USE CHROMATIC SHAPES IN PENTATONICS

We’ve talked a fair bit about pentatonic shapes over the last few months here. Today, we’re going to use them as a framework for adding chromatic notes into our bass-line construction. It’s a technique that was used very extensively by Motown legend James Jamerson, though rest assured we’re not going to be attempting any of his more gymnastic approaches to creating bass fills!

The simplest way to explain what we are about to do is to think of the pentatonic scale as a skeleton onto which we can hang a series of chromatic runs to connect up all the notes in the scale. The fact that each run starts and ends on a note in the pentatonic is enough for it to make sense and for us to not get lost in a blizzard of notes, but hopefully it will give us some more options when it comes to creating riffs and lines, as well as fills and improvised grooves at jam sessions.

Let’s start