Figuring out chord progressions from songs

[rrayner]

Thanks for the lead, Sherry. There are some good tips there.

One additional item that should be mentioned is that often a bass part will include notes that are not part of the basic chord, i.e., root, third and fifth. These will generally be passing tones, notes within the root scale, but not part of the basic chord.

For example, in 4/4 meter, these passing tones would generally fall on beats 2 and 4 and for a C Major chord, you would hear a bass line that goes linearly from C to G in quarter notes: C D E F G -- all part of the root scale for C Major, where chord tones C, E, and G are on beats 1, 3 and 1 in the next measure, and the passing tones D and F are on beats 2 and 4.

So, the tips in the pdf are sound, but don't let the passing tones confuse you.

Ralph Rayner