How to use alternating bass notes to add interest to chords

Even with basic guitar chords, you can add alternating bass notes to create more interesting parts. And it’s easy to do once you know how. With a bit of practice to develop your pick or finger control, you’ll have the technique down in no time.

What are alternating bass notes?

The technique of playing alternating bass notes involves playing one note (usually the chord’s root note) on beat 1 of a four-beat measure. Then, on beat 3 of the measure, the musician plays a different bass note (usually a 5th above the root note, but sometimes a 3rd above).

This alternating pattern repeats for some or all of the chords throughout an entire song.

This technique adds variation and thus interest to your playing. It makes your guitar parts sound more active. It’s a great technique to use in order to give your audience something more interesting to listen to than simple strumming patterns.

In this article we’ll concentrate on major chords in our examples. Just remember that the techniques you learn here work just as effectively with minor chords too.

Alternating bass notes in any genre

You’ll hear the alternating bass note technique in nearly every genre of music and virtually every style of playing. Regardless of whether you play acoustic or electric guitar, alternating bass notes can play an integral part in your style.

However, some genres rely more heavily on it than others. For instance, country music makes wide use of alternating bass notes. You’ll also often hear it in folk, polka, old rock and roll, and many others.

Several styles of acoustic and country blues also use alternating bass notes.

Often the bass guitar assumes the duty of providing the alternating bass notes. Still, it’s very common for the guitarist to use the technique too. Sometimes the bass will play something more elaborate or more simple, while the guitarist fills in the spaces with alternating bass notes.

The technique is particularly useful to guitarists when there is no bass playing along. In these cases, it’s a way for the guitarist to essentially play rhythm guitar and bass guitar at the same time.

Of course, the guitar can’t provide notes as low as those on a bass. Still, if there is no bass, the guitarist can provide the feel with alternating bass notes on guitar.

Alternating bass notes provide a steady, comfortable element to the guitar part. Yet, as I said, they also give the guitarist a tool for making parts more interesting.

Pick or finger style

You can use alternating bass notes whether you use a pick (a plectrum) to strum your guitar or you play finger style.

If you use a pick, it’s going to take you a little time, practice, and patience to develop the control necessary to hit the note you want when you want it. At first, this will be difficult for you. You might have to go quite slowly and watch your picking hand very carefully to make sure you’re hitting the right string.

But stick with it. As you become more comfortable you’ll be able to increase your playing speed. Then try as soon as possible to do it without looking at your picking hand.

It might seem impossible at first, but trust me! If you stick with it, soon you will be able to naturally and accurately strike the string you need at full tempo and without looking.

When you’re playing finger style, you’ll use your thumb to alternate between the strings to strike the notes you need. This can actually be easier than using a pick because you will learn to feel the difference between the strings and their locations.

Still, this won’t come easily either. You’ll have to work patiently at it. But it will come if you stick with it.

Two alternating bass note options

You have two most common options to choose from for your alternating bass notes. Which you choose often depends upon the type of music you’re playing.

Alternating between two notes

For the most basic form of alternating bass notes, you can switch between two notes. Country music very often uses this two-note technique. As soon as you play it, you’ll recognize the feel of country music in it.

That certainly doesn’t mean you can only use this two-note method in country music. Nor does it mean that if you use it, you must be playing country music. It’s just very, very common for country songs. If you want to instantly create that country feel, reach for the two-note alternating bass technique.

Alternating between three notes

The second common alternating bass note technique uses three notes.

In this style, the first measure of the song might use the root note on the 1st beat, and the alternate note on the 3rd beat. Then in the next measure you might play the root note on the 1st beat and a different alternate note on the 3rd beat.

Then typically you’d alternate measures as you alternate bass notes.

Many folk songs—especially those played finger style—use this technique. You’ll also hear it in early rock and roll, honky tonk, and rockabilly styles. It makes for an even more active guitar part and creates more interesting picking and strumming patterns.

Which notes should you alternate between?

The notes you use in your alternating pattern depend upon whether you choose the two-note style or the three-note style. It also depends upon the chord you’re playing. Let’s take a closer look.

Two general categories of open major chords

Without going into too much theory about it, the five open major chords fall into two general categories. First, there are the chords E, A, and D. In these chords, the first note above the lowest root note in the chord is the 5th degree note.

For instance, in an open E chord, the root note E sits on the open Low E string. The next note of the chord is the B note at fret two of the A string. B is the 5th note of the E major scale.

With these chords (E, A, and D), you’ll normally alternate between the root note and the 5th note.

They second general category of open chords includes the G and C chords. In these chords, the next note higher than the lowest root note in the chord is the 3rd degree note.

As an example, in the open G chord, the root note G sits at fret 3 of the Low E string. The next note in the chord is the B at fret 2 of the A string. B is the 3rd note of the G major scale.

With these chords, you’ll usually alternate between the root note and the 3rd note.

Chords with root note on the sixth string

Which string the root note of the chord falls on also presents different options for your alternating notes. Chords in which the root note falls on the Low E string (for open chords, this includes the E and G chords) have somewhat limited options.

Since Low E is the lowest string on your guitar, you can’t find a lower alternate note than your root note.

Well actually, theoretically speaking, if the root note is something other than the open E—for instance, the chord G has its root note at fret 3—you could use an alternate note lower on the E string. But in practicality, it would be very unusual to do this. For example, on that G chord, you only have E, F, and F# notes lower than your G root note. Those would each be extremely unusual choices for alternating bass notes on a G chord.

Since an acceptable lower note generally doesn’t exist for chords rooted on the Low E string, the only alternative is to use a higher note. Usually you’ll use the next note in your chord, which sits on the A string.

The open E chord

For the E chord, that note is the B note—the 5th—at fret 2 of the A string. In the two-note alternating bass style, you’d alternate between those two notes throughout the duration of the E chord.

If you’re playing the three-note alternating style, you would typically use the E note at fret 2 of the D string as the other alternate note. A typical way to do this is to start with the root note open E on beat one of the measure, then play the octave E at fret 2 of the D string on beat 3 of the measure. In the second measure, start with the 5th at fret 2 of the A string on beat one and then again the octave root note at fret 2 of the D string on beat three.

Notice that in both the two-note and three-note style, you don’t have to move any finger of the fretting hand. You’re just plucking the notes you need that already exist in the basic shape of the chord.

The open G chord

Like the open E chord, the Open G chord has its root on the Low E string. The most typical alternate note is the 3rd of the chord at fret 2 of the A string. That’s the B note. In the two-note alternating style you’ll go back and forth between these two notes.

In the three-note alternating style, you’ll use the open D string for the other alternate note. That D note is the 5th of the G major scale. Typically you’d play the root G note on the E string on beat one of the measure. Then play the open D string on beat 3. In the next measure, play the B at fret 2 of the A string on beat one and again the open D on beat 3.

Chords with root note on the fifth or fourth string

Chords that have their lowest root note on the A and D strings provide another option for alternating bass notes. The chords include the A, C, and D chords.

Remember, the A and D chords have the same basic structure as the E chord. Thus the next highest note in those chords is the 5th. So you’ll use a similar technique as that described for the E chord.

The C chord shares the same structure as the G chord, so you’ll use the same techniques of the C chord as those you learned for the G chord.

But since each of the chords has its lowest root note on something higher than the E string, you have notes lower than the root note to choose from for your alternate notes.

Specifically, for each of these chords, the 5th of the chord sits at the same fret as the root note, but down on the Low E string.

The A and D chords

The A chord’s root note is the open A string. As we discussed with the E chord earlier, the 5th of the A chord sits two frets higher on the next higher string—that’s the note E. But a lower E exists on the open Low E string.

So, for an open A chord, you can alternate between the A and either the E note at fret 2 of the D string, or the E note at the open  Low E string. Using the Low E note is quite typical. And in the three-note alternating style, you use the A and both of these E notes.

It could work exactly the same with the D chord. However, since the next higher note in the D chord sits on the G string, it doesn’t sound much like a bass note. So typically you’d use just the two-note style with the A note on the open A string below the D root.

Just as with the E and G chords, you don’t need to change your fretting fingers to do any of this.

The open C chord

The open C chord presents a bit of a special case. Again, it has the same structure as the G chord. So you can use the same two- or three-note alternating style as you learned for the G chord.

Like the A and D chords, it has a 5th at the same fret as the root but one string lower. However, this is chord requires you to change your fretting-hand fingering in order to play that 5th on the Low E string.

In the C chord, you use your ring finger at fret 3 of the A string to play the C root note. In order to play the 5th note G on the Low E string, you have to shift your ring finger from the A string to fret 3 of the Low E string.

So in this case your ring finger will constantly shift back and forth between these two strings as you alternate the bass note. For that reason, the C chord is the most complicated of the five open chords to play an alternating bass pattern on.

At first this might seem awkward. But since this is such a common technique—especially since so many country and folk songs use the C chord—you’ll get used to it quickly. Just stick with it. Take it slowly at first until you ingrain the feel into your playing. Then you can speed up. Soon you won’t even have to think about it.

You can use alternating bass notes with bar chords too

We’ve focused on the five open major chords in these examples. But it’s important to understand that you can just as easily use these techniques with bar chords too.

The most typical bard chords use the E and A shapes. To use alternate picking with these bar chords, just follow the same instructions that we discussed for the open shapes.

Conclusion

The alternate bass notes technique involves alternating between the root note on one string and another note from the chord on another string. You can use a two-note technique or a three-note style. In either case, it’s a powerful way to add variety and interest into your playing.

You can use this technique in virtually any genre of music with both acoustic and electric guitar. It’s particularly popular in country music, folk music, some acoustic blues styles, and several other genres.

You can use the technique whether you play with a pick or finger style. It requires a bit of work and patience to master the technique, but once you’re used to it you will use it without having to think about it.

The technique varies a bit depending upon the structure of the chord. In the E, A, and D chords you’ll typically alternate between the root and the 5th of the chord’s scale. With the G and the C chords, you’ll use the root and the 3rd.

Learn and master the alternating bass note technique and you will add an exciting element to your playing.