Bass Guitar Chord Chart

From LoveToKnow Guitar

One of the greatest tools that an aspiring bass player can have is a bass guitar chord chart. Even if you are a seasoned player of the four string, a chord chart can help you quickly get better at your craft. A chord is the harmonious sound played on a stringed instrument by playing two or more notes. Charts are one of the best ways to learn more about bass guitar chords and notes.

Bass guitar charts can help you be a rock God!

What Is A Chord Chart?

Much like guitar chord charts, a bass guitar chord chart shows a player the chords that can be player on their instrument. A chord chart is especially important to bass players because chords are not always as easily moveable as they may be on the guitar. There are also other problems with finding bass guitar charts:

  • They are difficult to find. The Internet and music book resource are chock full of numerous guitar chord charts but very few charts are available for the bass. Many of the ones that a player can get their hands on are subpar or don't show many chords.
  • There is a little more flexibility in the layout of bass charts. For instance, a chart for a given chord may have numerous fingerings. To a player switching from guitar or a beginning player, this can be confusing.
  • Bass guitar charts don't always follow the same formula that chord charts for the guitar do.

While they may be harder to find, chord charts provide bass players with a great resource and learning tool. Having a chord chart handy can:

  • Make reading tabs easier
  • Make remembering chords easier
  • Improve playing skills

Where Can I Find A Bass Guitar Chord Chart?

Unfortunately, a quick Google search will not return a bass chord chart in most cases. However, that doesn't mean that the resources are not out there:

  • Unpronounceable.com offers a downloadable program that can display bass chords, scales, notes and common arpeggios. As an added bonus, the site will also work for guitar chords.
  • Mami Music is a large resource for bass guitar chords. While many of the downloadable diagrams on the site may be difficult to understand at first, the site provides the highest level of quality in all of it's downloads.
  • Walrusproductions provides a chart similar to what one would expect for guitar that shows the basic chords. Notice how each chord in the diagram has multiple fingering options.
  • Study Bass features one of the largest resources for a bass player. If you have been looking for a chord, the widget on their site can show you every possible way to play it. The tool will also show any scale, any chord or harmony. There are multiple options for players looking to print information and different tuning options as well. Indeed, this tool is great resource for any player looking to explore their bass more than they ever knew possible!
  • While it is not free, Sheetmusicplus features a bass guitar chord chart for only $3. The chart features the 84 most common chords in an easy to reference book.
  • Another resource available for purchase is the Mel Bay Bass Guitar Chord Chart Book. The book touts featuring all bass guitar chords in their minor, major, augmented, diminished, minor 6th, major 7th, and suspended forms. The book's author, Mel Bay, is an established guitarist and trumpet player with multiple degrees in music and a teaching background.

Final Thoughts

While one of the best resources for a bass player is a chord chart, it isn't the only tool that will help a player move on. More than anything else, practice makes perfect. Even if a player memorizes all the chords there are, it is not as important as a player who has practiced those chords. Use your chord chart to help you learn new elements and put them to use.



 


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