Bass tuner

Standard 4-string, from the 4th string to the 1st: E A D G. Frequencies are for A4 = 440 Hz.

Other tunings on this tuner

A standard 4-string bass is tuned E A D G, the same letters as the four lowest guitar strings and exactly one octave below them. The open low E sounds at 41.2 Hz. A 5-string adds a low B under the E, at 30.87 Hz, and a 6-string keeps that B and adds a high C above the G.

The tuning select also has drop D, where only the E string goes down a whole step, and half step down, where every string is one fret lower: E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭. The tuner remembers your choice for the next visit, so a 5-string player picks it once.

If the guitarist you play with tunes to drop D or a half step down, set the bass to the same tuning. Your open strings then land on the same notes as theirs, and riffs on the open low string line up.

Dropping to D is quick by ear as well: lower the E string until it sounds exactly one octave below the open D string. Play the two together and turn until the wobble disappears, then confirm with the tuner.

Low notes are slow. The low B vibrates about 31 times a second, and a tuner has to hear several of those cycles before it can measure the pitch. Pluck firmly, wait until the attack has passed and turn the key while the note is still ringing.

A phone microphone hears the bass range weakly, so help it: hold the phone near the pickups of an unplugged bass, or near the amp's speaker with the tone controls flat. Pluck with the soft part of a finger rather than a pick or a slap; a hard attack starts every note slightly sharp, and the needle jumps before it settles. Mute the strings you are not tuning so they don't ring along.

Many bassists tune with the natural harmonic at the 12th fret: touch the string lightly right above the fret wire, pluck and lift the finger. The harmonic is a clean tone one octave above the open string, which helps with a dull low B. Since it sounds an octave up, read it on the chromatic tuner, which names any note in any octave.

• New strings stretch for the first day or two. Pull each one gently away from the fingerboard along its length, retune, and repeat two or three times.
• Bass keys turn slowly and take up a lot of string. If a string is sharp, go below the note and come back up, so it doesn't creep flat halfway through a song.
• Tune to the same reference as the band. If the keyboard or a recording sits slightly off 440 Hz, move A4 in the settings until your open strings match it.
• Open strings in tune but notes high on the neck sharp or flat? That is intonation, set with the saddles at the bridge, and no amount of tuning fixes it.
• A 5-string's low B is the string most likely to sound dull or floppy. A fresh B string and a firm pluck give the tuner, and your ears, a clearer note.
• Fretless bass is tuned exactly like a fretted one. With no frets, the open strings are the only fixed reference you have, so tune them carefully before you practice intonation against them.