Bass Guitar at Guitar Elements

Why a Bass Guitar section?

Many guitar students ask me: "Is the bass a different instrument? Do I have to start over?" The answer is no. If you have been training with the guitar lessons on this site, you already know most of the bass.

I have played bass all my life, and I learned it the same way I learned the guitar: through the fretboard, the notes, and the theory, not through tabs or memorized songs. That is why I created this Bass Guitar section. It uses the same lessons, the same structure and the same training method as the guitar section, so you can move between the two instruments without getting lost.

Guitar and bass: the same logic
A standard 4-string bass is tuned E - A - D - G. These are the same notes as the four thickest strings of the guitar (strings 6, 5, 4 and 3), only one octave lower.
This means:
- The notes are in the same places. The note on the 5th fret of the A string is D on the guitar, and it is D on the bass.
- The frets work the same way. One fret is one half step on both instruments.
- The scales, modes and arpeggios are the same. A C Major scale has the same notes and the same formula on both. The same goes for Dorian, the Major 7 arpeggio, or any other lesson you find here.
- The positions are the same. The 5 positions (the CAGED system) you practice on the guitar exist on the bass too, using only the 4 low strings.

So what is different?
There are only three real differences:
1. No high strings. The bass has no B string and no high E string. Every bass lesson on this site is the guitar lesson with those 2 high strings removed.
2. Lower pitch. The bass sounds one octave lower than the guitar. Its job in music is to hold the low end, the foundation of the harmony and the rhythm.
3. Playing style. Bass players usually play one note at a time, with the fingers or a pick, and rarely strum full chords. Instead of strumming a chord, a bass player plays the chord's notes one by one, which is an arpeggio. That is why some guitar chord shapes that sit mostly on the high strings are not in the bass section. On the bass, you learn those chords through the arpeggios.

How to use the Bass section
Click Bass Training below. It works exactly like the guitar Training page:
- Choose a Category (Scales, Modes, Arpeggios, Chords, Exercises or Chords Progression), then a Key, a Lesson Type and a Lesson.
- The fretboard shows a 4-string bass, for right-handed or left-handed players.
- You hear a real bass sound, and you can choose finger bass, upright bass or pick bass.
- The 1 Octave and Full Position views, the position buttons and the red-ringed root notes all work the same way as on the guitar.

My advice
If you are a guitar player, train on the bass too. It will make you see the fretboard more clearly, hear the low end of the music, and understand how chords are built from the bottom up. If you are a bass player, welcome. Everything here is free, structured, and made for real learning, one note at a time.

The guitar and the bass are two voices of the same language. Learn the language, and both instruments will follow.

Click Bass Training to start the lessons, or Fretboard Wizard to practice naming the notes on the bass.”