Bass Lessons - Reading Bass Tab bass tab

First you need to be able to read tab and understand it. Tab is

short for tablature. It’s easy once you get the hang of it. Here’s

how standard tab is written:

G|----------------------------------------|

D|----------------------------------------|

A|----------------------------------------|

E|----------------------------------------|

Each line is a string on the bass neck.

The letters at the beginning of the line are just the notes of

the strings. Forget them for a moment and look at it like this:

Thinnest |--------------------------------------|

2nd thinnest |--------------------------------------|

2nd thickest |--------------------------------------|

Thickest |--------------------------------------|

So basically, when you’re standing up with the bass round your

neck with the strap on, the thickest string (E) is at the top and

is usually the hardest to play. The thinnest string (G) is at

the bottom and is the easiest to play.

There is numbers written on the tab bar and these are the frets

you play. Bass is usually played on one string and is very rarely

played on more than one string. If there was a 0 on and line then

you play and open string. In other words you don’t put your finger

down on any fret. Frets are those funny metal lines on the neck

of the bass.

G|-0-----------0-----------0--------------------|

D|---0-------0---0-------0----------------------|

A|-----0---0-------0---0------------------------|

E|-------0-----------0--------------------------|

Practise that so you get the hang of playing the strings. With

bass you can use a plectrum (pick) of you can use your fingers.

Some people think it sounds better if you use your fingers but

that’s just their opinion. If you don’t want to use your fingers

then use a pick. Just see how fast you can play that, it might also

help build up speed because at first it will be really hard to

play fast.

If there were a 1 on a line then you would put whatever finger felt

more comfortable just in front of the first fret on the bass.

If you put you finger on the fret then a buzzing sound might be

made so you’ll need to be careful with that.

G|-1-----------1-----------1----------------------|

D|---1-------1---1-------1------------------------|

A|-----1---1-------1---1--------------------------|

E|-------1-----------1----------------------------|

It’ not just numbers that appear on these lines though. X’s can

appear on the lines. If you do find an X, then you rest your finger

on string so it’s muted. You don’t press down on the string and

it doesn’t matter where on the string you rest you finger. It

would appear like this

G|--X-----------X-----------X-----------------|

D|----X-------X---X-------X-------------------|

A|------X---X-------X---X---------------------|

E|--------X-----------X-----------------------|

Practise that and you’ll soon get the hang of muted notes.

There’s also h’s and p’s. The meant Hammer on’s and Pull off’s.

To do a hammer on, hold a finger of a fret and strike the note or

play an open string, and then without striking again, you put

a finger quickly on a fret. It’s difficult at first but so is everything.

A pull off is where you put two fingers on different frets on the

same string, and you strike the first not, and the, again without

striking the second note, you pull your finger off, leaving

the second finger that was on the lower fret on, and it should

produce the same kind of sound as if you’ve just played that note.

Practise and you’ll get the hang of it.

G|-1h2---------------------1h2----------------|

D|-----1h2-------------1h2--------------------|

A|---------1h2-----1h2------------------------|

E|-------------1h2----------------------------|

Try playing that and building up your speed the play this:

G|-2p1---------------------2p1------------------|

D|-----2p1-------------2p1----------------------|

A|---------2p1-----2p1--------------------------|

E|-------------2p1------------------------------|

Again practise, build up speed. It worked for me.

There’s also harmonics. There’s many different signs for this

though and everyone should tell you if they have used harmonics

and what symbol they have used. I usually use a star (*). To produce

a harmonic, place your finger over a fret and play (it works best

with the frets 7, 9, 12 and 19). It should produce a bell kind of

sound. If not then practise a bit more. Try playing these.

G|-----------7*----------9*-------------12*-------------19*-|

D|--------7*----------9*------------12*-------------19*-----|

A|-----7*----------9*-----------12*-------------19*---------|

E|--7*----------9*----------12*-------------19*-------------|

Also X's can appear on the tab line. If it does then this means

play a mute note. That's when you just mute the string with you

finger, not actually pushing the string down just holding your

fingers on it. Practise this

G|-------x-----------x-----------x----|

D|-----x---x-------x---x-------x------|

A|---x-------x---x-------x---x--------|

E|-x-----------x-----------x----------|

And lastly, theres some slashes. / and \ mean slides. / is

the most common and thats just slide from one note to another

but if its just a slide then the slash will tell you weather to

slide up or down the neck. / means slide up. e.g. from 3rd fret

up to 12th fret. \ means down. e.g. from 12th fret to 3rd fret.

try these

G|-3/7---------------------6\5-----------|

D|-----7\3-------------1/9-----12\-------|

A|---------7\3-----5/9-------------3/----|

E|-------------3/6-----------------------|

To get better at playing and to play faster, i useually get one

of my friends to write numbers from 1-10 on 4 different lines

and use that as tab. When you get better you could go from 1-15

and then 1-20. It's fun once you get into it.

I will submit a few beginner excersizes soon.

If you find any problems, of just want

to ask any more questions email me Danielle_1391@hotmail.co.uk,

skater-monkey@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment. I don't bite.

Luv yaz, Danielle xxx