How To Play Keys When You Got A Solid Bass Player?

Posted on 18. Sep, 2013 by Greg Hannon in Uncategorized

Question?

Is it musically wrong to play a bass line in any song if you are playing the keyboard or piano knowing that you have a bass player? How can I develop my skills in learning how to play without having to use a base line…

I’ve been doing this since I was 5 and I play regular chords. I’m trying to implement new ways of playing?

Answer

When you’re fortunate enough to play with a seasoned bass player, the easiest way to annoy him is by playing a bass line on your keyboard instrument. Doing this creates a battle between the keyboard bass line and the electric bass line. Have you ever heard a musician use the term “Pocket”?   A good “pocket” is achieved when the rhythm is playing together and establishing a groove that is soothing and each musician is functioning in their roll in a tasteful non-abrasive manner and not competing and playing over each other.

So how do you develop this skill?  I’m glad you asked. You have to gain an understanding of left hand chord voicings. These are chords played in the left hand that are rootless. The term “rootless” means that there is no bass note in the chord. Playing this type of chord voicing will allow the bass player to play the bass notes and free the keyboard player to improvise or create more intricate harmony with the right hand.

Contemporary musicians usually play these chords using sevenths, ninths, elevenths, and thirteenth chords. These types of chord can be found in the 8 page resource guideof my Contemporary Chord Finder (CCF). All the chords for the right hand can be played with the left hand.

Let’s get started.   In the CCF, there is a diatonic chord exercise, this is a good place to start. For example, in the key of C major there at eight diatonics derived from the C major scale. See the illustration below from table 6a of the Contemporary Chord Finder.

Notice that each chord is spelled out with the root. When you practice these chords only play the right hand portion. For example when you play the Cmaj7, only play B E and G. The C is played by the bass player. These chords will also serve as substitutions for your major and minor triads. If you normally play a Dm chord, play a Dm7. The 2-5-1’s in both major and minor keys should also be practiced in the left hand. These progression and many others can be found in my Contemporary Chord Finder learning system.