Bass note

{{Short description|Lowest note of a chord}}

File:Bass Note.png {{audio|Major triad on C.mid|Play}}. The bass note of the triad is also the root of the triad in this scenario; but this is not always the case with triads, such as in the case of inverted triads.]]

File:Ab-over-A slash chord.png{{More citations needed|date=April 2025}}

In music theory, the bass note of a chord or sonority is the lowest note played or notated.{{Cite web |title=Meaning of bass note in English |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/bass-note}} If there are multiple voices it is the note played or notated in the lowest voice (the note furthest in the bass.)

Three situations are possible:

1. The bass note is the root or fundamental of the chord. The chord is in root position.
2. One of the other pitches of the chord is in the bass. This makes it an inverted chord
3. 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.

Image:Bass note examples.png close position (C), open position (C), first inversion (E), second inversion (G), and cluster on C (C). {{audio|Bass note examples.mid|Play}}]]

In pre-tonal theory (Early music), 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.{{Cite web |date=2016-03-08 |title=What's The Difference Between A Root Note And A Bass Note? |url=https://www.hearandplay.com/main/whats-difference-root-note-bass-note |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=Hear and Play Music Learning Center |language=en-US}}

File:Leading-tone triad and secondary leading-tone triad in Chorale Gotte der Vater, wohn' uns bei colored roots and bass.png