Bass guitar tuning

Bass guitar tuning

Bass guitar tuning refers to the pitch adjustments carried out on the individual strings of a bass guitar in order to achieve a prescribed arrangement of notes on the open (unfretted) strings.

The electric bass guitar (or "electric bass") is a bass string instrument played with the fingers by plucking, slapping, popping or using a pick. The bass is typically similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and four strings tuned one octave lower in pitch than the bass strings of a guitar. The bass guitar is an equal temperament musical instrument, in which the octave is divided into a series of equal steps.

tandard tuning

Standard tuning is the most popular tuning of the bass guitar. Most bass guitars have four strings, tuned one octave lower than those of a regular guitar.

A variant, less-commonly used tuning for a five-string electric bass is to add a high "C" string as the fifth string, making the tuning "E, A, D, G, c" (from lowest to highest pitch).

ix-string bass guitar

Tuning issues

Changes in temperature and humidity can make an electric bass go out of tune. As well, when fresh strings have been put on a bass, they will go out of tune very easily, because there is usually some slack in newly-installed strings. To remove this slack, bass players often tug gently on the strings and then adjust the pitch of a string upwards by twisting the tuning peg. The bass can be tuned "by ear" to a reference pitch such as a piano or organ. In this method, the performer compares the sound of the reference pitch to the pitch of the bass, and adjusts the bass' tuning pegs until one of the bass' open strings is in tune with the reference pitch. Then the performer adjusts the remaining bass strings so that they are in tune with the first string. As well, a number of tuning aids are available to assist musicians with tuning, such as tuning forks, pitch pipes and electric tuners.

ee also

*Bass guitar
*Guitar tuning

External links

* [http://www.contrabass.com/pages/frequency.html Frequencies and Ranges @ Contrabass Mania]


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