Free Bass Guitar Lessons

Learning the Notes on a Bass Guitar Neck

You are ready to learn to play all those rocking jams on your bass guitar, but where do you start? Before you actually starting looking for the notes on the neck itself, you should know a thing or two about fretting.

Fretting is the way you hold your fingers down on the strings themselves to play a note. Use the proper left-hand placement and press your finger down in between the frets on the E string and pluck the note with your right hand. By making sure that your finger in between the frets, you will ensure the true tonal quality of the note you are playing.

Try not to use the tip of your finger, but rather the finger pad instead. You have more control in holding the string down on the fretboard this way and the quality of sound will be better.

Make sure that your fingernails are trimmed and not getting in the way of your playing. The vibration of the strings against fingernails can ruin the quality of your playing.

When you are first learning to play the notes, expect your fingers to be sore even painful for awhile. Holding the large bass strings down is tough on you at first, but normal. Eventually your fingers will develop thicker skin and you won’t even notice it anymore.

Practice fretting with all of your different fingers. Even though most of your work will be done with your index and middle finger, your other fingers need to remain strong as well. Here is a photo of proper fretting technique.

Now you are really ready to begin finding and playing notes on your bass. Start by playing an open E note. An open note is when you do not place any fingers on the fretboard but simply pluck the string itself. Continue to play open notes on each string; E, A, D and G and you will hear how each note is a bit higher than the last one played.

Going back to E, place your index finger on the first fret being careful to place the pad of your finger firmly in between the nut and the first fret to achieve a true pitch of note. Move your finger up to the next fret and continue to repeat this while noticing the higher pitch of each note you are playing. Repeat this exercise with each string carefully listening to the differences of pitch you are producing.

Each note that you have played has a note value assigned to its position. Open E has a note value of E; open A has a note value of A and so forth. Each fret change also changes the note value and if this is confusing, look at the following diagram carefully; it should help you understand each note value that you have played so far up to the 12th fret.

Notice that there are only 12 notes total: A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G and G#. Use this diagram to help you learn the different note locations along the fretboard and as you play each note repeat the note value to yourself out loud as this will help you to memorize them even quicker.

Combine this practice along with your learning to read sheet music and you will soon discover that becoming a great bass player isn’t technically difficult; it is just a matter of practice, using the right techniques and remaining dedicated to your choice instrument.
 

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