1-4-5 Chord Progression For Bass Players

Hey there, bass players! If you’ve been wondering, “What’s the most important role of the bass?” Then I’ve got your answer. It’s defining the chord progression. The chord progression is the basis for every song, so our ability to find the key and identify chords is absolutely crucial. 

Thousands, no millions of songs, are written using a surprisingly simple group of chords known as the “one-four-five.” This chord progression, also written using the Roman numerals “I-IV-V,” can be adapted in any number of ways.

It is essentially three chords that live within a key and sound particularly good together. Infinite melodies can be written over these chords, and they happen to be the building blocks for songs in blues, pop, rock, soul, country, disco, you name it.

So, let’s take a look at the importance of the 1-4-5, how to identify these chords, and why they’re so essential for bass players like Paul McCartney, Willie Dixon, Duck Dunn, and session players far and wide!

The Role Of The Bass In Music

Songs are often written using three musical concepts: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Typically, the melody is a single-note line that is sung or played–we often leave this to the vocalist or “lead” instrument. Harmony refers to chords that accompany or support the melody.

While polyphonic instruments such as guitar or piano may play these chords, bass players are equally responsible for defining them–even though we may only play one note at a time. The bass part will define or outline these chords while playing with a particular feel or rhythmic pulse.

The bass plays two incredibly important roles in music:

  1. Defining the harmony

  2. Serving as part of the rhythm section

Writing A Bass Line

Now that we know the bass is responsible for defining harmony, it can do so in a variety of ways.

Here are a few common approaches: 

  1. The bass can pedal or pulse a single note, often just staying on the root of a chord. This is most common in rock and pop music. 

  2. The bass can play a selection of chord tones, such as the root and the fifth. This is common in country music, different Latin rhythms, bossa nova, and many more.  

  3. The bass can arpeggiate chords by playing notes of a triad or seventh chord. This technique is also used in jazz walking bass lines, blues bass lines, country, Latin, and pop. 

  4. The bass can play to the notes of a pentatonic scale, blues box pattern, or by crafting a more melodic part. 

Long story short, there are many different ways to create a bass line, but they’re all based on finding the best way to navigate the chord progression. You can start working on some of these approaches with my ebook, Beginner Improvisation for Bass Players. 

Identifying the 1-4-5 Chords

As we learn a song, our first goal should be identifying the key. This means that we’re adhering to the notes in a particular scale, so if we’re in the key of C Major, we’ll stick to the notes of the scale and then build chords upon those notes. As we move up the scale, we attach a number to each note like so: 

C Major Scale: 

C (1) - D (2) - E (3) - F (4) - G (5) - A (6) - B (7) - C(1)

As you can see, C is the one-chord, F is the four-chord, and G is the five-chord. So, in the key of C, our 1-4-5 chords will be C-F-G.  This way of thinking is also the reasoning behind the Nashville Number System.

If we find ourselves in the key of E Major, we then use the notes of the E Major Scale.

E Major Scale: 

E (1) - F# (2) - G# (3) - A (4) - B (5) - C# (6) - D# (7) - E (1) 

In the key of E Major, our 1-4-5 chords are E-A-B. 

Lucky for us, when we adhere to the diatonic rules (meaning we stick exclusively to the notes within the key), the chords built on the 1-4-5 are all major chords.

This means that we can use the same set of notes (such as major triads, roots and fifths, major pentatonic patterns, etc.) and move the same pattern across all chords in the progression. 

Writing A Song With 1-4-5

Now that we know a little bit about identifying the 1-4-5, it’s time to think about song form and the overall chord progression. While we may stick to this specific group of chords, the length of time we spend on the chords and the order in which we play them will really determine the song.

Remember that even though we may say “one-four-five,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that we play one bar on each chord. We can stay on that chord for 1, 2, 3, 4… however many bars. Then, we can move to the four-chord or the five-chord. 

Again, the simplification of “one-four-five” is really there to help us reduce the chords used but doesn’t reflect the duration or order. 

Common 1-4-5 Forms 

The most common 1-4-5 form is the 12-bar blues. Not only is it the basis of blues music, but plenty of rock and pop songs tap into this form as well.

Here’s the basic 12-bar blues: 

1 - 1 - 1 - 1

4 - 4 - 1 - 1

5 - 4 - 1 - 5 

As you can see, this form adheres to these chords but plays with the order. Learn more about the 12-bar blues form and different variations with my 12-Bar Blues Survival Pack. 

Other blues forms, including the 8-bar blues, will also take advantage of the 1-4-5. “Key To The Highway” is a great example of this. 

1-4-5 Reggae Bass Lines

As we bounce to other genres, many reggae songs feature these chords as well. Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up” is the perfect example of using a 1-4-5 chord progression and playing with major triads on the bass. 

1-4-5 In Classic Rock Music 

And where would we be without some good ol’ rock and roll music? The natural shift from blues to rock means that we also use the one-four-five everything from The Beatles to Bruce Springsteen, Steve Miller Band, Fleetwood Mac, you name it. Here are a couple of my favorite rock bass lines that use the 1-4-5 chord progression. 

Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen

The Joker - Steve Miller Band

Conclusion

Long story short, building familiarity with this group of chords can help you learn songs faster, identify keys, improvise bass lines, and so much more. Finding the chord progression on bass is an essential skill and one that will make you a great asset to any band. 

Check out some of my ebooks to get exercises and examples!

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