Don't Have A Clue What To Do With Chord Charts On Bass? Watch This Video

►► FREE: Get the Chord Cheat Sheets Pack so you’ll always know what’s going to work with every chord you come across in any chord chart → https://becomeabassist.com/chord-charts

Do you use chord charts?

If you have no idea what I’m talking about or avoid them because they’re crazy confusing, you’re not alone.

Not too long ago, I got an email from Trevor, one of my subscribers. It turns out we had actually met in real life many years ago and he’d stumbled across some of my videos. He had played all of his life by ear, but had come up against a new challenge:

A band he had auditioned for used chord charts - something he had never needed to use - and understandably, he had a lot of questions.

“Do I use a ‘concert’ part or the ‘Bb’ chart? Do the 5 lines in the chart mean I have to use a 5-string bass? Do I focus on the notes or the chord symbols above the notes?”

Using chord charts is a whole new way of playing music and requires a slightly different set of skills, so in today’s lesson, we’re doing a deep dive into chord charts and how to read them.

You’ll get my personal secrets for taking the confusion out of reading charts so if you ever get a chart put in front of you, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Once you CAN read and understand chord charts, you’ll find a new world of possibilities opens up for you and your bass. And this is exactly what I want for you; being able to show up and nail any song that uses a chart instead of fumbling around, getting lost and searching for the ‘good’ notes.

Like I said in the video, some chord charts are very prescriptive in what they want from you. Others just provide the landscape and let you run wild with it.

You need different skills for each kind of chart, but once you’re up and running things can get really fun really fast.

For example, a jazz chart might require you to play a ‘walking’ bass line over a set of chords. If you don’t know how to do that, check out this video:

   • Walking Bass Line Lesson: 5 Plug-And-...  

Other kinds of charts, you may not need to play a walking line, but you’ll need to know how chords are constructed and the formulas for each of them. If you don’t know how to do that, check out these videos:

   • How To Read Chord Symbols For Bass (1...  

   • How To Read Chord Symbols For Bass (2...  

   • 4-Note Chords: SIMPLIFIED (How To Rea...  

If you already know how to figure out the root notes for your chords, then you can skip to the 2nd video and be just fine.

To get the Chord Cheat Sheets Pack I talk about in these 3 lessons, just go here:

https://becomeabassist.com/chord-charts

And fill out the form on that page. You’ll get a super handy PDF guide to all the most common chord types in music. Once you know everything in the PDF, you’ll have no trouble when you come across any chord chart.

As always, if you have any questions about anything in the lesson, just let me know. I’d be more than happy to help out however I can.

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,

Luke

P.S. Here’s that link to get the Chord Cheat Sheets Pack again:

https://becomeabassist.com/chord-charts