Chromatic Approaches For Bass Players: Part 3 - Chromatic Combinations!

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]Hey everybody, hope you are all very well and welcome to part three in this video series on using chromatic approaches with major and minor triads.

[00:00:10]In the last two lessons, we've looked at approaching major triads from a chro a single chromatic note below and a single chromatic note above. In this lesson, we are going to combine the two. So this is where we look at examples using both of those chromatic approaches because of course we are not limited to only using one particular device within a uh given groove. Now I'm not really going to look too much um at the cycle of force exercise this time because you we will be here forever kind of looking at the different ways in which you can use that um because you can when when you start using approaches from both directions the permutations will go on forever. So just as one example you could go uh let's see we could go above below above below. So that then sounds like this.

[00:01:09]So that is again above below. So above the this is just using a C major triad.

[00:01:15]So we're going from above the C, below the E, above the G, below the C.

[00:01:29]Okay, you could be there forever kind of looking at the different permutations with that. So this time I'm going to leave I'm going to put the ball firmly in your court to go and have a look at different ways in which you can use the cycle of fourths exercise using above and below. Instead for this lesson, let's just get straight into a uh a musical example here.

[00:01:52]So before we break it down, let's just fly in the playth through so you guys can hear what this sounds like in context.

[00:02:17]All right. So now that you've heard the example, let's break this down a bar at a time. So as I said before, we are using both our chromatic approach as single chromatic approaches here. So in bar one, root is again on beat one. And we start with a chromatic note going up to the E. So and and then we've got So we've got chromatic note above the fifth and then dropping the octave. So we've got chromatic note below then chromatic note above and and Okay. again. Three and four and and and and and Okay, so that's the first bar. Second bar, root on one again. Then we've got chromatic note below the octave. So we've got C B C and then we've got chromatic note below the fifth, the lower fifth.

[00:03:57]We go up the octave.

[00:03:59]Then we go down to the D flat to go back to the C.

[00:04:06]That's pretty That's a cool kind of angular pretty angular idea.

[00:04:15]That's a little four note idea. You could kind of you could kind of steal that if you wanted to. You could put that in all kinds of places kind of as a way to come back to the root. You've got chromatic note up the octave to the fifth and another chromatic.

[00:04:29]So you've got chromatic below up chromatic above.

[00:04:35]So that whole bar together is this.

[00:04:37]Three and four and and and and again. And and and I do say so to myself that is kind of I I like the way that that kind of moves all the way around the root and then finally lands.

[00:05:07]I do like that one. Anyway, so then in bar three, we've got exactly the same idea as we had in bar one. So we've got and and and Okay, was kind this time I didn't change bar three. So then we've got in the fourth bar, we've got root and then chromatic note and back to the root this time from below.

[00:05:34]Okay. So that's C B C. Then we've got some syncupation because we've got because we've got chromatic note going to the third there. So that is the F going to the E. So we've got chromatic below above D.

[00:05:59]And then we've got five 16s one after the other. We've got uh excuse me, we've got D flat going to the C.

[00:06:07]Then we've got chromatic note from below going to the five down the octave.

[00:06:13]And that leads us back into the start of the groove.

[00:06:16]No, sorry.

[00:06:22]Just show that again. And so we've got chromatic note going to the C from above, then below going to the fifth, then octave drop. And and that takes us back to the root. Let me just play that whole bar slowly so you can let's get a get a feel for that. Three and four and Oh, hang on.

[00:06:50]and and excuse me again. Three and four and.

[00:07:09]Three and four and.

[00:07:17]One more time. And okay, so let's just actually play those last two bars because that that last bar is bit of a mouthful. So three and four and and and uh one and and and Okay.

[00:07:57]So that's this example um using chromatic notes from both directions. So take this example away, have some fun with it. Again, you can take that cycle of fifth example as well. Have fun with those permutations.

[00:08:13]Build that fluidity. Get this stuff into your playing.

[00:08:20]Thanks so much for checking out this lesson, guys. If you would like to see a full extended version with some additional stuff, you can click the link to my website down there in the description. You'll also find an everinccreasing transcription vault. I'm releasing a couple of transcriptions a month. You'll also find articles that I've written and a whole lot more. So, like I said, link down there in the description. See you soon.