Learn How To Tune A Bass Guitar

If you can play the guitar and know how to get it in tune, why do you need to learn how to tune a bass guitar? The answer is in the nature of the sound of the bass guitar. It is so low it is hard for some people to know whether or not the bass is in tune.

There is a wide range of bass guitars with varying numbers of strings and a number of tuning options to widen the range of notes produced. We will stay with the four string bass guitar which is tuned to one octave lower than the standard guitar.

Most guitar players agree that the most effective way to begin tuning a guitar is to start with the strings tuned lower than you need and then tune them up to the right pitch. It is a good idea to start with the strings much lower than they need to be so you do not tighten them too much and break a string.

Let us look at tuning the bass guitar to a piano or keyboard. Find Middle C on the keyboard and go down two octaves and find the E below that. This is your note to tune the fourth string of your bass guitar. Play the open fourth string and the E on your piano at the same time. If you hear a sound like the noise a helicopter makes, your guitar is not in tune. Turn the tuning peg on your bass guitar as you play the guitar and the keyboard together, and listen to the “helicopter” sound. It will become slower as the guitar becomes in tune with the keyboard, and it will eventually vanish. Repeat this for your A D G strings.

Another way of tuning the bass guitar is to get the E string as close to tuned as you can and then tune the rest of the strings. Start by playing the note at the fifth fret of the E string together with the open A string. Once these two notes are the same, play the fifth fret of the A string at the same time as the D string open. When the D string sounds the same as the fifth fret on the A string, play the fifth fret of the D string and tune the open G string to that.

You can also tune the bass guitar to itself using harmonics. Touch your finger lightly on the fifth fret of the E string without pressing down. You will hear a chiming note. Now play this harmonic again but at the same time playing the harmonic at the seventh fret of the A string. Tune the A string until it matches the harmonic of the E string. Next play the fifth fret harmonic of the A string and match the seventh fret harmonic of the D string to that. Finally, match the seventh fret harmonic on the G string with the fifth fret harmonic on the D string.

The simplest way to tune the bass guitar is the electronic tuning method. Electronic tuners have a visual way to tell you when your bass is sounding the right note. For the sake of your progress as a guitarist you should first learn to tune the bass guitar using one or all of the other methods, then check it with an electronic tuner. You can buy an electronic tuner at a music store or online. You can find an online bass guitar tuner here and a versatile bass guitar tuner at get-tuned.com

Here is a video lesson on tuning the bass guitar: