The Beginner's Guide to the Bass Guitar

The Beginner's Guide to the Bass Guitar​

Hi, my name's David. I've been playing bass since about January of 2009. I started from knowing absolutely nothing of a bass guitar, from knowing one almost absolutely inside and out. I only took one lesson which was 30 minutes, and that was the free lesson that came with it. I am very proud of myself I literally taught myself the bass. In this guide, I am going to show you an almost complete diagram of a bass made by yours truly, the necessities of a bass, how to hold one (finger and pick) and a small piece to play. I apologize for the pictures. Nevertheless I hope you enjoy this guide and reap the benefits!

Familiarize Yourself with the Bass


The bass guitar, like many instruments is very complicated and consists of many parts and it is quite beneficial if you familiarize yourself with it before you pick it up.

Here is almost all the pieces of the bass guitar. Thank you google, for I was going to create one myself.



I will detail the fundamentals.

Strings
On your standard bass, there are four strings. Some may have five or six, but for simplicity's sake we will just stick with the standard four-string. There are four strings; from top to bottom they are classified as: E, D, A, G or as some people like to classify them as: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Here is a diagram made by me to make things a little bit more understandable. Note how the thickness of each string differs.



Frets
A fret on the bass is the same as the fret on a guitar. For those who do not know what a fret is, a fret is the spaces in between the two metal grooves on the neck of the bass. Every fret makes a unique sound. The lower the fret (or closer to the head), makes a lower pitch of a noise and the closer to the body of the bass, the higher of a pitch it creates.

Playing the Bass: Posture and Playing
When you play a bass there is a proper posture that you must have in order to play at maximum efficiency, yes I know that sounds silly but here is what you should look like if...

You play with your fingers:


You play with a pick:


Playing with, or without a pick, in my opinion does not really matter but is just a preference of the player himself. I personally enjoy playing some songs with my fingers as it gives it a distinct sound as opposed to the pick. The pick however, gives you the ability to play faster sometimes and can make life much easier. I like playing with the pick for most songs. Remember, don't make someone tell you how to play YOUR own instrument!

To strum with a pick, hold your index finger and your thumb on the opposite sides of the pick. To have a little bit more stability, have a bit of your middle finger on the side of the pick

To hit a string with your fingers, push your finger down sort of, so your finger makes a downward motion.

Ready to Play Something?

Alright, well if you think you're up for it, here's a tab

E|-----------------------------|
A|-----------------------------|
D|---5-5----5-5----5-5----8-5-|
G|-3------3------3------3------|

Use what you know; if you're confused, the number that is written down is the fret. To decipher which string is which, refer to the letters on the far left.
Notice there is a dash in between the two notes. You may disregard that, but that is very important. Each '-' represents one beat, which is one foot stomp, so when you are playing that funky line, tap your foot in between each note, so you keep the beat of the tab. The next note would be one string above and two frets to the left; the fifth. It should be all well.

This concludes my guide, if I get some nice feedback, I will for sure add to it, thanks.

 

Very nice guide there. 8/10

 

yeah cool guide....
I wouldn't have put it in the Outdoor/Physical section of User Education.
But very good info = )

 

I thought the strings where

E
A
D
G

Like, just the first four strings of the Ele guitar. (What I play)

E
A
D
G
B
E

 

nice guide, 7.5/10 I recommend adding more, like tabs to simple, well-known songs

 

^ He's right

 

You should add that if you've had previous musical training it's easier to learn the bass. and I have absolute pitch, he's right