Alternate bass

Oom-pah played by accordion on C major chord with alternate bass  Play .

In music, alternate bass is a performance technique on many instruments where the bass alternates between two notes, most often the root and the fifth of a triad or chord.

On the guitar and bass guitar this is accomplished with the right hand alternating between two or more strings, often the bottom two on the guitar. In the following example in the C major chord C is located on the fifth string while G is located on the adjacent sixth (lowest) string and in the F major chord F is located on the adjacent fourth string:

Carter Family picking with alternate bass within and walking bass, in blue, between C and F major chords  Play .

On the Stradella bass system commonly found on accordions, the left-hand bass-note buttons are arranged according to the circle of fifths. The bass button for the fifth is directly above the bass button for the root.

See also

• Accompaniment