Learning Bass Guitar

There are many different ways to tune a bass guitar, but by far the most important is relative tuning. This is where you tune the bass guitar so that it is in tune with itself.

This method can be difficult at first, but a little practice and effort now will save you a lot of time in the future.

The first step to tune a bass guitar relatively is to find a reference pitch. The easiest way to get a reference pitch is to find a second bass guitar and try your best to make the 4th strings sound the same. You can also use free internet tuners for this.

Once you have the 4th string tuned the rest of the strings are easy.

Play the 4th string of your bass on the 5th fret. Listen to the note. Play the 3rd string open. Do the two note sounds the same. If they do the 3rd string is in tune with the 4th string. If they don’t, tune the 3rd string until both notes match.

Now play the 3rd string on the 5th fret and try to make it match the 2nd string played open. Then play the 2nd string 5th fret and try to make it match the 1st string played open.

Have a look at the video below for more help with relative tuning.

Filed under: Learning Bass Guitar Tuning