How to read guitar tabs[BASS EDITION]

IMPORTANT
Before diving into learning how to read bass tabs it is very important to know the fundamental flaws of tabs.​

• Tabs do not provide rhythmic notation, making it hard to know when to release a note unless you have heard the song before.
• Only guitarist and bassist will know how to read tabs. This makes it very difficult to communicate with other musicians in the language of music.

Strings in bass tabs​

Bass tab lists the strings of the bass horizontally. It is more prevalent to see bass tabs written for four string basses, but if need be, the tabs can be listed as five string or even six!

The bass strings are drawn with the lowest-pitched string (or the largest string) at the bottom. Some music styles or songs will require different tuning but the format still stays the same.

Standard Tuning
G ----------------------------
D ----------------------------
A ----------------------------
E ----------------------------


Fret numbers​

Notes in bass tab are indicated by a fret number,written on the string which it is played. Bass guitars can have more than 24 frets! When reading tabs you may stumble upon a 0, don't worry this just means to strike the string without holding it down on any fret.

Most tabs are read descending, which means if you were to see a 1, it would be the first fret from the top that you should play.

Example​

In this example you are to play the A-string opened three times followed by the 1st fret on the E-string, then the 3rd fret on the A-string followed by an open A, the 1st fret on the E-string, and lastly the 3rd fret on the A-string followed by an open A again.

G|-----------------------|
D|-----------------------|
A|-0-0-0----3-0----3-0-|
E|--------1-------1------|​

If played correctly, this should sound like the beginning to the Imperial death march on Star Wars, otherwise known as Darth Vader's theme.


There are several markings in bass tabs that may indicate the way the note should be played, but none are standardized which means you may see many different variations. Usually the person who wrote the tabs will include a legend somewhere to inform you of what each mark means.

Here are some of the most commonly used markings are and what they usually mean:

• A P (p) indicates a pull-off.
• A forward slash ( / ) indicates a slide moving up in pitch.
• A back slash ( \ ) indicates a slide moving down in pitch.
• An H (h) indicates a hammer-on.
• A caret (^) indicates a bend.
• An X (x) indicates a ghost note.

You will often find markings beneath the strings, which can be defined as:

• A P indicates a pop
• A S indicates a thumb slap.
• A T indicates a tap. Often which hand is used is marked with an L or R and assumes you are right-handed.

A quick summary​

There’s not too much to reading bass tab. It’s just fret numbers on string lines. Bass tabs can be really simplistic for beginner before learning how to read standard music notation, or it can easily show a complicated bass line for the pros. I always suggest learning to read standard notation as it will help you communicate with other musicians.

I hope you enjoyed my guide.
*Quick disclaimer: This guide was made completely from my own knowledge, all pictures are from www.dv247.com and I do not claim rights to them

 

Great job Hooters! Good to see you wrote on a unique topic. I think the grammar and spelling are up to par. Also, the layout is great. Good to see you're taking initiative to help others and to improve your CA application. Have you thought of making a table of contents? Since you divided your application in sections, why not make one? "all pictures are from www.google.com and I do not claim rights to them." Google is just a search engine, they do not own the picture. The image is from the website "dv247.com." Just fix that up and you'll be fine. Keep up the good work!

 

Nice thread

 

I want to play guitar too. Muse ftw