Free approved lessons from "BASS GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications," currently the #1 best selling bass instruction method in the US!

Covers TAB, scales, picking, slap, poping, writing bass lines & fills, chords, harmonies, & Much More...

This Lesson: How To Read Bass TAB, (aka: Tablature)

Bass Guitar Lesson 1 - Bass Tab:

From page 5 of "BASS GUITAR: Total Scales Techniques and Applications." 

How to read Tablature, a.k.a. Bass Tab

In traditional sheet music, notes are written on a staff. A staff consists of 5 lines and 4 spaces. This method of written music has proven to be impractical for the guitar and bass. For this reason the use of tablature has become popular. Tablature or Tab is sometimes referred to as the 4 line staff, or the bass/guitar staff. Each line represents a string. The bottom line being the lowest pitch string (the thickest string), and the top line representing the 1st or highest pitch string (the thinnest string).

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Instead of using musical notes for each line, numbers are used to represent the fret that is to be played.
FOR EXAMPLE: 1. If a 3 is written on the 3rd line, you would play the 3rd fret on the 3rd string.
 

2. If a 4 is written on the 3rd line followed by a 5, you would play the 4th fret on the 3rd string followed by the 5th fret on the 3rd string.

3. If you are to play more than one note at a time, the notes would be written one on top of the other. If a 4 is written on the 3rd line, and directly below it a 5 is written on the 4th line, you would play the 4th fret on the 3rd string, along with the 5th fret on the 4th string at the same time.
 

There is also tablature for 5 and 6 string basses.
    

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