Bass Guitar Note Chart
4-string bass, tuning E–A–D–G · every note, frets 0–12 · tap to hear
How to play
- Tap any note to hear it and see its name, string and fret. The board reads like bass tab: the top row is the thin G string, the bottom is the thick low E.
- Use Highlight to pick a note letter — every place it appears lights up, so you can see how each note repeats (an octave is always 2 frets up and 2 strings across).
- Dots under the fret numbers are the position markers (3, 5, 7, 9, and a double at 12).
- Open strings plays E–A–D–G. Vol sets volume. Keyboard: Tab to any note or control, Enter/Space to activate.
Here is a full bass guitar fretboard for you to play right now on this page. Navigate the site using your computer keyboard, or tap notes on the fretboard using your mouse.
The instrument display all the notes of a typical four string bass beginning at low E at the bottom of the board and continuing to 12th fret. Immediately hear how those notes sound, and start to see which pitch lives where. Four strings is shown across the fretboard in their naturaly order. The G string (highest pitched, thinnest) are at the top of each row; the thick low E string is at the bottom. From the left-hand side, each column indicate a fret position (starting from open strings). Just like on a real instrument, there is markers under the fret numbers to help you find them easily.
How to Use the Bass Guitar Fretboard Tool
Each of these buttons is labelled with a letter name. Just click the button to hear that note played back as a synthesized bass tone that matches the chosen pitch. You can see precisely what you have just played in the little readout section below the board. This displays the note name, the octave number, the string it came from, and its frequency in Hertz.
For those that likes a bit more keyboard interaction, each of the controls and notes has been made accessible via a single tab press. Then simply use the Space or Enter key to trigger what’s in focus. So you can run through sequences or scales with ease, all without picking up mouse. You’ll always know what note you’re playing back by the focus outline. And keep your hands on home row as you wander around the range.
Isolate individual notes all along neck in the Highlight row. Selecting a letter (F sharp, A, etc.) highlight every occurrence of that note. It’s just one more way to visually identify repetition as you go up and down the strings. When you jump an octave, for example, you would of usually find that it involves moving up two frets and one string. Turn it back Off to reset the display and clear the screen.
The Open strings button plays the strings as they are tuned to by default. That means you hear an ascending scale starting with the low E then playing up to the G string. So what’s this for? Well, it’ll help you find your way quickly and confirm your mental picture of where everything sits (in open position). Hit it anytime and reset back to those key tones before starting on some fretted notes.
Finally we have the volume slider on the bottom right side of the widget. Here you can drag left for a quieter sound or right for louder. This is great if you’re practicing in a quiet room or simply prefer a softer tone. It will stay set until you close the page so you only need to do it once.
If you prefer, click on the Fullscreen button for an improved display on small screens. It will zoom in so that the fretboard has more room, making it easier to read the note names and move around with greater accuracy. When finished studying, click again (or hit your browser’s exit command) to restore to normal size.
A helpful How to play button appears whenever you want to see some brief directions. Clicking it will show a help panel that explains the layout and controls. This is great if you take a break and come back, for example, forgetting how the highlight feature works. When you’re comfy with the flow of the tool, click it again to hide it.
To demonstrate, play a simple scale in your mind and try the Highlight feature. Hold the light on the note C and then tap across the highlighted buttons listening for consistency of the pitch. You’ll notice the change in tone as you cross over to thinner strings and thicker ones. It will help train your ear to identify the same note in different ranges.
Before grabbing your actual bass, use the widget to preview tricky fingerings. Anything that looks clumsy on-screen will probably sound and feel the same way under your fingers. For frequently encountered patterns such as root fifth octaves, the visual format is building muscle memory. Work through individual intervals or plot out entire songs at your own pace.
So first play some of the open strings to get an idea of the sound engine. Play a couple random notes next to see how it reads them. If there’s a note you’re trying to learn, use the highlight toggle to draw that note over the fretboard. Just click around and let the audio lead your way; the interface was designed to make it all intuitive.