How to Learn the Bass Fretboard Note Names

The bass fretboard looks like a lot of notes, but it's built on one simple pattern. Learn that pattern and you'll find any note on the neck without counting frets every time.

The open strings

A standard four-string bass is tuned E, A, D, G, from the thickest string to the thinnest. Those open notes are the anchor for everything else.

Every fret is a half step

Moving up one fret raises the pitch by a half step, the smallest step in Western music. The notes repeat in a cycle of twelve: C, C♯, D, D♯, E, F, F♯, G, G♯, A, A♯, B, then back to C. Here's the cycle on the low E string:

Fret	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
Low E	E	F	F♯	G	G♯	A	A♯	B	C	C♯	D	D♯	E

Fret 12 is the octave, the same note as the open string, so the pattern starts again from there.

Shortcut one: fret 5 is the next string

Because the strings are tuned in fourths, fret 5 on any string produces the same note as the open string above it. Fret 5 on the low E is A, the open A string. Fret 5 on the A string is D, the open D string. Fret 5 on the D string is G. Learn this and you can find most notes from the open strings.

Shortcut two: fret 7 is a fifth

Fret 7 on any string is a perfect fifth above that string's open note. That makes it useful for root-fifth riffs and power-chord shapes. On the low E, fret 7 is B; on the A string, fret 7 is E.

A practice drill

1. Pick one string. Play each fret from 0 to 12, saying the note name before you play it.
2. Repeat for the other strings. Move on only when you can name a note before you play it most of the time.
3. Each day, pick a random string and fret, name the note, then check yourself by playing it.