close

My StudyBass

Bass Guitar Tunings

Standard Tunings for the Bass Guitar

Be sure to check out the online bass tuner in the StudyBass tools section if you need to tune.

4-String Bass Tuning

The standard tuning for a four-string bass from lowest pitch to highest (thickest string to thinnest) is:
E – A – D – G

5-String Bass Tuning

The most common standard tuning for a five-string bass from lowest pitch to highest (thickest string to thinnest) is:

B – E – A – D – G

This tuning has one lower pitched string added to the standard 4-string tuning giving you 5 lower notes.

Some people tune a 5-string bass adding a higher string instead:

E – A – D – G – C

This tuning gives you 5 higher notes.

6-String Bass Tuning

The standard tuning for a six-string bass from lowest pitch to highest (thickest string to thinnest) is:

B – E – A – D – G – C

8-String Bass Tuning

An eight-string bass is really like a 4-string bass, but with a second string doubling each of those four strings. The doubling string is tuned an octave higher. The result is:

E(e) – A(a) – D(d) – G(g)

This gives off a very full, thick sound. The same idea is used on a 12-string guitar.

Piccolo Bass Tuning

A piccolo bass is a standard bass tuning up an octave. You need to buy special strings for this! It can be pretty fun playing an octave higher. It’s not very bass-like. It’s like the bottom 4 strings of a guitar.