Bass Techniques

This part of my page is dedicated to bass techniques, hence the title. Please come here often as this page is updated frequently.

How to Read Tabs
Tabs were most likely created because music was to difficult to learn, and you couldnt put sheet music on the internet easily. Well all that has changed now with the introduction of tablature (tabs). An easy and efficient way to read music. You can buy books of tabs at music stores, featuring all the songs on a CD, but they are easily accesible on the internet. Here is a guide to reading them:

--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
----------------0--0--------2--2------
--------0012--2--2210--0--0-----------

What is this?
This is a tab, and although it looks like a couple of numbers on lines now, it is actually the intro to 'Come as you are' by Nirvana. They are easy to read. Each line represents a string, which usually goes from G being the top string, and E being the bottom. This may differ, but in the beginning it should tell you how to tune your guitar for the song. Also, tabs may be on two lines. This just means you dont play on the other strings, and you can tell which strings are which because there is the note letter in front of the line. eg.

E |----53--325--
G |---------0---

Other tabs may have spaces in between the notes. eg.


E |---321-321-321-012-

This represents the timing of the song. But it is always a good idea to listen to the song before you play, so you get used to the timing and sound of the song. These are the basics of tablature.

ADVANCED TABS
So when do you play different parts of tabs? Well the tabbers have written it for you. eg.


intro (play 3 times)
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
----------------0--0--------2--2------
--------0012--2--2210--0--0-----------

Note the play 3 times part. This may some times be changed to 3x or x3. But I have seen lots of different repeat signs. This is the most common and all you really need to know. You should be able to work out any more.

Now we will move onto special characters. These are often featured in the harder songs. Here is a list with some common definitions:


X or x -- muted note or pick slide
/ or \   -- slide up/down
h        -- hammer (hit a fret without playing the string)
p        -- pluck (lift the string away from the bass and let go, it sounds like Seinfeld intro)
s        -- slap (use your thumb to hit the string so it makes a similar noise to plucking)
^         -- upstroke (hit the string with an upward motion)

This list will be updated as often as possible. also there is usually a legend for the tab on the site, or on the tab itself.

This concludes this guide to tabs, I will update the legend as often as I can. Look at the tabs page soon as it should be opening with all the tabs you need!