Practice

Roots, Fifths & Octaves

Step 6 of 10 · Beginner Bass Path

One movable two-finger shape — root, fifth, and octave — that outlines thousands of songs.

What you'll learn

  • Find the fifth above, fifth below, and octave from any root
  • Move the two-finger root–fifth shape anywhere on the neck
  • Know why roots and fifths fit major and minor chords alike
  • Hear the shape at work in a real rock bass lick

The chord of the moment names your safest note: its root. Play the root on beat one and you have told the whole band where they are. This step adds two more can't-miss notes, and they live under one movable two-finger shape.

From any root, the fifth sits one string up and two frets over — index on the root, pinky on the fifth. The same fifth also lives at the same fret one string down (the fifth below), a favourite drop in country and rock lines. The octave is two strings up and two frets over — the shape you plucked from E and A in the open-string drill. None of these use open strings, so the whole shape moves anywhere: find the root, and the fifth and octave come with it.

Best of all, the root and fifth do not change between major and minor chords, which is why root–fifth playing works on almost any chart before you have learned a single chord shape. Hear it driving a real line in the root–fifth rock lick, see what you are outlining in the bass chord library, then lock the shape in with the routine below.

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