What would you say if I told you I can show you a three-note pattern that fits over just about any chord, and you can use it to cover any style or genre by adding potent rhythms to the mix? Three notes and a good selection of rhythms are all you need to maneuver through most songs like a pro. The notes that make everything happen harmonically form a triangular shape on your fingerboard. Check out Ex. 1a and Ex. 1b to see two versions of the pattern. Each consists of the root, 5th, and 6th, and covers any major or dominant chord. Over a minor chord, you simply raise the 6th to get a b7th, which is still in the triangular pattern (Ex. 2). This also works over a dominant chord. Let your ear help determine which pattern fits best. It’s going to be one or the other.

Rhythm is what determines the genre and style of the grooves you are playing, and with only three notes to choose from, you can really funk it up in the rhythm department. In order to keep things organized, I sort the bass lines by groove skeletons, the first two notes of a groove (see my Beginner Bass Base column in Bass Magazine Issue 6). The groove skeleton sets the tone for the feel of a groove, which determines the genre and style. But enough with the theoretical descriptions…as they say, writing about music is like dancing about architecture. In this column you get not only the notation and graphs about which notes to play, but also the sound files that demonstrate the different grooves and their feel. So without further ado, here are some choices for you to pull out at your next jam session to wow your bandmates.

Rock (eighth-notes)

The groove skeleton for a good rock groove usually consists of two eighth-notes to get things pumping. Ex. 3 is a typical rock & roller.

Example 4 shows a groove that’s a little busier and has a bit of an R&B feel, due to the 16th-note subdivision in the second half of the phrase, but it still rocks.

While the triangle pattern with a b7th in Ex. 5 sounds a little edgier, it’s still pumping rock.

Rock (quarter-notes)

In the case of the next few grooves, the groove skeleton consists of two quarter-notes, which settles the feel a bit. Example 6 is what you’d hear in a country-rock bass line.

Spicing up the line with some eighth-notes and a two-bar phrase with syncopation makes Ex. 7 and Ex. 8 sound right at home in a Southern-rock song.

R&B/soul (dotted eighth- and 16th-notes)

Examples 9, 10, and 11 are R&B-flavored bass grooves, reminiscent of Motown or Memphis soul music. Notice how beat three is not played. That’s typical in a lot of R&B grooves, so pay close attention to it.

Pop/R&B (quarter- and eighth-notes)

For something with more of a singer/songwriter vibe, you can use the groove in Ex. 12, and if you want to give it a bit of a goose, add some 16th-notes (Ex. 13) or syncopated eighth-notes (Ex. 14).

Funk (16th-notes)

The flagship genre of electric bass grooves would in all likelihood be funk. The groove in Ex. 15 is the archetypical funk line for bassists. You can busy it up, as in Ex. 16, or you can smooth it out, as in Ex. 17. In funk you would use the b7th rather than the 6th; you funk on a minor or a dominant chord, but I wouldn’t recommend using a pretty major tonality in this style.

Shuffle (triplets)

Finally, there is the shuffle, a style frequently (but not exclusively) used for all kinds of blues tunes. Example 18 is a shuffle groove using the 6th, while Ex. 19 uses the b7, giving the sound a bit more edginess.

There you have it. Three notes plus some cool rhythmic finger work and you end up with killer grooves. Let your ears guide you, and remember: If it sounds good, it is. Whoever said three’s a crowd? It’s more like three’s a crowd pleaser!

Patrick Pfeiffer is a professional bassist, bass educator, clinician, composer and author, having published several classic bass books, among them Bass Guitar for Dummies, Bass Guitar Exercises For Dummies, Improve Your Groove: The Ultimate Guide For Bassand Daily Grooves for Bass. Besides performing and recording, Pfeiffer teaches bass guitar worldwide and often conducts clinics alongside such bass luminaries as Will Lee, John Patitucci, Gerald Veasley, Michael Manring and many more. Pfeiffer’s most recent CD Soul of the City was sponsored by the New York Foundation for the Arts. He holds a Master’s in Jazz from the New England Conservatory