4-String Bass Chord Chart
4-string bass (E–A–D–G) · see every chord tone across the neck · tap to hear
How to play
- Pick a root and a chord type. Every place that chord's notes appear on the bass lights up, labelled by role: R root, 3/♭3 third, 5 fifth, 7/♭7 seventh.
- On bass you usually outline chords one note at a time rather than strum them. This map shows where those notes live so you can build bass lines and arpeggios anywhere on the neck.
- Tap any lit note to hear it. Play arpeggio sounds the chord tones in order from the root. The green dots are roots — strong landing notes.
- Strings read top-to-bottom G D A E (thickest, lowest E at the bottom), exactly like bass tab. Vol sets volume.
- Keyboard — Tab to any note or control, Enter/Space to activate.
This is a visual map of a four string bass guitar neck that shows placement of chords for easy reference. It’s interactive, so you can navigate using your keyboard or click on controls and notes with your mouse. Hopefully this will help you in seeing where the chord tones live to create arpeggios and bass lines over them.
Underneath is a row of buttons labelled ‘Root’. These represent each note of the chromatic scale (with both flat and sharp notes represented). By clicking on a button you will highlight it and change the fretboard diagram to illustrate that choice. This will be root of your chosen chord. The other notes that make up the chord structure will be highlighted based off this selection.
How to Use the Bass Chord Tool
To select your chord type, choose from Type row beneath the root selector. You can choose from Major, Minor, dominant 7, major 7, minor 7, half diminished, diminished, suspended fourth, sixth, and power chords. These gives you the type of chord based on which intervals are included in it, for example the fifth, third or seventh. This changes where highlighted notes sits on the neck.
Four strings and a dozen frets appear on the main display. It’s as if you’re looking at a sheet of bass tablature, except that the strings runs from top to bottom as G, D, A, E respectively. Buttons representing the root note is displayed in green. Additional highlighted buttons represent the chords’ third, fifth, or seventh, which is also indicated by their role within the intervals.
When you click on any highlighted note it will play. It is using an audio engine that synthesizes a kind of bass tone, similar to a plucked string. In this way, you can try out what each of the chord tones sounds like individually. You can click around in whichever order you wish and experiment with the chords voicings.
You can hear the chord tones played in a sequence using the Play arpeggio button. What this does is play the notes that make up the chord starting with the root and rising until it hits the octave above. You then have the ability to listen to the complete harmonic content of the chord without having to click on every single note yourself. It helps you internalise how the progression should sound and what shape it has.
The Volume Control Slider is located at the bottom right of the widget, and it controls the master volume of any sound coming out of the widget. If the notes is too soft, drag the slider up. If they’re too loud, drag it down. It’ll stay that way as you move through other keys and chords.
The Fullscreen button is for when you want to really blow up the widget and have it take up your whole screen. It’s also good if you’re viewing this on something small and just need more space on the fretboard to be able to spot where notes are located. Press that button to go fullscreen, then press it again to go back to normal. It is useful for when you don’t want any distractions other than the visual fretboard map.
Click the button in the header to toggle the How to play panel, which serves as a quick reference guide on how to use the widget. It also describes the keyboard shortcuts and visual indicators. Click it again to hide and make the most use of space for the fretboard diagram.
Additionally, the widget is keyboard accessible. The Tab key moves focus around the buttons, fretboard notes, and other controls. Space and Enter keys activates whatever you’ve put focus on. So you don’t need to take your hands off the keyboard to play notes and choose chords.
Next, try picking a range of chords to discover where the notes fall across the strings. You’ll notice the difference between minor and major is just decided by the third of the chord. Try writing out arpeggios at various places around the neck. It can help you link the theory to real places on the fretboard visually. Switch it to the arpeggio playback option to check your note choices are accurate. Then listen for the intervals, to hear how these sound in a harmonic context.
Ideally use this to play alongside a real instrument when learning. It can help close the gap between an abstract chord name and actual fingerings. Pick a basic major chord to begin with and explore this across the fretboard. What do you hear for the root note and then the fifth? This is the solid harmony base, so listen carefully to these two notes.
You should of tried it already. Then include the third and seventh to feel the tension and color in the chord. Map it out on the widget and bring it into your playing. You can find the moddern sounds you want here.