music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated. If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice (the note furthest in the

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

.) Three situations are possible: # The bass note is the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

or fundamental of the chord. The chord is in

root position The root position of a chord (music), chord is the Voicing (music), voicing of a Triad (music), triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the root (chord), root of the chord is the bass note and the other chord factors are above it. In the ro ...

. # One of the other pitches of the chord is in the bass. This makes it an inverted chord # The bass note is ''not'' one of the notes in the chord. Such a bass note is an additional note, coloring the chord above it. Such a chord is also called a slash chord. In pre- tonal theory (

Early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

), root notes were not considered and thus the bass was the most defining note of a sonority. See: thoroughbass. In pandiatonic chords the bass often does not determine the chord, as is always the case with a nonharmonic bass.

References

Bass (sound) Chord factors {{music-theory-stub