Music theory Your instrument
Bass guitar
How the bass guitar works, its E1 A1 D2 G2 tuning, bass clef reading an octave high, and its job in a band.
Practise this on its own page: Tuner, Metronome.
How the bass guitar makes sound
An electric bass guitar is quiet on its own. Pickups under the strings turn the string vibrations into an electrical signal, which goes to an amplifier and speaker.
You can play it with your fingers, your thumb or a pick. Most basses have frets, but fretless basses also exist.
Strings and tuning
The most common bass has four strings, tuned E1, A1, D2 and G2 from lowest to highest. They are tuned a perfect 4th apart.
This is the same tuning as a four-string double bass, and one octave below the four lowest strings of a guitar. Five-string basses usually add a low B (B0) below the E string.
| String | Note |
|---|---|
| 4 (thickest) | E1 |
| 3 | A1 |
| 2 | D2 |
| 1 (thinnest) | G2 |
How bass music is written
Bass guitar music is written in the bass clef, one octave higher than it sounds. Writing it this way avoids lots of ledger lines below the stave.
So when you read the A on the top line of the bass stave (A3), the sound you hear is A2.
The bass player's job
In most bands the bass anchors the harmony and helps set the beat, working closely with the drums. Since the 1960s it has largely replaced the double bass in popular music.
A useful first step in theory is to learn the root, 3rd and 5th of each chord, so you can build simple bass lines from chord symbols.
Practice tips
General tips teachers often give:
- Practise with a metronome or a drum loop, because steady timing is the heart of bass playing.
- Start slowly and make every note clean and even before speeding up.
- Learn where the root notes of common chords are on the E and A strings first.