The M Bass
May 30th, 2008 by admin
There is no such chord as an M Chord. The ‘M’ here actually stands for “the middle note”. And it’s not new. In fact, we have used that before in Chord I, IV and V. Let’s see:
The middle note of a C major chord is the E note, because the E note is the middle note of the C-E-G triad. Therefore E is the ‘M bass’ of the C major chord. On a chord chart, it’s usually written as C/E (read ‘C on E’).
Similarly, F/A is F major on its M bass, or F/M in my own notation. You probably don’t see this notation anywhere else. But I have a reason to use this notation. We will talk about this later.
G/B (read ‘G on B’) is therefore G/M in my notation.
C, F and G major chords are Chord I, IV and V of the C key.
Now, let’s go back to the II, III and VI major chords (my last post). What I want to tell you is: these 3 chords are usually played with their middle basses.
Back to the example in the C key…
D major chord (i.e., Chord II) is often (though not always) played as D/F#, i.e., D major on the right hand, and F# (i.e., its M bass) note on the left hand.
Similarly, E major (i.e., Chord III) is often played as E/G# (G# being the middle bass note of the E major triad), and A major (i.e., Chord VI) as A/C# (C# being the middle note of the A major triad).
Learn this well. II, III, VI major chords, each on its ‘M bass’, will be very useful. Believe me.
When you are familiar with these 3 chords and their associated M basses, you won’t be troubled by the apparently complicated chords on your music sheets or chord charts when such monsters appear: F/A, E/G#, G/B, D/F#, B/D#, etc.
I am going to illustrate the above using “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles. Watch out for my next post.
[...] said earlier that when II, III and V major chords appear in a song, they often do so with their ‘M basses’. For this song, D/F# is the VI major chord with its M bass (F# being the middle note of the D [...]
[...] this is the first time you see an “M” in a chord notation, check out my “The M Bass” [...]
[...] the “M” bass, please refer to my “The M Bass” [...]
[...] “The M Bass” post for the “M” notation [...]
[...] refer to “The M Bass” post for the “M” [...]
[...] 4 –> 3 –> 2. The chord in bracket, i.e., (I/M), is a transition chord. See “The M Bass” post for the “M” [...]
[...] see “The M Bass” post for the M notation [...]
[...] “The M Bass” post for the “M” notation [...]
[...] you don’t know what “M” is, please refer to “The M Bass” [...]
[...] IV –> I/M –> IIm7 –> IIm7/1 –> V/M –> V7 Please see “The M Bass” post for the “M” notation above. In the key of C, this is translated to: F –> C/E [...]
[...] –> V/M –> VIm –> VIm/5 –> IV –> V –> I See “The M Bass” for the “M” notation above. The original key is Ab. To make it easier to play, I have used [...]
where are instructions for what I, II, III, IV, and V are?
why didn’t they teach me this as a kid?
very helpful posting
Hi, Thanks for dropping by!
You can click on the hyperlink on the posting for chords II, III and VI. As for I, IV and V, please refer to “The 3 Basic Chords” post under the category “Cheat Theories”.
Cheers!