[solo saxophone plays] (tesar) if i'm playing with a group, i have to coordinate certain elements ofarmonic accompaniment with other players particularly the bass player. he and i have got to be in agreement. (man) the main function of the bass is to play the bottom note of the chord. that's pretty much what you're hired for. that's your function. that's your responsibility. outside of that, you can play other notes in the chord, for instance, the piano player or the guitar player is playing a g chord. the root of that chord is a g note. now other notes in the g chord would be the g and the b or the third, moving up to the fifth, which is d, and then, in the octave, another g at the top. you can use those notes to create an interesting line, you know, that's the first-- those are the most common tones, the most inside notes to play that will agree with what the piano player is playing. oh, let's try that again. yeah, right. (tesar) after we agree on the basic harmony, we can still shape each individual chord a little bit differently. the page may call for e minor, 7, a-7, d major, 7,