Country Bass Line Exercise in 6/8 Time

Lesson #297 • Apr 26, 2020

Video lesson

Instructional PDF 2 pages

Follow along with the print-friendly PDF! It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

Thanks for being a Premium member of Song Notes! Your support makes these lessons possible.

Download PDF

Follow along with the print-friendly PDF!

It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

To download the PDF, upgrade to premium or log in.

Editor’s notes

Hey friends! Today’s lesson teaches a 16-measure exercise focusing on country bass lines in 6/8 time – specifically looking at the techniques of walking bass lines (between chord changes) along with alternating bass notes (while strumming). Together, these are techniques you’ll find use in many country and folk songs. My hope is this exercise gives you a nice & distilled opportunity to practice this without the burden of an entire songs (lyrics, additional chord progressions, etc). I play this exercise at 2 speeds: one slow (45 BPM) and another fast (60 BPM), for you to reference. Finally, I should note that this exercise was inspired by the song “Piece of Your Heart” by Gabe Lee – an up-and-coming country singer & excellent songwriter who I can’t recommend enough. I hope you enjoy!

Timestamps for this lesson:

  • 0:00 Lesson overview
  • 1:50 Playthrough (slow @ 45 BPM)
  • 2:38 Playthrough (fast @ 60 BPM)
  • 3:26 Chord shapes used
  • 4:48 Alternating bass notes
  • 6:08 Walking bass lines
  • 7:48 Additional tips & advice
  • 11:50 Farewell & Gabe Lee plug

Full exercise

See the PDF chord sheet (linked above) for the full tab.

Chords

Here’s the chord shapes this exercise uses.

E –––2–––3–––0–––  –––2––––3––––0––––0––––0––––
B –––3–––0–––2–––  –––1––––2––––2––––3––––0––––
G –––2–––0–––2–––  –––2––––0––––0––––2––––1––––
D –––0–––0–––2–––  –––0––––2––––2––––2––––2––––
A –––––––2–––0–––  ––––––––0––––0––––0––––2––––
E –––––––3–––––––  –––––––––––––––––––––––0––––
     D   G   A        D7   A7   A7  Asus4 E

Alternating bass-line basics

One core technique used in this exercise is that of playing an alternating bass note for the D and A chords. The idea is to (1) pluck the normal bass note (e.g., open 4th string on a D); (2) then strum the full D chord; (3) then play a lower bass note before (4) playing the full chord again. Then repeat! See my video lesson for reference. Be able to do this fluidly, even if it means you have to start quite slowly.

In 4/4 time:                           In 6/8 time:

E –––––2–––2––  –––––0–––0–––          E –––––2–2–––2–2––  –––––0–0–––0–0–––
B –––––3–––3––  –––––2–––2–––          B –––––3–3–––3–3––  –––––2–2–––2–2–––
G –––––2–––2––  –––––2–––2–––          G –––––2–2–––2–2––  –––––2–2–––2–2–––
D –––0––––––––  –––––2–––2–––          D –––0––––––––––––  –––––2–2–––2–2–––
A –––––––0––––  –––0–––––––––          A –––––––––0––––––  –––0–––––––––––––
E ––––––––––––  –––––––0–––––          E ––––––––––––––––  –––––––––0–––––––
     D             A                        D                 A

Walk up basics

Here’s the technique of walking up the bass line before playing the chord (used for both D and A). When you practice this, work up to the point where you can combine the alternating bass note pattern above with these walk-in sequences used occasionally. For both walk-ups shown here, left index finger is on the 2nd fret of the 5th or 6th string (left middle on 3rd fret, left ring on 4th fret).

D walk-up...             A walk-up...

E ––––––––––2––          E ––––––––––0––––
B ––––––––––3––          B ––––––––––2––––
G ––––––––––2––          G ––––––––––2––––
D ––––––––0–0––          D ––––––––––2––––
A ––0–2–4––––––          A ––––––––0–0––––
E –––––––––––––          E ––2–3–4––––––––
            D                        A

Shout out to Gabe Lee

Gabe Lee is a young country artist whose song “Piece of Your Heart” is the inspiration for this exercise. He has two albums out (as of early 2020), both of which are great! I recommend his music for sure. Here’s the the album with the song that inspired this exercise – track 2, specifically.

Gabe Lee · Honky Tonk Hell

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Gain instant access to my library of 212 print-friendly cheat sheets! Also includes my extended video lessons, jam tracks, courses, and more.

Join Song Notes Premium

Have questions? Watch video tour »

Browse Related Lessons

Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:

Enjoy my lessons? Buy me a beer!

If this and my other lessons have proven helpful to you, please consider making a one-time donation to my tip jar. Contributions of any amount help make this project possible (including the many, many hours I put into it).

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Interactive fretboard map! See the patterns behind every scale in any key.

View

Capo Captain

An easy way to calculate key & chord combinations, for any capo location!

View

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!


Recent Lessons

  • March 15, 2023

    Pink Floyd's "Breathe" - with Simpler Chords Included

    Learn to play through Pink Floyd's 1973 classic! I'll teach the chords they use, while also showing a handful of useful simplifications and riffs to make this work on a single acoustic guitar.

  • March 6, 2024

    Q&A: 8 Tips to Avoid Muting Strings

    If you're frustrated by muffled, muted, or buzzing strings when playing chords, you're not alone! Here's 8 tips to avoid this common issue.

  • March 1, 2024

    Blues Shuffle Riffs - Using Just 2 Strings!

    A step-by-step introduction to blues shuffle riffs in open position, which are an amazingly fun-to-play way to get that blues sound with just a few fingers.

  • February 16, 2024

    Soulful Lead Guitar with "America the Beautiful"

    Here's a few ways to approach playing melodic lead guitar over America is Beautiful - shown both on an acoustic and electric guitar. Lots of fun!

  • February 8, 2024

    Country Honk by The Rolling Stones

    Let's learn how to play The Stones' acoustic & countrified version of Honky Tonk Women — with all the riffs included!

  • January 31, 2024

    Beginner Blues - New Course Sneak Peek!

    Watch the first three videos of my upcoming course, Beginner Blues Guitar — where I'll teach youthe 12 bar blues, dominant 7th chords, and the shuffle (swing) rhythm.

  • January 23, 2024

    Strumming with Accented Notes

    A deep-dive into this must-know intermediate strumming technique, with step-by-step exercises to get up to speed! Featuring the Green Day song Time of Your Life.

  • January 13, 2024

    Lead Guitar Finger Placement – ft. La Sitiera (The Mavericks)

    Ever find yourself learning a riff, and not being sure which fingers to use? I'll give you a few tips in this video that'll help, no matter what you're playing!

  • January 9, 2024

    Hybrid Fingerstyle - First Steps!

    Let's look at combining percussive strumming with Travis-style fingerpicking melodies. I'll show 4-5 exercises & song examples to get you started.

  • January 6, 2024

    Streets of London by Ralph McTell

    Learn how to fingerpick Ralph McTell's 1969 folk classic! I also show you how to strum it, should you want something a bit easier.

Browse All Recent Lessons →

Browse All My Lessons

By lesson type

By technique

By musical genre

By decade

By musical key

By popular artist


← back to homepage