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How To Instantly Play Killer Rockabilly Bass Parts On Guitar (it’s easy)

By Mike Hayes | May 28, 2010

If there’s one sure way of getting toes tapping and folks up
dancing it’s playing some good old fashioned rockabilly tunes
especially if it’s played on a vintage guitar; a friend of mine
told me an interesting story about a gig he has held down now for
14 consecutive years.

My drummer friend plays at one of the largest casinos in the
country and over the past 14 years he has seen all sorts of
fashions and styles come and go he’s what he told me …”when the
latest songs and videos are playing only a handful of people get
up to dance but when his band (a 50′- 60’s rock band) start
playing the dance floor is packed” … I guess that’s why he’s
had (and still has) one of the most stable gigs in the country.

Isn’t that interesting despite all the hype and visual
presentation people still react instinctively to the
rhythm and that’s something no amount of marketing can wipe away!

Regardless of the style of music people always react first to the
rhythm, then the melody and lastly to the harmony of a piece of
music, that’s where rockabilly comes in … this strong
infectious style was born in the mid-fifties when rhythm and
blues fused with country music. Traditional bands that once
played country started to incorporate the boogie woogie blues
bass patterns.

So what better place to start when learning rockabilly than with
the blues, here is the four most common 12 bar blues formats in
the key of “E”.

Blues 1.

E /// |E /// |E /// |E /// |
A /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |
B /// |B /// |E /// |E /// |

Blues 2.

E /// |E /// |E /// |E /// |
A /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |
B /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |

Blues 3.

E /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |
A /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |
B /// |B /// |E /// |E /// |

Blues 4.

E /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |
A /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |
B /// |A /// |E /// |E /// |

Now for the bass patterns:

first a two bar pattern where each notes equals one beat.

E
—————–|—————|
—————–|—————|
—————–|—————|
—————–|-2————-|
———2—4–|—-4—2——|
-0—4———-|———–4—|

Here is the two bar pattern for “A” chord.

A
—————–|—————|
—————–|—————|
—————–|-2————-|
———2—4–|—-4—2——|
-0—4———-|———–4—|
—————–|—————|

This is how the two bar pattern works for the “B” chord.

B
—————–|—————-|
—————–|—————-|
————-1—|-4—1———|
—–1—4——|——–4—1–|
-2————–|—————-|
—————-|—————-|

Notice how in the ninth and tenth bars of blues 2 and blues 4
both the “A” and “B” chords are only one bar each here is how we
would play those bars.

bar 9 blues 2 and blues 4.

A
—————–|
—————–|
—————–|
———2—4–|
-0—4———-|
—————–|

bar 10 blues 2 and blues 4.

B
—————-|
—————-|
————-1–|
—–1—4——|
-2————–|
—————-|

If you want to play an “eight to the bar” version of these
patterns simply play two of each note using alternate picking.

Another important rockabilly technique is to palm mute the bass
patterns with your picking hand this will give the bass patterns
much more definition and help lock your guitar parts with the
bass and drums resulting in the strong rockabilly beat that
everyone loves.

You don’t have to have a vintage rockabilly guitar to enjoy
playing these famous sounds you just have to love playing these
bass runs on your guitar.

Topics: Beginner Guitar Lesson, Country Guitar, Guitar Tips | No Comments »

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