker) and/or can be used before the amplifier to modify the sound, volume and tone of the instrument – I will explain more about this in the next instalment.
This brings me to the third pedal I owned.
Lehle RMI BassSwitch IQ DI
Photo credit: Simon Campbell
The Lehle RMI BassSwitch IQ DI was the centrepiece of my first pedalboard (a metal frame where all the pedals are organised). It was exactly what I needed at the time to help me sort out the technical challenges of playing two different basses with different sounds and volumes
The unit had two channels with separate volume controls enabling me to set the level for each bass by using a foot switch to select channel A or B.
Channel B also has very natural sounding tone controls (or equalisation – EQ) which allowed me to change the tone of the bass in channel B to complement the bass in channel A.
Two effects loops
The unit also has two effects (FX) loops, one switchable and one in all the time for both channels. In the switchable loop, I placed the FUZZ (so I could switch it in and out using the button on the Lehle) and my rarely used Ernie Ball volume pedal in the unswitched.
If you want to see the possibilities of routing and an explanation of FX loops, check out the manual.
The all-important mute switch
My tuner is connected to a dedicated ‘tuner output’ and the Lehle’s output can be muted via another footswitch.
As I mentioned at the beginning of the article, this mute is critical which enables me to tune up between songs silently as there’s nothing worse than someone audibly tuning up on stage – it’s messy and unprofessional.
The Direct Inject output
There are two outputs from the Lehle, one for the amplifier plus a very high-quality Direct Inject (DI) output which is compatible with mixing consoles, allowing the sound engineer to take the signals right from your pedals before they get to the amplifier.
My bass tone comes from the amplifier and speaker cabinet combination and I always insist it’s miked up for a performance.
There are some instances however that you need the signal to be sent to the live sound system (PA). For example, my Fylde King John acoustic bass is better using this direct method rather than going through the stage amplifier and again, more of this in the next edition!
It is a high-quality piece of kit that you come to expect from Lehle (although now sadly discontinued) and has never let me down. The only thing I have to watch out for is operator error when I’m wearing my big kickass ‘Boots of Rock’.
And finally…
I hope you enjoyed this article – if you have any questions or feedback, it would be cool to hear from you.
Next up in Walking the Bass Line – I’ll talk a little more about the role of the bass guitar, amplifiers, cabinets and another pedal.
British-born Suzy Starlite is a multifaceted artist known for her work as a bassist, singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and multimedia artist. She co-owns Supertone, an independent record label and vintage analogue recording studio with her husband, guitarist and music producer Simon Campbell, based near Lisbon, Portugal. Their band, Starlite & Campbell, has released six studio albums and two live albums to date. Visit online at starlite-campbell.com/suzy-starlite, vibes.starlite-campbell.com/ and youtube.com/@starlitecampbell
BASS LINES: Triads & Inversions Part II
Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue, we are going to study the triads and their inversions.
In the last lesson, we were studying triads in their fundamental position. This time, we are going to study what is known as the first inversion of the triads.
The first inversion consists of the third going on the bass in the triad, as we will see below:
C Major Triad (1st inversion)
E – G – B
C Minor Triad (1st inversion)
Eb – G – B
C Diminished Triad (1st inversion)
Eb – Gb – C
C Augmented Triad (1st inversion)
E – G# – C
See you next month for Part III… GROOVE ON!!!
Approach Notes – Part 6
As we move into lesson six of approach notes applied to chord tones, it’s important to go back and review the previous approaches. The constant review and application of these concepts will add a layer of chromaticism to both your bass lines and solos. The approaches need to be burned into your long term/ permanent memory for them to come out in your playing.
This first example approaches a third inversion of a G major 7th arpeggio.
A single chromatic approach from below and a double chromatic approach from above approaches the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, 5th, single from below and double chromatic from above to the 7th, continue to the root, 3rd, and back down.
The next example approaches the G major arpeggio in root position.
The next example approaches the root of a G major 7th arpeggio as a single chromatic from below and a double chromatic approach from above -before continuing to the third, fifth, seventh, single chromatic from below/ double from above to the root, continue to the third, fifth, and come back down.
The next example approaches the first inversion of G major 7th arpeggio.
A single chromatic from below/ double from above approaches the third, continue to the fifth, seventh, root, single chromatic from below/ double from above to the third, continue up to the fifth and seventh, and back down.
The third example approaches a second inversion of a G major arpeggio.
A single chromatic from below/ double from above approaches the fifth, continue to the 7th, root, 3rd, single from above/ double from below to the 5th, continue to the 7th, root, and back down.
After studying these various approach notes, you will begin to recognize the concepts utilized in your favorite solos. Continue the journey and good luck!
Triads & Inversions Part I…
Hello bass players and bass fans! In this issue, we are going to study the triads and their inversions.
It is very important for all bassists to understand and master the triads, but it is even more important to understand their different inversions.
In Part I, we are going to learn what the triad is in fundamental position.
The Formula consists of root, third and fifth.
Degrees of the Triad
Major Triad: 1 – 3 – 5
Minor Triad: 1 – b3 – 5
Diminished Triad: 1 – b3 – b5
Augmented Triad: 1 – 3 – #5
Fig.1 – The C, Cm, Cdim & Caug triads
(Fundamental Position)
