Start Playing Country Bass Lines

Let’s be honest, country bass playing usually gets a bit of a bad rap. It’s often over-simplified as roots and fifths, gets referred to as boring or uncreative, and certainly never gets featured in any technical videos. The thing is, country bass playing is all about the fundamentals: harmony, rhythm, and playing for the song. It’s easy to learn but difficult to master. It requires us to have an understanding of chord progressions, voice leading, groove, and musical taste. Let’s dig in and discuss some of the key concepts of country bass lines. 

Classic Country Chord Progressions 

First things first, country bass playing is all about supporting the song. Knowing the chord progression and song form is non-negotiable. What we play may not be super complicated, but if we incorrectly dictate the form or the changes, we put the whole song in jeopardy. 

Most classic country tunes feature the good ol’ “one four five” chord progression. This means that if we’re in the key of C, the one (1) chord would be C, the four (4) chord would be F, and the five (5) chord would be G. This is also a great way to start thinking about the Nashville Number System.

The good thing is that we can quickly identify these chords by simply playing through the major scale of whatever key we happen to be in. The bad thing is that saying “one four five” doesn’t give us enough musical information. Sure, it will narrow down the chords used, but it will leave us guessing as to how long we’re on each chord and what order we play the chords in. 

Eight Bar Forms: The Perfect Country Chorus

It is extremely common to have verse and chorus phrases that are eight bars long. It’s wonderfully symmetrical and feels very “right.” Some country songs even keep the same form for the entirety of the song, so once you learn how to play through those eight bars, the form will repeat for verses, choruses, solos, etc. It’s perfect for jamming and a great way to get started in country bass playing. 

“Jambalaya” by Hank Williams is a perfect example. It follows an eight bar form that simply repeats for verses, solos, etc. Here’s what the chord progression looks like: 

Form: 1 5 5 1 - 1 5 5 1

“Tulsa Time” by Don Williams also follows and eight bar form: 

Form: 1 1 1 5 - 5 5 5 1

Other songs will have different eight bar forms for the respective sections of the song, especially as the melody changes and begs for different chords. While they may stick to “one four five,” there are plenty of variations for how they are arranged within an eight bar phrase. Here are two common examples: 

Verse: 1 1 1 5 - 5 5 1 5

Chorus: 4 4 1 1 - 4 4 1 5

Twelve Bar Country Blues 

Another particularly common “one four five” country form will simply follow a twelve bar blues form. The main difference between playing the song as a “country tune” rather than a traditional blues will come down to the specific bass line and rhythmic approach. Instead of playing a shuffle with a walking bass line or a blues box pattern, we might stick to a root-fifth pattern in the bass. Even still, the overall form and chord progression will follow the 12 bar blues. 

12 Bar Blues: 1 1 1 1 - 4 4 1 1 - 5 5 1 1

Check out the videos for the J.J. Cale classic, “Call Me The Breeze” for a great example of this. 

Other songs may do a slight adaptation of the standard 12 bar blues, such as Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues.” 

Classic Country Rhythms And The Root-Fifth Bass Line

Most country bass lines aren’t particularly complicated when it comes to rhythm, but they do require consistency, good timing, and a clear understanding of how to place beats within a bar. Typically, we want to play the root note on beat one (aka the downbeat) and then another note on beat three (the secondary downbeat). 

Playing the root on beat one is crucial for defining the chord. Beat three is where we get to play a little! Depending on the song, we can reiterate the root note or play the 5th of the chord. We may do both over the course of the song.

If you’re playing a root-fifth bass line, be aware of the chord progression and how the roots and fifths will change as you move to a new chord. For instance, if you’re on a C chord, the root note will be C and the 5th will be G. As you move to the five chord in the chord progression, you’ll now play G as the root note and D as the fifth. When you make that move to the G chord, you may not want to play it on beat three of the C chord. It will seem like you’ve arrived to that chord early and may be a bit awkward. Instead, try using passing tones to imply the direction of the move or double up on the root note (C). That way, it will be very clear that you’re landing on G, the root of the next chord, on beat one of the following bar.

Speaking of passing tones, now we can start to integrate passing tones and/or leading tones to help us move through the chord progression. A great example of this is moving from the 1 to the 4 chord by playing the root on the downbeat, resting on beat two, and then walking up the scale on beats three and four to set up our landing point. It’s smart voice leading, sticks to the rhythmic structure, and clearly indicates our arrival to the next chord in our progression.

While sticking to quarter notes is great, we may choose to add a little spice to our feel with dead notes. To do so, try playing a dead note on the sixteen note before the beat (the “a” of “one-e-and-a”). It will add a percussive element to our bass line and adds a bit of bounce to our root-fifth bass line. This example is from the “Call Me The Breeze” lesson from the video above.

Conclusion

There’s obviously plenty more to learn about country bass playing but these basics will get you started. Again, the key points including knowing the form, understanding the length of phrases and how long you’re on a particular chord, and then familiarizing yourself with basic rhythms, voice leading, and integrating dead notes.

If you’re looking for more TAB/Notation to go along with the videos above, please head over to my Patreon Page. You’ll be able to access additional content to go along with all YouTube videos. And, if you’re looking for one-on-one instruction, feel free to reach out for private bass lessons.