Chords for Bass For Beginners Heartbreak Hotel
Tempo:
120.5 bpm
Chords used:
E
A
Db
D
B
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
Hey, it's Paul from howtoplaybass.com. This is another in my series of tutorials for beginners.
This is the Elvis tune Heartbreak Hotel.
Fairly straightforward tune,
ideal for beginners because predominantly we've got a quarter note pulse in the bass line.
There is a bar in each verse where we've got to play a bar of swing eighth notes,
but essentially it's a quarter note pulse all the way through and then there's the last two bars.
We've got a little run where the pulse changes to the straight eighth note, the underlying pulse.
And then we go back to swing eighth note.
So that's a little tricky thing you have to watch out for at the end that might catch you out.
But other than that, it's
very straightforward,
ideal for beginners to start putting their left and right hands together,
working in practice on a real world bass line.
If that's the kind of practice you want to aspire to do,
click the link.
It's underneath the video and head over to the page that that will take you to.
I've got a course which does exactly that, teaches you basic left and right hand technique and applies that information in the context of a series
of progressively more complex songs or hard, more difficult songs, which range from
simple rock [Fm] and roll songs, simple rock songs, [E] right through to some quite up-tempo eighth note tunes at the end.
So go [N] and check that out if that would be of interest to you.
And we'll get on with the lesson and we'll look at the first verse of
Heartbreak Hotel.
[E]
[D] [Db]
[A] [G] [E]
[Am] [Abm]
[Gb] [E]
[Gb] [A]
[B]
[E] So you just saw the two verses, the first two verses being played along with the backing track.
The main difference is the first verse, we don't come in on the downbeat and we don't come in to bar four with this
[D] [Db] with [Abm] that run and on the second, third and fourth verses, we play an E on the downbeat.
We'll come to that in a second.
So we start on the, as I just said, on the fourth [E] verse.
[D] [Db] [B]
We're going to play a [E] swing eighth note feel.
We've got
two Es, [C] the ninth fret of the [D] G string,
two Ds, [E] seventh fret of the G [Db] string,
three C sharps, the sixth [B] fret of the G string.
[F] Slide down to the fourth fret, one B, fourth fret of the G string.
[E] [D] [Db] [B]
[A] And you slide down to facilitate that shift there to play the next note,
which is A, [E] seventh fret of the D string.
And because of the pattern there, we need to be in that kind of position.
So that's the first
bar on the fourth beat, the fourth [D] bar.
[Db] [B] Then we've got a two bar pattern
for the A chord.
[E] Very [A] traditional
bluesy kind of pattern.
We're playing A,
[Em] G, seventh and fifth fret of the D string, E,
seventh fret of the A string and C sharp, fourth fret of the A string.
Then low A, fifth fret of the E string or the open A,
C sharp and E, fourth and seventh of the A string again.
And then A,
again, either fifth fret of the E string or you could play the open A.
I play the fifth fret of the E string.
Then we've got two more bars we're going to [Ab] play.
[Gb] [E] That's the next phrase, which is B, [Am] A,
[Ab] G sharp, [Abm] F sharp.
B, this time we're fretting at the fourth [A] fret of the G string.
A, G sharp, F sharp, seven, six and four of the D string.
So you've got to go from,
let's do the two bars of A,
[B]
and then you've got to get up to the, you've got to get that jump from that A
to B there
[Bb] [Ab] and play that pattern we just talked about.
And then the final bar we're going to play, E,
G sharp, B,
G sharp,
seventh fret of the A string for E, six and [G] nine, four of the D string for [E] G sharp and [N] B.
Back to G sharp.
And then the second verse, we play the first downbeat,
which is E at the seventh fret of the A string again.
Now the thing to notice here is
when you listen to the original recording, the original recording was done on double bass, that downbeat,
which if you played it in kind of a contemporary tune would be a stab.
So [E] you'd give it [N] an accent.
But if you listen to the original recording, it's not an accent.
So it's very [Bm] important
[Am] to get [Abm] the two bar pattern that leads up to it and you get that E
[E] [Abm] to have the same dynamic as the rest of the piece you just played.
You'll get accents into the song from the guitar stabs that come in, the D and E, those two that come in.
[G] And repeated twice before you come back in again.
So that
E on the [Ab] downbeat is the only difference between verse one [E] and verses two, three and four.
So you play on verse two, you play and then you get the guitars, ba-dow,
ba-dow, then you get one, two, three, four.
[D] [Db] [A]
[Em] And you'll be into the same pattern again.
So
that's the main verse [A] pattern.
The next thing we need to look at [N] is
there's a variation, very simple variation for the guitar solo.
So that's the next section we need to go look at.
So let's go check that out.
[E]
[Em] [E]
[A]
[B] [A]
[Ab] [Gb] [E]
Just heard the guitar solo with the backing track.
Very simple, slight variations, but very simple.
First four bars,
we're just going to play this pattern four times,
which is E, G-sharp, B, C-sharp, E, G-sharp, [Db] B, C-sharp, E,
G-sharp, B, C-sharp.
[Ab] E7th fret of the A string, [E] 6 and 9 for G-sharp and B of the [Dbm] D string, 6 of the G string for C.
[Ab] Then we're [E] going to play
this [Eb]
This is the Elvis tune Heartbreak Hotel.
Fairly straightforward tune,
ideal for beginners because predominantly we've got a quarter note pulse in the bass line.
There is a bar in each verse where we've got to play a bar of swing eighth notes,
but essentially it's a quarter note pulse all the way through and then there's the last two bars.
We've got a little run where the pulse changes to the straight eighth note, the underlying pulse.
And then we go back to swing eighth note.
So that's a little tricky thing you have to watch out for at the end that might catch you out.
But other than that, it's
very straightforward,
ideal for beginners to start putting their left and right hands together,
working in practice on a real world bass line.
If that's the kind of practice you want to aspire to do,
click the link.
It's underneath the video and head over to the page that that will take you to.
I've got a course which does exactly that, teaches you basic left and right hand technique and applies that information in the context of a series
of progressively more complex songs or hard, more difficult songs, which range from
simple rock [Fm] and roll songs, simple rock songs, [E] right through to some quite up-tempo eighth note tunes at the end.
So go [N] and check that out if that would be of interest to you.
And we'll get on with the lesson and we'll look at the first verse of
Heartbreak Hotel.
[E]
[D] [Db]
[A] [G] [E]
[Am] [Abm]
[Gb] [E]
[Gb] [A]
[B]
[E] So you just saw the two verses, the first two verses being played along with the backing track.
The main difference is the first verse, we don't come in on the downbeat and we don't come in to bar four with this
[D] [Db] with [Abm] that run and on the second, third and fourth verses, we play an E on the downbeat.
We'll come to that in a second.
So we start on the, as I just said, on the fourth [E] verse.
[D] [Db] [B]
We're going to play a [E] swing eighth note feel.
We've got
two Es, [C] the ninth fret of the [D] G string,
two Ds, [E] seventh fret of the G [Db] string,
three C sharps, the sixth [B] fret of the G string.
[F] Slide down to the fourth fret, one B, fourth fret of the G string.
[E] [D] [Db] [B]
[A] And you slide down to facilitate that shift there to play the next note,
which is A, [E] seventh fret of the D string.
And because of the pattern there, we need to be in that kind of position.
So that's the first
bar on the fourth beat, the fourth [D] bar.
[Db] [B] Then we've got a two bar pattern
for the A chord.
[E] Very [A] traditional
bluesy kind of pattern.
We're playing A,
[Em] G, seventh and fifth fret of the D string, E,
seventh fret of the A string and C sharp, fourth fret of the A string.
Then low A, fifth fret of the E string or the open A,
C sharp and E, fourth and seventh of the A string again.
And then A,
again, either fifth fret of the E string or you could play the open A.
I play the fifth fret of the E string.
Then we've got two more bars we're going to [Ab] play.
[Gb] [E] That's the next phrase, which is B, [Am] A,
[Ab] G sharp, [Abm] F sharp.
B, this time we're fretting at the fourth [A] fret of the G string.
A, G sharp, F sharp, seven, six and four of the D string.
So you've got to go from,
let's do the two bars of A,
[B]
and then you've got to get up to the, you've got to get that jump from that A
to B there
[Bb] [Ab] and play that pattern we just talked about.
And then the final bar we're going to play, E,
G sharp, B,
G sharp,
seventh fret of the A string for E, six and [G] nine, four of the D string for [E] G sharp and [N] B.
Back to G sharp.
And then the second verse, we play the first downbeat,
which is E at the seventh fret of the A string again.
Now the thing to notice here is
when you listen to the original recording, the original recording was done on double bass, that downbeat,
which if you played it in kind of a contemporary tune would be a stab.
So [E] you'd give it [N] an accent.
But if you listen to the original recording, it's not an accent.
So it's very [Bm] important
[Am] to get [Abm] the two bar pattern that leads up to it and you get that E
[E] [Abm] to have the same dynamic as the rest of the piece you just played.
You'll get accents into the song from the guitar stabs that come in, the D and E, those two that come in.
[G] And repeated twice before you come back in again.
So that
E on the [Ab] downbeat is the only difference between verse one [E] and verses two, three and four.
So you play on verse two, you play and then you get the guitars, ba-dow,
ba-dow, then you get one, two, three, four.
[D] [Db] [A]
[Em] And you'll be into the same pattern again.
So
that's the main verse [A] pattern.
The next thing we need to look at [N] is
there's a variation, very simple variation for the guitar solo.
So that's the next section we need to go look at.
So let's go check that out.
[E]
[Em] [E]
[A]
[B] [A]
[Ab] [Gb] [E]
Just heard the guitar solo with the backing track.
Very simple, slight variations, but very simple.
First four bars,
we're just going to play this pattern four times,
which is E, G-sharp, B, C-sharp, E, G-sharp, [Db] B, C-sharp, E,
G-sharp, B, C-sharp.
[Ab] E7th fret of the A string, [E] 6 and 9 for G-sharp and B of the [Dbm] D string, 6 of the G string for C.
[Ab] Then we're [E] going to play
this [Eb]
Key:
E
A
Db
D
B
E
A
Db
_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Hey, it's Paul from howtoplaybass.com. This is another in my series of tutorials for beginners.
This is the Elvis tune Heartbreak Hotel.
Fairly straightforward tune,
ideal for beginners because predominantly we've got a quarter note pulse in the bass line.
There is a bar in each verse where we've got to play a bar of swing eighth notes,
but essentially it's a quarter note pulse all the way through and then there's the last two bars.
We've got a little run where the pulse changes to the straight eighth note, the underlying pulse.
And then we go back to swing eighth note.
So that's a little tricky thing you have to watch out for at the end that might catch you out.
But other than that, it's
very straightforward,
ideal for beginners to start putting their left and right hands together,
working in practice on a real world bass line.
If that's the kind of practice you want to aspire to do,
click the link.
It's underneath the video and head over to the page that that will take you to.
I've got a course which does exactly that, teaches you basic left and right hand technique and applies that information in the context of a series
of progressively more complex songs or hard, more difficult songs, which range from
simple rock [Fm] and roll songs, simple rock songs, [E] right through to some quite up-tempo eighth note tunes at the end.
So go [N] and check that out if that would be of interest to you.
_ And we'll get on with the lesson and we'll look at the first verse of
Heartbreak Hotel. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [Db] _
_ [A] _ _ [G] _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ [Abm] _ _
[Gb] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ So _ _ you just saw the two verses, the first two verses being played along with the backing track.
The main difference is the first verse, we don't come in on the downbeat and we don't come in to bar four with this
[D] _ [Db] _ with [Abm] that run and on the second, third and fourth verses, we play an E on the downbeat.
We'll come to that in a second.
So we start on the, as I just said, on the fourth [E] verse.
[D] _ _ [Db] _ _ [B] _
We're going to play a [E] swing eighth note feel.
We've got
two Es, [C] the ninth fret of the [D] G string,
two Ds, [E] seventh fret of the G [Db] string,
_ three C sharps, the sixth [B] fret of the G string.
[F] Slide down to the fourth fret, one B, fourth fret of the G string.
[E] _ [D] _ _ [Db] _ _ [B]
[A] And you slide down to facilitate that shift there to play the next note,
which is A, [E] seventh fret of the D string.
And because of the pattern there, we need to be in that kind of position.
So that's the first
bar on the fourth beat, the fourth [D] bar.
_ [Db] _ _ [B] Then we've got a two bar pattern
_ for the A chord. _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] Very [A] traditional
bluesy kind of pattern.
We're playing A,
_ [Em] G, seventh and fifth fret of the D string, E,
seventh fret of the A string and C sharp, fourth fret of the A string.
Then low A, fifth fret of the E string or the open A,
C sharp and E, fourth and seventh of the A string again.
And then A,
again, either fifth fret of the E string or you could play the open A.
I play the fifth fret of the E string.
Then we've got two more bars we're going to [Ab] play. _ _
_ [Gb] _ [E] That's the next phrase, which is B, [Am] A,
[Ab] G sharp, [Abm] F sharp.
B, this time we're fretting at the fourth [A] fret of the G string.
A, G sharp, F sharp, seven, six and four of the D string.
So you've got to go from,
let's do the two bars of A, _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
and then you've got to get up to the, you've got to get that jump from that A
to B there
[Bb] _ _ [Ab] and play that pattern we just talked about.
And then the final bar we're going to play, E,
G sharp, B,
G sharp,
seventh fret of the A string for E, six and [G] nine, four of the D string for [E] G sharp and [N] B.
Back to G sharp.
And then the second verse, we play the first downbeat,
which is E at the seventh fret of the A string again.
Now the thing to notice here is
_ when you listen to the original recording, the original recording was done on double bass, that downbeat, _
which if you played it in kind of a contemporary tune would be a stab.
So [E] you'd give it [N] an accent.
But if you listen to the original recording, it's not an accent.
So it's very [Bm] important _
[Am] to get [Abm] the two bar pattern that leads up to it and you get that E
_ [E] [Abm] to have the same dynamic as the rest of the piece you just played.
You'll get accents into the song from the guitar stabs that come in, the D and E, those two that come in.
[G] _ And repeated twice before you come back in again.
So that
_ E on the [Ab] downbeat is the only difference between verse one [E] and verses two, three and four.
So you play on verse two, you play and then you get the guitars, ba-dow,
_ _ _ ba-dow, then you get one, two, three, four.
[D] _ [Db] _ _ _ [A] _
[Em] _ And you'll be into the same pattern again.
So _
that's the main verse [A] pattern.
_ The next thing we need to look at [N] is
there's a variation, very simple variation for the guitar solo.
So that's the next section we need to go look at.
So let's go check that out.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ [Em] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [A] _
[Ab] _ [Gb] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Just heard the guitar solo with the backing track.
Very simple, slight variations, but very simple.
First four bars,
we're just going to play this pattern four times, _
which is E, G-sharp, B, C-sharp, E, G-sharp, [Db] B, C-sharp, E,
G-sharp, B, C-sharp.
[Ab] _ E7th fret of the A string, [E] 6 and 9 for G-sharp and B of the [Dbm] D string, 6 of the G string for C.
[Ab] Then we're [E] going to play
_ this [Eb] _
Hey, it's Paul from howtoplaybass.com. This is another in my series of tutorials for beginners.
This is the Elvis tune Heartbreak Hotel.
Fairly straightforward tune,
ideal for beginners because predominantly we've got a quarter note pulse in the bass line.
There is a bar in each verse where we've got to play a bar of swing eighth notes,
but essentially it's a quarter note pulse all the way through and then there's the last two bars.
We've got a little run where the pulse changes to the straight eighth note, the underlying pulse.
And then we go back to swing eighth note.
So that's a little tricky thing you have to watch out for at the end that might catch you out.
But other than that, it's
very straightforward,
ideal for beginners to start putting their left and right hands together,
working in practice on a real world bass line.
If that's the kind of practice you want to aspire to do,
click the link.
It's underneath the video and head over to the page that that will take you to.
I've got a course which does exactly that, teaches you basic left and right hand technique and applies that information in the context of a series
of progressively more complex songs or hard, more difficult songs, which range from
simple rock [Fm] and roll songs, simple rock songs, [E] right through to some quite up-tempo eighth note tunes at the end.
So go [N] and check that out if that would be of interest to you.
_ And we'll get on with the lesson and we'll look at the first verse of
Heartbreak Hotel. _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [Db] _
_ [A] _ _ [G] _ [E] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ [Abm] _ _
[Gb] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
_ _ [E] _ _ _ So _ _ you just saw the two verses, the first two verses being played along with the backing track.
The main difference is the first verse, we don't come in on the downbeat and we don't come in to bar four with this
[D] _ [Db] _ with [Abm] that run and on the second, third and fourth verses, we play an E on the downbeat.
We'll come to that in a second.
So we start on the, as I just said, on the fourth [E] verse.
[D] _ _ [Db] _ _ [B] _
We're going to play a [E] swing eighth note feel.
We've got
two Es, [C] the ninth fret of the [D] G string,
two Ds, [E] seventh fret of the G [Db] string,
_ three C sharps, the sixth [B] fret of the G string.
[F] Slide down to the fourth fret, one B, fourth fret of the G string.
[E] _ [D] _ _ [Db] _ _ [B]
[A] And you slide down to facilitate that shift there to play the next note,
which is A, [E] seventh fret of the D string.
And because of the pattern there, we need to be in that kind of position.
So that's the first
bar on the fourth beat, the fourth [D] bar.
_ [Db] _ _ [B] Then we've got a two bar pattern
_ for the A chord. _ _
_ _ _ _ [E] Very [A] traditional
bluesy kind of pattern.
We're playing A,
_ [Em] G, seventh and fifth fret of the D string, E,
seventh fret of the A string and C sharp, fourth fret of the A string.
Then low A, fifth fret of the E string or the open A,
C sharp and E, fourth and seventh of the A string again.
And then A,
again, either fifth fret of the E string or you could play the open A.
I play the fifth fret of the E string.
Then we've got two more bars we're going to [Ab] play. _ _
_ [Gb] _ [E] That's the next phrase, which is B, [Am] A,
[Ab] G sharp, [Abm] F sharp.
B, this time we're fretting at the fourth [A] fret of the G string.
A, G sharp, F sharp, seven, six and four of the D string.
So you've got to go from,
let's do the two bars of A, _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _
and then you've got to get up to the, you've got to get that jump from that A
to B there
[Bb] _ _ [Ab] and play that pattern we just talked about.
And then the final bar we're going to play, E,
G sharp, B,
G sharp,
seventh fret of the A string for E, six and [G] nine, four of the D string for [E] G sharp and [N] B.
Back to G sharp.
And then the second verse, we play the first downbeat,
which is E at the seventh fret of the A string again.
Now the thing to notice here is
_ when you listen to the original recording, the original recording was done on double bass, that downbeat, _
which if you played it in kind of a contemporary tune would be a stab.
So [E] you'd give it [N] an accent.
But if you listen to the original recording, it's not an accent.
So it's very [Bm] important _
[Am] to get [Abm] the two bar pattern that leads up to it and you get that E
_ [E] [Abm] to have the same dynamic as the rest of the piece you just played.
You'll get accents into the song from the guitar stabs that come in, the D and E, those two that come in.
[G] _ And repeated twice before you come back in again.
So that
_ E on the [Ab] downbeat is the only difference between verse one [E] and verses two, three and four.
So you play on verse two, you play and then you get the guitars, ba-dow,
_ _ _ ba-dow, then you get one, two, three, four.
[D] _ [Db] _ _ _ [A] _
[Em] _ And you'll be into the same pattern again.
So _
that's the main verse [A] pattern.
_ The next thing we need to look at [N] is
there's a variation, very simple variation for the guitar solo.
So that's the next section we need to go look at.
So let's go check that out.
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ [Em] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ [A] _
[Ab] _ [Gb] _ [E] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Just heard the guitar solo with the backing track.
Very simple, slight variations, but very simple.
First four bars,
we're just going to play this pattern four times, _
which is E, G-sharp, B, C-sharp, E, G-sharp, [Db] B, C-sharp, E,
G-sharp, B, C-sharp.
[Ab] _ E7th fret of the A string, [E] 6 and 9 for G-sharp and B of the [Dbm] D string, 6 of the G string for C.
[Ab] Then we're [E] going to play
_ this [Eb] _