Mode Mapping On Bass [2 Part Formula For Bass Lines/Fills/Solos]

Have you ever come across a chord progression ‘in the wild’ and been completely stumped as to what you could play over it?

Sure – you might be able to scrape by if you just stuck to root notes, but what if you needed to come up with a more creative bass line, or your own bass fills – or even take a bass solo…

That’s exactly what happened when a student of mine came up against this chord progression:

Em7 – Am7 – C7 – B7

What would you play over this? 

Now there is no single ‘correct’ answer to this – there are quite a few possibilities! Sometimes, even playing things that are ‘wrong’ theoretically, can still sound good.

Today though, I want to share with you a 2-part formula that you can use to make very good choices when it comes to playing over more complicated chords and you only need to know 2 things to make it work.

1. The notes of each chord you’re playing
2. The notes of the key you’re in

With just these 2 pieces of information, you can make more inventive bass lines, create your own fills, or even improvise using some really cool sounds.

Check out the lesson here:

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By the way, this video isn’t just about playing over that single chord progression from above. It’s about the method you can use to think through any tricky chord progressions and make great note choices.

If you find that this is a little bit over you head at the moment though, make sure to download the Ultimate Guide To The Modes On Bass using the form above. It’s completely free and the ideas in this lesson will likely make a lot more sense to you after you’ve gone through the guide.

In fact, Andy – the student who asked the question that prompted this lesson – was going through the guide when he asked me about mapping these modes to different chords. It’s just that he had stumbled upon a chord progression that used chords from outside the key.

Good luck with the lesson and happy playing!

Cheers,