Wellcome to our bass tab archive !
But, What are Bass Tabs ?
The bass tablature is a notation system that allows us to read music written for electric bass without the need for musical knowledge of notes and rhythm because this is written by numbers on the strings.
The numbers indicate the fret number.
Here you will find scores of songs for electric bass in tab and you will learn to read it.
Although knowing and knowing the notes is fundamental to play well the bass is not so fundamental to get you started in this instrument.
Easy Bass Tabs
If you are a beginner in bass this method of reading will help you in your starting, so here we will show you how to do it.
It’s best to start with easy bass tabs.
Look at this bass tabs for beginners:
Seven Nation Army Bass Tab
Sweet Child o Mine Bass Tab
Another one Bites the Dust Bass Tab
Iron Man Bass Tab
Stand by Me Bass Tab
Californication Bass Tab
You can start with 7 nation army that is a bass tab easy
and…now..Do you want to know how to read Bass Tabs?
Big Bass Tabs
Do you know what is Big Bass Tabs ?
Is a huge archive of bass tabs where everyone can contribute their versions of the tablatures.
Once you learn to read bass tablatures, you can register in big bass tabs and upload your own versions of different songs.
What’s cool?
The truth is that big bass tabs is a fantastic place for the bass player where you can also meet more musicians and learn a lot.
So much so, so you can visit; BigBassTabs.com
How to read Bass tabs ?
The tablature or bass TAB is a fairly simple musical notation system for bass.
In addition you can find it in books published, in magazines and on the Internet, later we will leave references of where to find the best tabs for bass.
But…let’s start explaining how to read bass guitar tabs !
Bass strings on the Bass Tab
In the tablature, the bass strings are shown horizontally.
Most of the time they are written for a 4-string bass, but you can also see them for 5 and 6-string basses.
The bass strings are drawn with the lowest string at the bottom (E) and with the standard tuning of a 4-string.
In the tablature, the bass strings are shown horizontally.
It is usual to find the writing for a 4-string bass, but the bass tablature can also be for 5 or 6 strings.
Here you can see the placement of the bass strings in a tablature
G —————————-
D —————————-
A —————————-
E —————————-
What do the numbers on the bass tab indicate ?
In the tablature the notes are indicated by the fret number of the instrument.
The fret number is written on the string on which it is played.
Most basses have between 20 and 24 frets, so you can see numbers from “0” to “24” on a string, and where “0” is always the open string.
Example:
G ————————————-
D ——————————O–O—
A ———————3—-2———-
E —O–O—–5—-5——————-
⬆️ ⬆️ ⬇️ ⬇️
How is the rhythm indicated in the Tab?
Many times the rhythm is not indicated in the bass tablature, especially those made by hand without a tab editor, such as Guitar Pro.
Therefore, we wanted to teach the bass tab with the most basic format because this is the one you will find most on the Internet because it is free and anyone can do it with a text editor.
So, all you’ll see in a TAB most of the time will be the order of the notes without any rhythm, so it’s convenient to listen to the recording and interpret the rhythm you with the numerical indications.
The tablatures made with an editor like Guitar pro, Sibelius, Finale, etc, will mark you the rhythm down in another diagram.
Notice in this example how everything is detailed parallel in the TAB line to the classical notation score.
Now that you know the basics of this intuitive reading visit our section:
bass scales tabs
Symbols or marks to be known
Many of the marks on a bass tab with the numbers indicate how you should play certain notes.
There are many variations so we will show you the most common.
If you’ve ever wondered what the “x” means in bass tabs or a bar, or, what the ” h” means in bass tablature, here’s the answer.
Marks that are placed on the strings in front of or behind the numbers:
-
A forward slash ( /) indicates a slide or dragging or glisando ascending
-
A slash ( ) indicates a slide or drag or glisando descending
-
An interleaving sign (^) indicates a bending
-
An X (x) indicates a muted or dead note or ghost note
-
An H (h) indicates a note with hammer on
-
A P (p) indicates a pull off of the string or pull down on it.
How is the Bass Slap technique written in the bass tab ?
The Slap technique has some specific indications, these are the most common
- An “S” indicates tap on the thumb.
- A “P” indicates a pop, pulling the string.
- A “T” indicates a touch. Often, the hand used is marked with an L=left or R=right.
Conclusions and tips – Tab vs Standard Notation
You have already seen that it is very easy to read the notes with the tabulation system and can be of great help if you are a beginner and have not yet approached the standard musical notation or also if you have not learned the names of the notes in the fretboard.
In addition, it can often be useful to show complicated fingering along with standard notation because the same note can be played in several places on the bass, instead, a number can only be played in the right place, so the tablature must know how to interpret both the advanced musician and the beginner.
The only disadvantage of the tablature may be that if it is not written with a tab editor, it will be incomplete and will lack rhythm data, etc. Therefore, you should try to get them well written for bass. Now we will leave you the best places to get them.
More Bass Tabs
Here’s a gift
This bass tablature is not so common to find;
Pirates of the Caribbean Bass Tab
Dark Necessities Bass Tab
In this video you will learn how to play this song of RHCP
Californication Bass Tab
Otro temazo de los Red Hot, aquí hay que estar especialmente atento a la técnica de hammer on y pull off
que requiere esta canción, ánimo y a por ella !
Around the world bass tab
Another Red Hot song, here we have to be especially attentive to the technique of hammer on and pull off that this song requires, let’s go for it !
Feel good inc bass tab
Another easy bass tab for beginners is an indispensable Gorillaz group theme.