Bass lessons
A free, connected curriculum, one concept per lesson, in order, from the absolute basics up. Taught by Lowe. Start at Lesson 01 and work down.
Foundations
- 01parts of the bassA bass guitar has a headstock with tuning pegs, a long neck with a fretboard and frets, and a body holding the pickups and bridge. It usually has four thick strings. From thickest to thinnest they are E, A, D, and G, tuned an octave below a guitar's lowest four.
- 02right-hand fingerstyle basicsFingerstyle means plucking the strings with your index and middle fingers, alternating them so you never use the same finger twice in a row. Rest each finger on the next thicker string after it plucks. That rest stroke gives a full, even tone and keeps your two fingers taking turns cleanly.
- 03the open strings and note namesA standard four-string bass is tuned, from the thickest string to the thinnest, E, A, D, G. Those are the same names as a guitar's lowest four strings. Each open string sits a perfect fourth above the one below it. Learn these four names and you can start to find any note on the neck.