# Octave shapes

*Module 1 · Lesson 6: Notes and the fretboard · BazzLow*

> Jump to the same note an octave higher or lower with a fixed hand shape.

Before this lesson: [1.5 Mapping the fretboard](https://bazzlow.com/en/notes-and-fretboard/mapping-the-fretboard/)

The strings of a bass are tuned in a regular pattern, so the same note always sits in the same position relative to itself. A few hand shapes let you jump from any note to its octave without thinking about names at all.

## Four octave shapes

These **octave shapes** work for every note, on every pair of strings, in standard tuning:

- **two strings up, two frets up** = one octave higher. G at fret 3 on the E string → G at fret 5 on the D string.
- **two strings down, two frets down** = one octave lower. The same shape, in reverse.
- **three strings up, three frets down** = one octave higher. G at fret 3 on the E string → the open G string. On a 4-string this only works from the E string to the G string; on a 5-string it also works from B to D.
- **same string, 12 frets up** = one octave higher.

> **Diagram:** Octave shapes from G at fret 3 on the E string: two strings up and two frets up (D string, fret 5); three strings up and three frets down (open G string); the same string 12 frets up (fret 15). Read the first line backwards for two strings down, two frets down.

Three of those Gs are one octave above the G on the E string. They are not three different notes: they are the same pitch in different places.

## Unison

Lesson 1.5 showed the shape for the same pitch on the next string: **next string up, 5 frets down**. Two places that give the same pitch are a **unison**.

> **Diagram:** Unison: G at fret 10 on the A string and G at fret 5 on the D string are the same pitch.

## Why the shapes matter

Octave shapes are the fastest way to learn the notes on the D and G strings. Learn the E and A strings first, then find each note’s octave two strings up.

They also matter in the music itself. In bass lines, a root and its octave are one of the most common pairs of notes. You will use them again when you start building lines in Module 9.

## Try it

Play C at fret 3 on the A string, then its octave at fret 5 on the G string. Move the same shape up one fret at a time and name every pair (C♯, D, D♯…) up to fret 12.

## New terms

- octave shape
- unison

Page: https://bazzlow.com/en/notes-and-fretboard/octave-shapes/