Many bassist who are just starting out think that as a bass player they need to learn how to play chords. I’m not sure if this is because many people start out on regular guitar first or not. Chords are played on bass but much more often single notes are played.
As a bass player it’s more important to know how to play over chord progressions, than it is to play actual bass chords.
Bass guitar chords also tend to sound better on 6 string bass guitars due to having a higher string than a standard 4 string bass. The deeper the sound the muddier chords tend to sound and because of this it’s a good idea to play chords higher up the bass fretboard around the 12th fret area.
If however you do decide that you want to learn how to play bass guitar chords then there are a few ways to go about it. Using a bass chords chart can help you to quickly see the notes you need to play. These chord charts can be written in bass tab format or in chord box format. Both of which are fairly easy to understand once you get the hang of it.
Once you have learnt a few chords using a bass chords chart you can then start using them in your playing. Bass guitar chords are common in Jazz music much more than something like rock.
If you’re not used to fretting chords on your bass it can be tricky to start with. You need quite a bit of finger strength to be able to press down multiple strings without them buzzing and sounding horrible.
Once you get the hang of it though playing bass chords can be a lot of fun and they sound really great.
I hope this has give you a quick overview of bass guitar chords and you now know that the easiest way to learn them is with a bass chords chart. So get practising and soon you’ll be able to play chords on your bass in no time.
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