Bass Fretboard Layout

Understanding the fretboard on a bass will improve your playing and understanding of how western music is represented between the strings and frets. Learning how notes are laid out on each string is simple. The following rules will help you unlock the mystery of the fretboard.

Strings

All of the strings on the bass are tuned in perfect 4ths. This tuning allows for good position playing with the 4 fingers of the fretted hand.

• Strings - Lowest to Highest

• 4th String - E
• 3rd String - A
• 2nd String - D
• 1st String - G

Notes on a String

Starting from the open string pitch, notes are added to the fretboard following standard western music guidelines. Each string is self contained in it's note placement and ultimately creates duplicate pitches. This is very different than an instrument such as a piano. For example, you can only play middle C one place on the entire piano keyboard. On the bass you can play middle C on three different strings. You might initially think that the duplication of notes can be confusing. In reality this allows stringed instruments a huge advantage over other instruments. Patterns and shapes played in one area of the fretboard can easily be slid or transposed to another area of the fretboard changing keys on the fly. This allows the player to learn something once and be able to play that musical snippet in all keys of western music without having to physically adjust for sharps or flats.

1. Note Placement Rules

2. Western Music is comprised of the following pitches. A B C D E F G
3. The pitches are cyclical and repeat higher and lower until we physically can't hear them as they go out of hearing range.
4. All pitches have a space between them except for B C and E F. (Look at the fretboard diagram and notice how B C and E F are always right next to each other. All other pitches have a 1 fret space between them.)
5. The frets that have been skipped to make the space between the non B C and E F pitches are called accidentals.
6. Accidentals are knows as sharps and flats depending on the key you are playing in.
7. To sharp a note you move 1 fret higher in pitch (this is actually down on the diagram)
8. To flat a note you move 1 fret lower in pitch (this is actually up on the diagram)
9. Example: On the 4th String (E), 2nd fret; that fret is in between F and G. To name that pitch it would either be F# (raised) or Gb (lowerd) depending on the key you are playing on. Because that 2nd fret pitch can possibly have 2 names, this is called an enharmonic tone or equivalant. Learning more about music theory will help to clarify this concept.