Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Alternating Bass for Twinkle, Twinkle

Do me a favor - go back to the tip for August 7 and look at the chord progression for Twinkle. The lowest note in each triad (chord of three adjacent notes) is called the "1" of the chord, and the next note is the "3", and the third note is the "5". If there is a note all by itself on the other side, it is probably a "1" or a "5". The "1" defines (i.e., names) the chord. The "5" is next most important. I like to think of the "1" and "5" as the backbone of a chord.

In the following version of the chord progression for Twinkle made out of the 1 and 5 notes of each chord, we also have a rhythmic backbone. The simplicity of the 1 and 5 only, plus the rhythmic backbone thing, really bring this to life in a boogie woogie or rock and roll sort of way. We sometimes call this an alternating bass because the line goes back and forth between the 1 and 5. Bass, because this sounds good as a simple foundation in the low notes.

Alternating bass line Twinkle Twinkle on the kalimba.

Here is the Tab for the first part of the alternating bass line.

And here is the KTabS file for the first part of the alternating bass line.

Note that the bass line is moving twice as fast as the melody line was.

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