Mapping the fretboard

You know all twelve notes and you know that each fret is the next one. Counting up from the nut works, but it is slow. This lesson gives you landmarks and patterns, so that you can find any natural note on any string quickly.

Fret 12: the halfway point

The fingerboard is the front of the neck, where the frets are and where you press the strings. Fret 12 is the halfway point of the string. Every note at fret 12 is the open-string note, one octave higher. From fret 12 on, the whole pattern repeats. So if you know frets 0 to 12, you know the whole neck.

The natural notes, string by string

Here are the natural notes on each string, from the open string to fret 12. The frets differ from string to string, because E–F and B–C fall in different places.

Natural notes on each string, frets 0–12, with the fret number after each note.
String	Natural notes (fret)
G	G 0 · A 2 · B 4 · C 5 · D 7 · E 9 · F 10 · G 12
D	D 0 · E 2 · F 3 · G 5 · A 7 · B 9 · C 10 · D 12
A	A 0 · B 2 · C 3 · D 5 · E 7 · F 8 · G 10 · A 12
E	E 0 · F 1 · G 3 · A 5 · B 7 · C 8 · D 10 · E 12
B (5-string)	B 0 · C 1 · D 3 · E 5 · F 6 · G 8 · A 10 · B 12

All four strings, frets 0–12, natural notes only. The same notes as the table above.

Landmarks

Start by memorising the notes on the marker frets. These landmarks are easy to find without counting, because the dots on your bass show you where they are:

Notes at the marker frets on each string.
String	Fret 3	5	7	9	12
E	G	A	B	C♯	E
A	C	D	E	F♯	A
D	F	G	A	B	D
G	B♭	C	D	E	G

All four strings, frets 0–12, every note (in-between notes shown with sharps). The notes on the marker frets 3, 5, 7, 9 and 12 are highlighted. This is the “Notes on the neck” view of the Bass Map tool.

Three patterns

The same note on the next string

Strings are a fourth apart, so the note at fret n on one string is also at fret n − 5 on the next higher string, as long as n is 5 or more. Two places that give the same pitch are a unison. For example, C at fret 8 on the E string is the same C as fret 3 on the A string.

C at fret 8 on the E string and at fret 3 on the A string: the same pitch, five frets lower on the next string up.

The same pattern two strings up

The D string repeats the E string’s notes one octave higher, two frets further up. The G string repeats the A string in the same way. Lesson 1.6 turns this into octave shapes.

The half steps line up

E–F and B–C are always side by side, one fret apart, on every string. And wherever B–C is on one string, E–F is directly across on the next higher string, at the same frets. Check it in the diagram: B–C at frets 7–8 on the E string, E–F at frets 7–8 on the A string.

Every note, many times

In the first 12 frets plus the open strings, every note appears at least 4 times on a 4-string bass. You never need to go far to find the note you want.

A learning order that works

the open strings;
the notes on the E and A strings, up to fret 12: you will use them for roots;
the marker frets on all strings;
all the natural notes;
the in-between notes, named from their neighbours.