"Don't worry about the chord root, the bass will play that"

[jesserules]

Well ... I seem to have misplaced my bass player. I looked behind the couch and everything .... oh wait - I don't have a bass player!

So - does that mean I do have to play the root when I play chordal accompaniments? Or will it still make musical sense if I leave it out?

In general, what type of chords can (or should) I play when my mandolin is the only backup instrument?

[John Ritchhart]

Like everything else....no one answer will cover it. I like full open chords when playing alone or with only a guitar buddy. Chop when you have a bass player to keep the downbeat.

[farmerjones]

Mandolin isn't even in the same register as a bass, so you'd be playing the root above the bass anyway. Now, if a guitar is providing the bass line you could go rootless, it's your choice.

Comping vocals, I'd try to stay in the lower registers. Incorporating 9th and 11th, something does have to give, when one runs out of fingers.

Disclaimer: ima simple soul. I just play, I don't teach.

[EdHanrahan]

....no one answer will cover it.

Bingo!

Based on the tonality of the music, the expected chord often (usually?) persists in the listener's head & ears even it's not actually being played.

Think of the many (mostly rock, jazz?) songs that stop the instruments completely for a moment (bar, line, or maybe several) while the singer continues with the melody. The song doesn't fall apart, and the listeners "hear" whatever chord would have been under that melody. Even the melody itself usually contains many or most of the chord notes.

So if a whole chord can safely be left out on occasion, certainly some notes within that chord are fair game.

But maybe not always!

[Jeroen]

(Important comment there on the awkwardness of chopping without a solid downbeat (and a driving banjo) by jbrwky that needs a good thread of it's own.)

On topic: The music will usually sound less solid and grounded without a prominent root in the accompaniment. However, you can use it well for exactly that effect.

[Bertram Henze]

The root is overrated.

[mandroid]

The guitar strummer covers the I IV V . Harmonize the melody with the 3rd and 5th as the ii, iii ,vi & 7th go by.

[Beanzy]

What style of music are we discussing?

[EdHanrahan]

What style of music are we discussing?

I don't think it makes a difference, providing that the style allows for some "player interpretation" of how to present it. I think that means anything other than classical, but other opinions may vary.

What prodded me to respond was remembering that the standard BG "chop D" chord (7-4-5-2) and the even more common 3-finger open C (5-2-3-0, same formation) both utilize only two notes of the chord: the root and third (each played in octaves). So if we routinely leave one note out of a chord, I don't see a great sin in leaving out a different note ... in some or maybe many situations. But that's just me!

[greg_tsam]

The root note is implied on the mandolin in most cases when playing in a group.