• 52 notes
  • Checked October 2026

Bass Guitar Fretboard Diagram

Every note on a four-string bass in standard tuning: print it named, blank or numbered, or quiz yourself.

Bass Guitar Fretboard Diagram

Name Date

Labelled fretboard

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52
More options

Write the name of each numbered note.Answer key

  1. E
  2. A
  3. D
  4. G
  5. F
  6. A sharp / B flat
  7. D sharp / E flat
  8. G sharp / A flat
  9. F sharp / G flat
  10. B
  11. E
  12. A
  13. G
  14. C
  15. F
  16. A sharp / B flat
  17. G sharp / A flat
  18. C sharp / D flat
  19. F sharp / G flat
  20. B
  21. A
  22. D
  23. G
  24. C
  25. A sharp / B flat
  26. D sharp / E flat
  27. G sharp / A flat
  28. C sharp / D flat
  29. B
  30. E
  31. A
  32. D
  33. C
  34. F
  35. A sharp / B flat
  36. D sharp / E flat
  37. C sharp / D flat
  38. F sharp / G flat
  39. B
  40. E
  41. D
  42. G
  43. C
  44. F
  45. D sharp / E flat
  46. G sharp / A flat
  47. C sharp / D flat
  48. F sharp / G flat
  49. E
  50. A
  51. D
  52. G

Drawn for this site on 2026-10-04 as plain geometry in code: own work, no font and nothing traced. Licence: own work.

Each numbered ring is a button. Use the arrow keys to move between them and Enter to choose. Names are read out in Study, and once a note is answered.

Next step Next: label the parts of a bass guitar

All 52 notes on the diagram

Show the list

Open strings 4

  1. E The open E string, with no fret pressed. String 4, the thickest string.
  2. A The open A string, with no fret pressed. String 3, counted from the thinnest.
  3. D The open D string, with no fret pressed. String 2, counted from the thinnest.
  4. G The open G string, with no fret pressed. String 1, the thinnest string.

Natural notes, frets 1 to 5 12

  1. F This F is on fret 1 of the E string. String 4: one half step above the open E.
  2. B This B is on fret 2 of the A string. String 3: two half steps above the open A.
  3. E This E is on fret 2 of the D string. String 2: two half steps above the open D.
  4. A This A is on fret 2 of the G string. String 1: two half steps above the open G.
  5. G This G is on fret 3 of the E string. String 4: three half steps above the open E.
  6. C This C is on fret 3 of the A string. String 3: three half steps above the open A.
  7. F This F is on fret 3 of the D string. String 2: three half steps above the open D.
  8. B This B is on fret 4 of the G string. String 1: four half steps above the open G.
  9. A This A is on fret 5 of the E string. String 4: five half steps above the open E.
  10. D This D is on fret 5 of the A string. String 3: five half steps above the open A.
  11. G This G is on fret 5 of the D string. String 2: five half steps above the open D.
  12. C This C is on fret 5 of the G string. String 1: five half steps above the open G.

Natural notes, frets 6 to 12 16

  1. B This B is on fret 7 of the E string. String 4: seven half steps above the open E.
  2. E This E is on fret 7 of the A string. String 3: seven half steps above the open A.
  3. A This A is on fret 7 of the D string. String 2: seven half steps above the open D.
  4. D This D is on fret 7 of the G string. String 1: seven half steps above the open G.
  5. C This C is on fret 8 of the E string. String 4: eight half steps above the open E.
  6. F This F is on fret 8 of the A string. String 3: eight half steps above the open A.
  7. B This B is on fret 9 of the D string. String 2: nine half steps above the open D.
  8. E This E is on fret 9 of the G string. String 1: nine half steps above the open G.
  9. D This D is on fret 10 of the E string. String 4: ten half steps above the open E.
  10. G This G is on fret 10 of the A string. String 3: ten half steps above the open A.
  11. C This C is on fret 10 of the D string. String 2: ten half steps above the open D.
  12. F This F is on fret 10 of the G string. String 1: ten half steps above the open G.
  13. E This E is on fret 12 of the E string. String 4: twelve half steps above the open E, one octave higher.
  14. A This A is on fret 12 of the A string. String 3: twelve half steps above the open A, one octave higher.
  15. D This D is on fret 12 of the D string. String 2: twelve half steps above the open D, one octave higher.
  16. G This G is on fret 12 of the G string. String 1: twelve half steps above the open G, one octave higher.

Sharps and flats, frets 1 to 6 12

  1. A sharp / B flat Fret 1 of the A string: A sharp or B flat. String 3: a half step above A and a half step below B.
  2. D sharp / E flat Fret 1 of the D string: D sharp or E flat. String 2: a half step above D and a half step below E.
  3. G sharp / A flat Fret 1 of the G string: G sharp or A flat. String 1: a half step above G and a half step below A.
  4. F sharp / G flat Fret 2 of the E string: F sharp or G flat. String 4: a half step above F and a half step below G.
  5. A sharp / B flat Fret 3 of the G string: A sharp or B flat. String 1: a half step above A and a half step below B.
  6. G sharp / A flat Fret 4 of the E string: G sharp or A flat. String 4: a half step above G and a half step below A.
  7. C sharp / D flat Fret 4 of the A string: C sharp or D flat. String 3: a half step above C and a half step below D.
  8. F sharp / G flat Fret 4 of the D string: F sharp or G flat. String 2: a half step above F and a half step below G.
  9. A sharp / B flat Fret 6 of the E string: A sharp or B flat. String 4: a half step above A and a half step below B.
  10. D sharp / E flat Fret 6 of the A string: D sharp or E flat. String 3: a half step above D and a half step below E.
  11. G sharp / A flat Fret 6 of the D string: G sharp or A flat. String 2: a half step above G and a half step below A.
  12. C sharp / D flat Fret 6 of the G string: C sharp or D flat. String 1: a half step above C and a half step below D.

Sharps and flats, frets 7 to 12 8

  1. A sharp / B flat Fret 8 of the D string: A sharp or B flat. String 2: a half step above A and a half step below B.
  2. D sharp / E flat Fret 8 of the G string: D sharp or E flat. String 1: a half step above D and a half step below E.
  3. C sharp / D flat Fret 9 of the E string: C sharp or D flat. String 4: a half step above C and a half step below D.
  4. F sharp / G flat Fret 9 of the A string: F sharp or G flat. String 3: a half step above F and a half step below G.
  5. D sharp / E flat Fret 11 of the E string: D sharp or E flat. String 4: a half step above D and a half step below E.
  6. G sharp / A flat Fret 11 of the A string: G sharp or A flat. String 3: a half step above G and a half step below A.
  7. C sharp / D flat Fret 11 of the D string: C sharp or D flat. String 2: a half step above C and a half step below D.
  8. F sharp / G flat Fret 11 of the G string: F sharp or G flat. String 1: a half step above F and a half step below G.

How this list was compiled: Standard tuning of the four-string bass guitar, from the lowest string to the highest E1, A1, D2, G2, one octave below the four lowest strings of a guitar: Wikipedia, Bass guitar (the four strings normally match the double bass and sound an octave under a guitar's four lowest strings: E, A, D and G; the New Grove definition quoted there: "four heavy strings tuned E1-A1-D2-G2"), read 2026-10-01; checked against the string tunings file of the LilyPond music typesetter (GNU project), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/lilypond/lilypond/master/ly/string-tunings-init.ly (bass-tuning: e,, a,, d, g,), read 2026-10-01. One half step for every fret: Wikipedia, Fret ("each fret represents one semitone"), and Justin Holland, Holland's Comprehensive Method for the Guitar (Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1874, public domain), https://archive.org/details/hollandscomprehe00holl, plate 1 ("The distance from one fret to the next is a semitone"), read 2026-10-01. The two names of each sharp or flat note: Robert Hutchinson, Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom, https://musictheory.pugetsound.edu/mt21c/EnharmonicNotes.html (section 1.5), read 2026-10-01. The note at each of the 52 places was counted by script from the open string and the fret number. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-04 as plain geometry in code: own work, no font and nothing traced. The neck stands upright, as in a chord diagram, with the start of the headstock, the nut, twelve fret wires, four wound strings of graded width, pearl position dots on the fingerboard and side dots beside the neck. It tapers like a real bass neck, and its fret spaces narrow toward the body by the same share each time, less than on a real neck (the twelfth space is 0.62 of the first; on a real neck 0.53) so that every marker has room; for the same reason the neck is drawn wider for its length than a real one. Proportions were checked by eye against photographs of Fender Precision Bass and Rickenbacker 4001 necks on Wikimedia Commons, which were looked at and not copied. Licence: own work

How it works

This bass guitar fretboard diagram shows the four strings of a bass in standard tuning, E A D G, from the nut to fret 12. The neck stands upright, E string on the left, and opens with all the bass fretboard notes named.

Read the full guide

Read the neck

Each string starts on its open note, above the nut, and climbs one half step with every fret. Every string is tuned five half steps above the one below it, so fret 5 always gives the next open string.

Print it named, blank or numbered

Press Print this fretboard for the named neck. Blank leaves every marker empty; Numbered adds a number in each marker and a line for each answer.

Take the bass fretboard quiz

Quiz yourself on this fretboard lights one marker and asks its note: open strings first, then natural notes, then sharps and flats.

  • The dots beside the neck mark frets 3, 5, 7 and 9; the double dot marks fret 12, where every string repeats its open note.
  • A bass is tuned an octave below a guitar's four lowest strings, so these bass fret board notes match that part of a guitar neck.

Questions and answers

What are the notes of the open strings on a bass?

On a four-string bass in standard tuning the open strings are E, A, D and G, from the thickest string to the thinnest.

Is a bass fingerboard diagram the same as a fretboard diagram?

Yes. Fingerboard and fretboard are two names for the same part of the neck, so a bass fingerboard diagram shows exactly these notes.

Where is the same note on the next string?

Five frets lower. The A at fret 5 of the E string is the open A string, and the same holds for every string of a bass in standard tuning.

Does it cover a five-string bass?

No. The neck drawn here has four strings. A five-string bass adds a lower string that this page does not show.

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