Beginning Bass 12: Diatonic Triads
By Roy Vogt
Bass Instructor, Belmont University 		Print This Lesson
Roy Vogt. After looking at the Nashville Number System last week, I've decided to write a bridge column between our earlier article on Triads and our Diatonic Modes and Four Note Chord study in the Intermediate Bass articles.

Simply put, if you take a major scale C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C and play every other note starting from the root you will get the 3rd and 5th of the chord. In a C tonality, that will give us:

CEG=C major
DFA=D minor
EGB=E minor
FAC=F major
GBD=G major
ACE=A minor
BDF=B diminished

The formula for diatonic triads is the same no matter what key we're in. It's I-ii-iii-IV-V-vi-vii(dim)-I.

Notice that I've relented and used tablature in this month's column. I wanted to show two ways of playing the same idea. In the first example I've moved up the A and D strings. This is what I might do if I'm slapping the triads or playing with a pick. The second approach is to stay mostly in VII position (first finger on the 7th fret). This is what I would tend to do while sight-reading or playing fingerstyle.

I've closed out this column with a study on I-vi-IV-V progressions (called "ice cream changes" by the 50's era studio musicians who recorded tons of tunes with this progression). The progression is in C and then changes to G so the changes are C-Am-F-G and G-Em-C-D respectively. Try learning the patterns and then playing along with the track. As Fonzie would say, now you're a cool cat!

Peace and Low Notes,
Roy C. Vogt
Nashville Bassist
Bass Instructor, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

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