Bass Lesson. Part 1 - Preliminaries

This is the first in a series of lessons whose focus is on constructing bass lines. The main series of lessons presumes a small but nonzero amount of musical knowledge on the part of the listener; mostly some things about notes and time. It also presumes you know how to read TAB. This pre-lesson is designed to teach that knowledge to anyone who doesn't already have it.

If you know how to find a C# on your bass, know what a quarter note rest is, and can read TAB, then you can skip the rest of this and move on to Lesson 1. If not, or if the review will do you good, then read on!

A piece of music is composed of a series of notes. These notes are organized into sets of 12 notes called octaves, and each of these 12 notes has a name. If you sit down at a piano, you'll see that it has 88 keys, 52 white and 36 black, and that each of these keys produces a different note. The white keys all have one-letter names; the first one on the left (lowest note) is called A, the next one up is B, and so on. The seventh white key is called G, and the next white key, the eighth, is also called A; it begins the second octave. The ninth white key is B, the tenth C, and so on, until the 52nd and last white note, which is a C.

The black keys are named by their relation to the nearest two white keys, so each one has two names. First, they may be called "sharp", with the name of the white key below them: eg, the lowest black key is called A sharp, as it's immediately above A. There is no black key immediately above B; the second black note is C#, and so on up the keyboard. Second, black keys may also be called "flat", with the name of the white key above them: thus, the lowest black note can also be thought of as B flat, since it's immediately below the B. Similarly, the black key between D and E can be called either D sharp or E flat. For now, you can treat the two names as interchangable.

An octave runs from A to G#, 12 notes (7 white keys and 5 black keys) and then the names repeat for the next octave. Actually, the starting point doesn't matter: any 12 notes in a row (which will always contain 7 white keys and 5 black keys) are called an octave. The strings of a bass are tuned to produce the 4 notes E, A, D, and G (from thickest string to thinnest). Thus, if you play an E on the piano, and the open E string on your bass, you'll get the same note (if you choose the right octave on the piano, that is). Moving up one fret on the string produces the next highest note. That is, the open A string produces an A note (hence the name). Fingered at the first fret, it produces an A sharp, or B flat. Second fret produces a B. Third fret produces C (since there is no black key above B), fourth fret C sharp, and fifth fret produces D, the same note as the open D-string. And so on up the fingerboard. With this knowledge, you should be able to find two or three versions of each note on your bass. For example, you can get an F at the 1st fret of the E string, at the 3rd fret of the D string, at the 8th fret of the A string, and at the 10th fret of the G string. (The 3rd-D note and the 8th-A note are in the same octave: the 1st-E note is one octave below and the 10th-G note is one octave above. ) Make sure you can find any given note somewhere on your bass without too much effort, and that you know the names of the notes produced by playing a given string at a given fret, at least up to the 12th fret.

The next thing to mention is the way songs are arranged in time. Songs are divided into measures: a common song length is about 100 measures. Each measure is a certain number of beats long: in almost all modern music there are four beats to each measure, although other length measures are also used. Each note in the song has a given duration, and a note that lasts for four beats is called a whole note. A note that lasts for two beats is called a half note, and two half notes are the same length as one whole note. Similarly, there are quarter notes, eighth notes, and sixteenth notes. (In England these notes have different names. I'll be sticking to American usage throughout this lesson series). Each quarter note receives one beat, and the quarter note is the basic building block of time and of rhythm. Eight eighth notes make up a four-beat measure, as you can see, as do four quarter notes and 16 sixteenth notes. Measures can contain notes of different lengths, so that a quarter note, a half note, and two eighth notes also make up one measure.

Other time durations can be written by "dotting" a note: in standard notation, one literally writes a dot next to the note. Dotting a note makes it last half again as long as it normally would. Thus, a quarter note lasts as long as two 8th notes: a dotted quarter note is 50% longer, so it lasts as long as three eighth notes. Thus, two quarter notes have the same length as a dotted quarter note and an eighth note. Similarly, a dotted half note lasts for the same amount of time as three quarter notes: a dotted half note and a quarter note together make up one measure.

The last thing to know is that rests, or times when the bass is not playing, are named the same way: thus, a whole rest means that the bass does not play for one measure. A quarter rest means that the bass does not play for one beat, and there are eighth rests and dotted half rests and so on.

One last note: in some jazz and classical music, a note other than the quarter note is given the one-beat length. Since almost all music is written with the quarter note getting one beat, I've assumed it is so throughout the lesson series. However, if you get into more difficult music, you may run into music where the half-note or the eighth-note is one "beat" long. My advice is not to worry about this until it comes up.

The last thing you need to know is how to read TAB. Bass tabulature, or TAB for short, is a simple method for writing bass music. There are several different versions of tabulature, but the following features are common to almost all of them.

Bass tab is written on four-line staves. In text interfaces these are usually written using dashed characters. Each space corresponds to one string on the bass: the lowest space corresponds to the E string, the next lowest to the A string, the next to the D string, and the highest to the G string. A number on a given space represents a note played at the given fret on the corresponding string; thus, to indicate playing a G at the third fret on the E string, one would write:

G------------------------------------
D------------------------------------
A------------------------------------
E----3-------------------------------

Notes are played from the left of the staff to the right; thus, an ascending G major scale might be written:

G------------------------------------
D-------------------2--4--5----------
A----------2--3--5-------------------
E----3--5----------------------------

Or, using open strings, it might be written like this:

G-------------------------0----------
D----------------0--2--4-------------
A-------0--2--3----------------------
E----3-------------------------------

Chords can be written by writing two numbers in the same vertical bar. Thus one might write a simple A major chord as:

G-----9------------------------------
D-----11-----------------------------
A-----0------------------------------
E------------------------------------

which means to play an open note on the A string, to play a C# at the 11th fret on the D string, and an E at the 9th fret on the G string. Various fingering techniques can be noted in TAB as well. This is done by writing a single character after the note being fingered. The most common of these are:

h - hammer-on from previous note
p - pull off from previous note
\ - slide up to note
b - bend note
S - slap the note with the right-hand thumb (left hand if left-handed)
P - pop the note with the right hand (ditto)
t - tap the note with the right hand (ditto)
H - harmonic

Thus a funky bass line might be written like this:

G---------5P-7h-5p-------------------
D------------------------3b----------
A---0S\5-----------3S-5S----5S-5H----
E------------------------------------

A muted note (one that is not fingered cleanly and makes a percussive sound rather than a clear tone) is written by placing an x on a line instead of a number:

G------------5--7--------------------
D------------------------------------
A---5--x--x--------5--x--5-----------
E------------------------------------

Similarly, a rest is indicated by writing an r on a line (any line will do):

G------------5--7--------------------
D------------------------------------
A---5--r--r--------5--r--5-----------
E------------------------------------

When it is not obvious which left-hand (right-hand to lefties) finger should be used to to fret a particular note, this may be indicated by writing a number under the note, with

1=index finger,
2=middle finger,
3=ring finger,
4=pinkie finger,
and rarely, 5-thumb:

G---------5--7--5--------------------
D------------------------------------
A---0--5-----------------------------
E------------------------------------     
	1  1     3

It is becoming popular to indicate time in TAB by writing over each note a letter indicating the time value of the note: s=sixteenth note, e=eighth note, q=quarter note, h=half note, w=whole note. It is possible to add dots to this system as is done with normal notes. In addition, vertical bars are usually used to indicate measure breaks. TAB noted this way might look like this:

    w   q  s  s  e  q  h   q. e  e  e  s  s  e   h
G-----|----5--7--5-------|-------------5--7--7-|----
D-----|------------------|-3--3--5--7----------|----
A---0-|-5-----------8--5-|---------------------|-5--
E-----|------------------|---------------------|----

Comments

[Chunkysoup85]

This lesson would be better if it actually existed. My idea of a lesson is not two advertisements.

[Chunkysoup85]

This lesson would be better if it actually existed. My idea of a lesson is not two advertisements.

[Zubject Unknown]

ROFL your right about that

[MadHatter8333]

hahahaha thats sick

[GRIM ROCKER]

WELL IT CETAINLY COVERS THE BASICS!IT WAS SO LONG I WORKED UP SWEAT READING IT!CHRIST!

[LifeIsACurse]

an octive is 12 notes including the sharps and flats so yes it is 12 notes btu if you dont include the sharps and flats then it is in fact only 8

[Oswald]

Wrong. An octave on a Guitar containes 12 notes.

[nibor]

wats the difference bet tap and slap?

[nibor]

u slap wid ur thumb then pull with ur pointing finger, but i still duno wats the difference between slap and tap

[peterm]

Just to check that everyone is sure and octave (on any instrument, oswald) consists on 13 semitones and 8 tones i.e. when in the key of a major a,b,c#,d,e,f#,g#,a.

[peterm]

pantera rule :

[cherry pie]

wtf it makes no sense to me im just gonna learn the way i no

[SwAgG]

Yeah, me too! This shit is so complicated. All
I think I need to know is how to read basic tabs, and I'll be good from there. Of all the stuff on this page, the only thing that made sence to me, was when it was explaining about the / and the letters in the tabs.

[blackguy]

how do you slide up a note?

[ant1]

hello

[Basstribegurl26]

Do you really need to no all this stuff to even play? I just want to start playin a song. Isnt bass the easiest thing to play?

[hoboman]

i caught a bass fish once

[Sprinter]

Very well presented. Beginners out there, take the time to read this over again until you understand it. Take it slow. It's all in here. Yes, you can simply read the tab and play a song. But if you UNDERSTAND how the fretboard (neck of bass) comprises the notes, you'll go SO much further in your playing. When you're jamming with a group you don't know (the most enjoyable part of playing) the lead will say something like, "Just play a basic four count in C sharp." If you don't know where that scale is on the fretboard, you'll be out of luck. What the instructor is trying to show you here are the building blocks of bass music.

NOTE: If there is a forum moderator out there, it would do those who really want to learn bass well to delete all the worthless posts.

[krisbass]

thanks for the comments sprinter! something actually helpfull

[Bilzzard_of_Ozz]

an octave is 8 notes. not 12...

An Octave is 12 frets=8 notes.

[4evaroxn]

that bites it was alotta confusing!¡ syke no it was confusing but it helped, u didn't even give no diffinitions tho

[the_weird_one]

sum of the people here shud say better insults, like cock monger or shit stabber

[the_weird_one]

that lesson was ok but i dont need 2 no all of that in the preliminary!!!!

[MetalMessiah]

The Truth is fellows the word Octave is derived from the Greek root word Octo meaning eight as in Octopus(eight tentacles) or Octagon(geometric shape having eight sides) thus Octave(eight notes). Cheers

[alienfreak]

also it depends on whether ure playing a jazz scale or a classical scale or some weird demented 'i think i can play ascale but ill just do a few notes and see how it works out' scale!!!
and also:
music is meant to be enjoyed people! chill out and quit picking over each others mistakes! this is ADVICE time, not:'who can prove themselves to be the best at picking @ facts' time!
chill, and enjoy ure playing
"feel it dude"
xxx

[xDestinedx]

@_@ I already know most of this. . . but it still confused the hell out of me by the wording alone

[onenakfaplease]

ffs leave him alone all he did was write something in his own time to try and help others

[eetfuk]

so basicly he should have wrote an octave is 12 frets?

[LilDripsOfBlood]

Could this lesson get much more confusing if it tryed? And these posts are confusing, are there 8 notes to a octave or 7 or 12? If anyone has some useful advice please post back, if you just want to take the piss out of me, my name, my not knowing things then please *** off

[Vodd]

dude, im really grateful that somebody is willing to put in the time and effort to give lessons for bass players. Most of the stuff is aimed at rythm or lead guitar players so i am glad that somebody is catering for all the bassists out and about. Cheers dude, plz plz plz keep it up. LEEDS FESTIVAL NEXT WEEKEND!!!!

[Vodd]

P.S. I am going to take it that there are 12 notes in an octave if u include sharps n flats and shit like that. I understand the reasoning ppl give for there being 8 or 7 but im going to stick to my guns. Call it pigeons instinct

[redhot]

us r all dickheads y r u dissin this guy at least he took the time to actually rite us a lesson. us r all actin like stuck up lead guitarists bassist care for the music not the attitude.oh and an octave is 8 notes

[thestudios]

Since many of you are clearly a bunch of morons I have taken the liberty of providing you with the dictionary definition of an octave:


oc·tave ( P ) Pronunciation Key (ktv, -tv)
n.
Music.
The interval of eight diatonic degrees between two tones of the same name, the higher of which has twice as many vibrations per second as the lower.
A tone that is eight diatonic degrees above or below another given tone.
Two tones eight diatonic degrees apart that are sounded together.
The consonance that results when two tones eight diatonic degrees apart are sounded.
A series of tones included within this interval or the keys of an instrument that produce such a series.
An organ stop that produces tones an octave above those usually produced by the keys played.
The interval between any two frequencies having a ratio of 2 to 1.
Ecclesiastical.
The eighth day after a feast day, counting the feast day as one.
The entire period between a feast day and the eighth day following it.
A group or series of eight.

A group of eight lines of poetry, especially the first eight lines of a Petrarchan sonnet. Also called octet.
A poem or stanza containing eight lines.
Sports. A rotating parry in fencing.

As you can all clearly see, it is eight. Not seven.. Not twelve, but eight. for *** sakes, i learned that in my grade 6 music class.. Go to school you bums

[fcuk_you]

....bass \m/0_o \m/...thas all i have to say....but i do agree on one thing....thank u 4 taking time outta your life to right us poor beginners a lesson...and all u *** bags that r dissin this guy 4 doing u guys a favor are reely retarded...plus i bet u ppl couldnt do any better or r too lazy...

[cavcrazy13]

what should i learn how to play bass or guitar?

[Jruhamen]

"an octave has 7 notes, if you have a C and a C# thats a cromatism but the note has the same name, in fact it is the same note."

ur an idiot.

[reddywhenur]

this lesson is good for peeps that dont know the bass too well and the figgin idiots that screw this site over will pay big time!!!..think sprinter has a damn good of a point

[reddywhenur]

who likes AFI? any one? come on fools befor i go all technical on all of ya!!!..

[reddywhenur]

hey dnizzle u suck big time hey cavcrazy13 play as much bass as u can cause it will save u alot of money and stuff like that so f@#$ u dnizzle

[arnoldjr04]

why wouldn't you count c or whatever in a scale? and so is everyone saying that there are eight notes in a octave including the sharps and flats? or just the abcdefg?? you ***ers are ***in me up... im lost, but thanks to the guy who wrote this it's not his fault

[Blueballs]

there is a differance in playing a guitar/bass and being good at it. as I learned how to play horns and woodwind instraments in school learning how to read music and learning notes is very important to becoming a real good player and now in my 40's want to learn guitar and bass all I can say is this was a very good lesson and become good dont rely on tabs to get you through your playing .

[jimmyness]

I think you will find that this lesson can also be found at http://www.cyberfretbass.com/misc-wisdom/classic-lessons/0.html along with all the other Bass, Slapping and Tapping Lessons. This lesson was posted in 2003, whereas the linked lesson claims to have been written in 1993. It begs the question; who copied whom?

plus i bet u ppl couldnt do any better or r too lazy...

It also makes this comment a little ironic

[~*buffy_babe*~]

^ LMAO nice one. well the lesson helped me...a little...so it was good :P

[adrasteia]

um i no this has nothin 2 do with the lesson but i already play guitar and wanna learn bass. where do i start ?? cuz i no most of this note and octave stuff. ne1 recommend a certain lesson ?

[Misfit66]

shit lesson, the review would have done me good, but by tha time i finished, i forgot tha stuff at tha beggining!!!

[Taylor Rush]

i don't get it

[sjaan]

xonce things like ,,very confusing'' and ,, a load of crap'' have already been said, then I would like to add: as noble as your causes may be, don't write stuff if you're not sure of your facts 'cause people will believe things you say and regret it later!

[bass_newb37]

half of you guys have to shut the fuck up. no really.you do. this lesson is helpfull for noobs,and you should listen to this guy, he knows what he is talkin about you faqs

[bass_newb37]

sjaan you might as well be a 6 year old who thought this keyboard was a fuckin baby toy you asshole you contradicted yourself you hippacrite

[acousticbass]

i find this helpfull but im not sure how long to hold the notes anyone have any answers

[emorhys]

This was actually quite useful. Thanks for creating it.

[Gimmitz]

Thanks for this lesson and any that follow it. I ahve been playing bass for a few years now without any real knowledge of timing and scales.
Hope this helps!

[i like cheese]

phoar!!!!! i like it i like it a lot

[Carmencita_Jovi]

this is a bit dodgy - i play bass and my friend just got a bass yesterday and asked me how to play and i couldn't explain on msn so i sent em this this thinking it was easy - but it really sux if someones neva picked up a guitar before

[cxy_bass_emo]

can sum1 please tell me how to do the letters ive gotten confuzzled

[faile]

urm... boring... i guess if you were musically retarded or deaf this might have actually helped....

[BassGecko]

Hey! I've just started learning How to play bass and this was a great start for someone with limited musical knowledge. I have learnt heaps and am moving on to part two! YAY!

[Rambler]

I just started learning yesterday, February 16, 2006. I don't play any other instrument. What my buddy Doug taught me in ten minutes lines up nicely with what this lesson taught. Embrace what you understand and use it; keep your eyes and mind open to learn more about what you didn't understand. Simple. Unless you're depending on your bass playing to pay the bills, it only makes sense to have as much fun with this as possible. That's what I plan to do. Ope! Am I rambling again? Peace.

[Sepulnation]

Im confused! What are octaves? are they also called scales?

[Behfar]

this is a load of crap(the 'lesson'..just play the bass, make bass lines that sound good and enjoy

[wheetforbrains]

we need to have more of these basic lessons and more people who are new to bass really need to read and understand them. people on here are complaining about how they dont understand it, but if they dont understand these basics and a basic understanding of music, then bass lines they just make up that they think sound good mean nothing. youll get nowhere if you dont understand music.

thanks for the lesson

[misfitsphreek]

This is an awesome lesson! I think this helped me progress greatly in my playing ability...

[Efx_Bassist]

Very good, I don't see how you couldn't understand it, unless of course your an illterate troll. A good refresher from middle school

[Heartagram Man]

[BaSsCkiTyKaT]

I actually learned something here...i just started bass like 2 weeks ago and this all makes sense...

[Boobie469]

very helpful,lesson makes a alot of sense.Thanks UG Team!

[Boobie469]

very helpful lesson,makes a alot of sense.Thanks UG Team!

[UltimateNirvana]

thid is a cool lesson it helped alot! THANX!

[GrayFoxz]

neat i didnt noe the p or h or anything else till i read thru this...tho it had a lot of dignified words which wasnt really nessary, it helped me nevertheless

[br4vw]

very good lesson - the theory was a bit to take in but well written - cheers.

[kiwiblues4]

I thought it was pretty but me being a beginner wanted to get into the good stuff..keep up the good work....kiwiland NZ.

[kiwiblues4]

sorry pretty good it should read.

[stfu hommie]

if people are too incompotent to know what those words mean or are just too damn lazy to look them up so their just confused the whole time thats their problem. I found it helpful. Thanks for posting.

[mescal]

Great lesson although being bad at English i quiet understood everything very explicit indeed, well done.

Does someone has some exercise for increasing dex, i have no control of my pinkie =) Thank you

[lordgamblor]

G--12-9----10-9-----|----
-
D-----12-----12-10-11-12|
-9---10-9-----
A-----|---12---- 12-10----
E-----|-----etc.

to improve your dexterity, just play this using the one finger per fret rule, each time just go down one string and then when you have gotten to the E-string, start again but this time time one fret down, and do this until you get to the start of the fret board. and after you have gotten used to this excersise, repeat but speed up the further you go on, and in no time all your fingers will have great dexterity.

N.B. It is very important that you use the one finger per fret rule, that includes the pinky, NO CHEATING!!

N.B.B When speaking of up and down, im speaking of tones, not of physical space, when i say go down down the fretboard, thats the same as going further away from the body.

[lordgamblor]

G--12-9----10-9-----|----
-
D-----12-----12-10-11-12|
-9---10-9-----
A-----|---12---- 12-10----
E-----|-----etc.

[phool's gold]

keep up with the good work

[melissamaya]

yeah yeah whatever. bong og kau met eshan ah emin. enshe amamta yun aamerikano. taeyun emin.

[Flea909]

Thanks It Rocked\Helped!

[LinkinPark90]

Great lesson! I've been playing tabs for a long time and it's never made sense...now all the strings actually make sense to me...I'm still a bit confused on how the whole measure thing works out, but I'll get it with time I suppose.

[AzH2OWKS]

thanks for lesson 1!!!! learned alot- can't wait to play a gig!! mac

[Slip_It_Back]

Found a pretty good site with lots of bass basics. It's written real clear too. http://www.studybass.com/lessons/basics/about-music-theory/

[Hezro77]

I think this helped alot.I personally liked how it was so wordy (if that is infact a word).Its like that so u don't have to ask him or her all kinds of dumb questions.I mean its not like they are sitting right beside u actually showing u how to play.Anyway,Great lesson dude,keep it up!

[lineman62]

To all u idiots that think this is a bad lesson:
Without this basic knowledge of music, all you are making is noise. If u ever wanna be a good bass player you gotta learn this stuff. tabs can only get you so far. I play the french horn and trombone so i already know most of this, but it would be really helpful for beginers.

[pacmandemon]

Im Gonna Kill This Guy if I get this Wrong for Tomorrow.
I Was Trying my Hardest to Find Tabs to Chords Converter. So I Though F' it. I'll try this. & I Found Basics.
If ANYONE knows Tell me NOW!
E-Mail me init

[LowEndFreQ]

Hey Guys, thanks for your help!
keep up the good work its much appreciated!
remember you cant please every one

[diarreah]

helpfull...but really ¢¤Nfú§¡ñ&!!!!

[silverscanlon]

Found it helpful tnx... =)

[moimoi]

im pretty new to music so im gonna try this stuff and see how i work out.....
thamx

[Kidnapped_one]

though it is a little confusing to a begginer such as my self, I am just grateful that someone else took time out of their busy lives just to write this and help out those of us who truly want to learn and not bitch about every little flaw.

[xboofoox]

.....well that was confusing...but i guess i need to learn it anyways. damnit!!!

[grungemoshin2k8]

i've done all them basic stuff i just started a five-string bass and i know it allready (plus i'm only 8 years old)

[MrRudi]

Since I already play the piano/keyboards I found the "basic" information giving in this lesson very useful. Seriously, any musician should have an interest in the real basics of music, whether you are performing or composing. As I am totally new to playing the bass (or any string instrument) the whole concept is confusing to me So yeah, this helped understand notation for bass, as well as keyboard to fretboard transition. Thanks!

[wolftrax84]

Good review of basic theory. Thanks UG.

[ravenouscabbage]

I just started playing and this explains a lot!
I think I can play piano now too! lol
thanx great lesson.

[AudioVampire]

I already played stand-up bass for three years and am trying to convert my knowledge using tabs ((Since I use First position, fourth finger on stand up)) and this helped me understand where things are on the bass a lot better so I don't have to just fumble until I find the right note.