The Band19
Bass playing is easy, typically one does "not" play chords? You hold down the rhythm and lock in w/the drums... The job of the bass player is to create and maintain "the groove..." And hold down the bottom, PERIOD.
And yes? I'm a bass player, and not a bad one either.
Uh... plenty of bass players use chords. I used to use them all the time.
Anyway, as was mentioned bass chords are generally formed the same as you would on the top four strings of a guitar. I'd type up some diagrams but the forum is screwing up the format. The most effective to strike all at once is fifth chords. Either played with two or three notes like this...
I V (two notes means less muddiness, use index and pinky)
I V VIII (octave stands out, lower notes may sound muddier, use index, ring finger and pinky or just index and pinky)
V I (inverted, can be played with one finger, less muddy, could also be considered a perfect fourth)
One very useful and powerful fifth chord is playing E, E, B, E. You would be making a power chord starting on the A string with the root at the seventh fret and leaving the low E open. Great for accents and resolutions on songs in E. If you flat the note on D string you have now create a nasty sounding diminished chord which is cool too. The same can be done for A by just moving the power chord to the D string and omitting the low E (start on the low A). You can include the low E but it tends to bury the rest of the chord. Another cool way to do this is at the second fret. I V VIII V... for this you'd create a bar across the second and third strings with the index finger for the V and VIII then use your pinky for the high V. You can try moving this form around the neck too and drone it with the open low E string.
Droning. Pick an open string then map out a scale on the string below it. Move around the scale while droning with the open root string. Very cool.
Then there are bar chord style triads and 7ths. These will be difficult to play and require a lot of hand strength. They will also likely come out muddy without the right tone but can be good for arpeggio style playing, pop and slap, etc... It also sets up the "cage" for walking basslines but these forms aren't the greatest for bass because of the five fret stretches involved. The form directly above it (closer to the nut) is easier to move around in as it is a four fret stretch. If you are doing jazz or blues this form can be useful for walking between scale steps chromatically like in the Minor Blues or Be Bop scales. Remeber that when doing walking basslines you want to land on one of the chord notes on the upbeat so even if you aren't fretting the entire chord at once just visualizing the notes is helpful.
Major (can only be achieved starting on E string)
I V VIII III Use index for I, ring finger for V, pinky for VII, middle finger for III
Minor (again can only start on E string... the minor third is denoted by the miniscule Roman Numerals. Create a bar across all four strings because the 1st and fourth strings need to be fretted by the index finger, Again use the ring and pinky to fret the V and VIII)
I V VIII iii
Major 7th (can only start on the E string)
I V VII III (create a bar across all four strings with the index finger which will fret the I and the VII. Use the ring finger for V and middle finger for III).
Minor 7th (can only start on the E string)
I V VIII iii (create a bar across all four strings with index finger which will fret the I, V and iii. The ring finger frets the V)
You can create a 7th chord starting on the A string but you lose the third. Simply move the above patterns down one string and drop off the bottom note.
The more traditional way to look at bass chords is more how you'd form triads in first position on the guitar (think of the top four strings of a G chord or a C chord where the root is further up the neck than the other notes). These forms however definitely sound dull and muddy when sounded all at once. They are however extremely useful for setting up walking basslines, arpeggios and just plain gaining access to the notes you need when you need them as the harmony moves along. I'm sure you are already familiar with the forms for G and C Major in first position but these forms can be moved up the neck and easily turned into minor chords as well.
Like this...
Major
I, III, V, IIII (The I is fretted with the pinky, the III with the ring finger. Create a bar with the index finger across the bottom two strings to fret the V and the VIII).
Minor
I, iii, V, VIII (This is played exactly the same as the major form except you flat the third (iii) and use the middle finger to fret it instead of the ring finger)
You can use these two patterns starting on the A string as well. Simply put the root on the A string, create the form and drop the bottom not (now you will not be barring across two strings with the index, just fretting one note with it). When using these forms on the A string you also gain access to a low fifth on the E string so you can plink back and forth between the I and V by simply moving the pinky to the E string. You still retain the form for easy access to the other notes.
So although these chord forms don't sound as good when struck at once they are really really useful, can be placed anywhere on the neck and quite easy to play so I thought I'd mention them. Still though try ringing out combinations of these notes to see if you come up with anything you like.
Beyond that you can look into half diminished chords, augmented, 6ths, 9ths, etc but I won't go into a full chord study here.
Now those are the forms but there is a lot more to getting bass chords to sound good. The attack is obviously very important. If you are using a pick I recommend using the big heavy Tortex pizza slice style bass picks. Hit your chords harder than you would a single note (but not so hard you cause clipping or mash the strings into the pickups). When I used to play a lot of bass and went in for a chord it was almost like I was punching the strings. I found getting them to slap against the fretboard a bit would get the chord to pop and stand out more.
Another approach is to sweep across the strings instead of trying to sound them all at once. This is a more gentle than the "punching" approach. It's kind of like a really sped up arpeggio. Think of how you might play a chord you want to ring out on an acoustic guitar. You kind rake the strings right? Same idea. This gives the individual notes a little more definition. It won't really work at high speed though.
If you are playing with your fingers one way is to rake all four of your right hand fingers across the strings starting with the pinky and kind of rolling your hand while extending the fingers outward (think of a flamenco guitar player and how he fans out his right hand for those bright, aggressive chords). Make sure you are striking the strings with your fingernails (the flat part then slide to the tips). This creates a bright, cool sound effect because not only are you raking across the four strings like with the pick you are raking across each of them four times (once for each finger). You can see guys like Les Claypool do this.
Another way is the old slaparoo. Just use your thumb as a hammer on the strings you want to sound. Do this very close or right on top of the end of the fretboard so the strings "slap" against it. This also helps keep the strings from hitting the pick up which is very bad... especially in the studio. This is usually best done on no more than two strings at a time.
Then of course the is the "pop" method. Dig your finger tips slightly under the strings you want to sound, pull upwards and release.
Appoyendo. This is the standard way to play bass with ones fingers (hand at a right angle with the index and middle fingers reaching down toward the strings). Not the greatest for chords but you can just sweep from the bottom strings upward with the pads of your fingertips. This is more define if you have a little bit of fingernail to use but it's very easy to split or break a nail if you aren't careful.
Now for tone. For chord heavy bass lines I personally like the old school overdriven Ampeg SVT sound. Use lots of tone and warm mids. Too much bottom end can make things too muddy for chords. However there are tons of ways to go at it so just mess around with some sims or whatever.
You could also just simply use a harmonizer but that ain't the same.
Anyway sorry if if you knew a bunch of that or if it was boring but I was just waking up and figured it would be a good way to kick start my brain for the day. Happy plucking. ;-)