Bass fretboard notes
Every note on every string of the bass, from the nut to the twelfth fret. With the rules for finding them, and a table: which note lies where.
The chart
Natural notes filled, sharps as rings. Every sharp has a flat name too: F♯ is G♭, A♯ is B♭.
The open strings
From the lowest string to the highest: E – A – D – G. They are the four low strings of the guitar, an octave lower.
Four rules for learning the fretboard
Semitone or whole tone
Between E and F and between B and C lies one fret, between all other neighbours two. Knowing that, you can count on from any open string.
The twelfth fret is the octave
At the twelfth fret every string sounds an octave above the open string — after that the chart repeats. So twelve frets are all you need to know.
The fifth fret is the next string
At the fifth fret a string sounds the note of the next open string — on all three crossings, because the bass is tuned in fourths throughout.
Octaves lie two strings over
Two strings up and two frets up is the same note an octave higher — everywhere on the neck, without exception.
Which note lies where
| Note | String and fret |
|---|---|
| C | ③3 · ①5 · ④8 · ②10 |
| C# | ③4 · ①6 · ④9 · ②11 |
| D | ②0 · ③5 · ①7 · ④10 · ②12 |
| D# | ②1 · ③6 · ①8 · ④11 |
| E | ④0 · ②2 · ③7 · ①9 · ④12 |
| F | ④1 · ②3 · ③8 · ①10 |
| F# | ④2 · ②4 · ③9 · ①11 |
| G | ①0 · ④3 · ②5 · ③10 · ①12 |
| G# | ①1 · ④4 · ②6 · ③11 |
| A | ③0 · ①2 · ④5 · ②7 · ③12 |
| A# | ③1 · ①3 · ④6 · ②8 |
| B | ③2 · ①4 · ④7 · ②9 |
Strings are counted from the player’s side: ① is the highest, ④ the lowest. In »③3« the circle is the string and the number is the fret; »0« is the open string.
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Anotona does this for you
Photograph a page of sheet music or play the melody — Anotona finds the key, engraves the notes and transposes them into any other. Free.
See AnotonaEvery note on this page is computed, not typed in — following the rule that also makes F# major spell its seventh degree E#, not F.