Bass Guitar Notes

The electric bass holds up almost all modern music: it is the bridge between rhythm and harmony. And it gives you a head start when you learn its notes, because, like the guitar, it has frets: each note sits in a definite place. Here are its four strings, how frets work, why the same note appears in several places, and how tablature works. It helps whether you read standard notation or not.

The four strings: E, A, D, G

A standard bass has four strings, and these four "open" notes (with no fret pressed) are the basis of everything else. As on the guitar, they are numbered the opposite way from what you might expect: the 1st string is the thinnest and highest (the one nearest the floor as you play), and the 4th is the thickest and lowest (nearest your face).

Pitches on this page are sounding pitches in scientific pitch notation (C4 is middle C). The Spanish-speaking world calls these notes Mi, La, Re, Sol (the fixed-do solfège names): E, A, D, G.

Between one string and the next there is always a perfect 4th: from E to A, from A to D, from D to G. There are no exceptions here, which is a clear difference from the guitar, whose tuning has a major 3rd between two of its strings. This regular pattern of 4ths means that scales and arpeggios always "fall" the same way under the hand, wherever you start.

Does it sound familiar? These are exactly the four lowest strings of the guitar (E, A, D, G), but an octave lower. That is why it feels so natural for a guitarist to pick up a bass. To tune it, the easiest way is a bass tuner that gives you each string. Keep in mind that the lowest string, E1 (41.2 Hz), is very close to the lowest pitch the online tuner can follow (about 40 Hz), so bring the microphone close and pluck firmly. By ear, pressing the 5th fret of a string should sound the same as the next string open (on all four, because they are all tuned in 4ths).

How frets work: one half step each

The neck of the bass is divided by frets (the metal bars). When you press a string just behind a fret, you shorten the part that vibrates and the note goes up. It goes up in a very orderly way: each fret is one half step (UK: semitone).

That turns the neck into a kind of ruler of notes. If the open 4th string is E1:

• Fret 1 → F1 (one half step higher)
• Fret 2 → F♯1
• Fret 3 → G1
• … and so on, one half step per fret.

Since an octave is twelve half steps, at fret 12 you hear the same note as the open string, an octave higher. That is why fret 12 usually has a double marker: it is the point where the neck "repeats".

Read it as the bass in playing position: the 4th string (the thickest and lowest) on top and the 1st at the bottom. Each fret raises the pitch by a half step, so at fret 12 the open-string note returns an octave higher, which is why that column is marked. The frets with a dot (3, 5, 7, 9 and 12) are the ones with markers on the neck. Sharp notes show their flat equivalent below: F♯ and G♭ are the same key, only the spelling changes. This is what sounds; on the score the bass is written an octave higher.

Position markers: the dots on the fingerboard

You will have noticed dots (sometimes diamonds or blocks) set into the wood of the fingerboard, always at frets 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12 (and higher up at 15, 17, 19 and 21). They are position markers: they do not change the sound. They are a visual guide so your hand can find a fret at a glance without counting bars one by one. The marker at fret 12 is double (or larger) because it marks the octave, the point where the neck repeats. It is the same system on the bass, the guitar and almost any fretted instrument.

There is also the fretless bass: the same neck, but smooth, with no bars. It sounds more singing (cantabile) and allows glissandos and vibrato like the double bass, at the price that your ear, not the fret, decides the pitch.

Try it: the bass diagram

Pick a note and the diagram marks it on a real photo of the neck and on a drawn fingerboard, writes it in tablature and on the staff, and plays it. It runs from the open 4th string (E1) to fret 12 of the 1st string (G3). Because one note lives in several places on the bass, the diagram lights up all of them at once. To tune, use the bass tuner.

Tablature: playing the bass without reading standard notation

The bass shares with the guitar a notation system of its own that needs no music reading: tablature (or "tab"). It is a direct drawing of the neck. There are four lines, one per string, but upside down compared with the staff (UK: stave): the top line is the 1st string (G) and the bottom line is the 4th (low E).

G │─────────│   ← 1st string (G)
D │─────────│
A │──0──3───│
E │─────────│   ← 4th string (low E)

The number written on a line says which fret to press on that string; a 0 means play it open. The example above plays the open A string (A1) and then fret 3 of the same string (C2). Tab tells you where to put your fingers but not the rhythm, so it is best read together with standard notation, which does show the note values.

Why the same note is on several strings

If you look at the chart you will see that almost any note appears in more than one place. A2, for example, can be played in three ways:

• Fret 2 of the 1st string (G).
• Fret 7 of the 2nd string (D).
• Fret 12 of the 3rd string (A).

It is the same pitch, the same note, and yet it does not sound exactly the same: open or at a low fret the string sounds more open and bright; on a thicker string at a high fret it sounds rounder and fuller. This happens because the four strings overlap: each starts on a different note, so their ranges cross.

So which one does a bass player use? There is no fixed answer. It depends on:

• The hand position: you choose the spot that is closest to what you play before and after. On the bass, staying "in a position" instead of jumping around is the key to rhythmic solidity.
• The tone color: a thick string at a high fret sounds fatter; a thin string at a low fret sounds more defined.
• Comfort: in a fast line, the nearest fingering wins.

Choosing where to play a note is therefore both a musical and a fingering decision.

Why the bass "sounds lower" than it reads

The electric bass is an octave-transposing instrument, like the double bass. It is written in bass clef, but it sounds an octave lower than it appears on the page. That is why its clef sometimes carries a small 8 below (octave bass clef).

Why is it done this way? Because the bass is a very low instrument: if it were written at its real pitch, its lowest notes would fall so far below the staff that you would need a pile of ledger lines. Writing everything an octave higher makes it comfortable to read. It is the same reason why the open 4th string, which sounds E1, is written as E2.

The role of the bass and its family

The bass belongs to the plucked strings: the strings are not rubbed with a bow but plucked with the fingers or a pick. Its job is the harmonic foundation: it marks the root of each chord and, together with the drums, defines the groove. That is why it has its own recognizable techniques, such as slap (striking and pulling the string, typical of funk).

Its direct acoustic relative is the double bass, with the same tuning in 4ths and the same octave transposition. It also belongs to the family of the guitar, the electric guitar, the ukulele and the harp.

What about the five-string bass?

More and more bass players, especially in metal, gospel, modern jazz and contemporary church music, use a five-string bass. The fifth is a lower string added below the 4th: a low B0, so the tuning becomes B0 · E1 · A1 · D2 · G2, still in the same pattern of 4ths.

What is it for? Two reasons:

• It extends the low register: it adds five half steps below the low E, down to B0 (about 31 Hz), notes a four-string bass cannot reach.
• It avoids position shifts, which in practice is almost the more useful part: with the low B within reach, many lines that would force you to jump position can be played without moving the hand, by crossing to the fifth string.

One practical warning: B0 (30.9 Hz) is below the range of the online bass tuner, so it cannot read that string directly. Tune it by ear, or with the harmonic at the 12th fret, which sounds B1.

There is also a six-string bass, which adds a high string as well (a C, above the G) to gain range at the top. In all of them, the logic of the frets and of the repeated notes is exactly the same as you have just seen.

Common mistakes when learning bass notes

• Numbering the strings backwards. The 1st is the thinnest (G), not the thickest. The 4th is the thick one (low E).
• Believing the bass sounds as it reads. It sounds an octave below what is written; it is an octave-transposing instrument.
• Thinking each note is in only one place. Almost all are in several, with different color and comfort.
• Mixing up its tuning with the guitar's. The four low strings coincide, but the bass sounds an octave lower and is tuned in 4ths without the major-3rd exception of the guitar.

Summary

• The electric bass has four strings (E1, A1, D2, G2) tuned all in perfect 4ths.
• They are the four low strings of the guitar, an octave lower.
• It has frets (each one a half step); there is also the fretless bass.
• The same note appears on several strings, each with its own color.
• It is read in bass clef and sounds an octave lower than written.