alt 5 stringer tuning E-A-D-G-( B or C )

[alec_mcmahon]

just thinking, if i ever would get a 5 stringer, i think i would perfer keeping my low string at E, and gain the higher string

i figured it go E A D G B , like on a guitar.... but every where i look online, it says that it should go E A D G C..


with C being the 5th high string... why is this not a B like on a guitar? am i just retarted or is it too late.

[MarkTAW]

Bass is tuned in diatonic 4ths.

Guitar has those two extra strings with one tuned to a diatonic major 3rd, which helps with chords.

Since the bass doesn't play chords, tuning one string differently from the other requires unexpected mental math while playing and doesn't offer any benefit, so we don't do it.

[mutedeity]

Guitars tune (or are tuned) EADGBE because it makes it easier to play certain open chord voicings. There is no reason that you can't do the same thing on with a bass, John Myung uses that type of tuning, I believe only it is lower in pitch.

On the other hand tuning universally in 4ths makes it a lot easier when you are playing melodically since you don't have to think too hard about the way the shape of the scale or chords change when you play the higher strings. Also with a 5 string especially there is no point to having just that one string a M3 above the last string when the rest of the strings are tuned to P4 intervals, in my opinion. Personally I use EADGC tuning on my 5 string.

[Mr_Sore_Fingerz]

Originally Posted by MarkTAW

Bass is tuned in diatonic 4ths.

Guitar has those two extra strings with one tuned to a diatonic major 3rd, which helps with chords.

Since the bass doesn't play chords, tuning one string differently from the other requires unexpected mental math while playing and doesn't offer any benefit, so we don't do it.

I always took it that guitarists were too drunk and stupid to tune a guitar right?

lol jk! I got love for the guitards still

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by MarkTAW

Bass is tuned in diatonic 4ths.

Guitar has those two extra strings with one tuned to a diatonic major 3rd, which helps with chords.

Since the bass doesn't play chords, tuning one string differently from the other requires unexpected mental math while playing and doesn't offer any benefit, so we don't do it.

That's news to me. My basses play chords perfectly well. I hope no one breaks the news to them.

[HaVIC5]

Originally Posted by mutedeity

That's news to me. My basses play chords perfectly well. I hope no one breaks the news to them.

Playing chords on bass is a much simpler endeavor because you'll be playing at the very most 4 notes at any one time, and it has to be voiced pretty freaking high up on the neck if you're doing 4 notes in order for it not to sound like pure mud. On a guitar, there is a very complicated system built around creating voicings from that major third interval, and if you've ever gotten really far into learning how those voicings work, you'll see why that major third interval is so vital. In my own findings, I've found that the pure fourth system is, well, inferior when it comes to chords.

Fortunately, what MarkTAW was getting at, is the bass doesn't need to voice complicated 4 and 5-voice chords in any sort of musical context. If you were trying to do that on a bass, why not just play guitar? It's a whole lot easier on that instrument.

I tune my 5 string EADGC. As far as melodic and linear lines go, fourths are far more logical - relearning different patterns for a new interval just isn't worth it when there is no real need for it.

[mutedeity]

That's a matter of opinion really.

[onlyclave]

Tim Bogert tunes his bass BEADGB so that he can play guitar chord voicings on his upper strings.

I don't know why someone would want to give up the extended low range of a low B in exchange for playing chords. Outside of 2 and maybe 3-note voicings the bass just doesn't sound good for that. I find that a low B lets me shift my hand up a perfect fourth and the string speaks faster because of the shorting string length and I have more upper range just moving across the neck.

[HaVIC5]

Originally Posted by mutedeity

That's a matter of opinion really.

What, that fourths are inferior to the third tuning for chords? How many jazz guitarists you see tune their guitars EADGCF? Read the book "Fretboard Logic", it really gets you into the whole system.

[TL5]

Typically, my five string fretless is EADGC.
However, depending on the song and key, I may re-tune the C to B.
Example: If playing in G the b would allow major third open drones and (5th fret) harmonics.

fwiw, I used to have this bass strung BEADG, I rarely to never used the lower extension on the fretless - YMMV.

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by alec_mcmahon

just thinking, if i ever would get a 5 stringer, i think i would perfer keeping my low string at E, and gain the higher string

i figured it go E A D G B , like on a guitar.... but every where i look online, it says that it should go E A D G C..


with C being the 5th high string... why is this not a B like on a guitar? am i just retarted or is it too late.

If you played guitar you'd know it is to help facilitate playing chords. I play both guitar and bass and use C on my 5 and 6 string basses. It makes life much easier having the consistency of intervals between strings and sometimes when soloing on guitar I wish it was like bass.

[iplaybasstexas]

in a rock band setting, i have my 5er tuned BEADG. I use the B for low end and matching drop-tuned guitars. I sometimes tune the B to C on occasion.

If i were doing solo bass/harmonics, i would tune EADGC. In fact, thats how my 5er used to be.

[not_jason]

I'm also a guitarist, and while I love EADGBE for chords, the leap from G to B does me no favors when playing melodies. Since the bulk of bass playing is more melodic in nature, it doesn't really make any sense to deal with that G to B interval. And as others have said, yes, playing chords on bass is something many people do, but it's a completely different thing than playing chords on guitar. On guitar, for me at least, the real benefit of the high B and E strings is that it lets me have that extra octave and high fifth on the top of barre chords. You couldn't do that with a C and F. You'd have to stagger your fingering in a way that would make barre chords either incredibly difficult or impossible. On bass, you don't see a whole lot of people playing E position barre chords on all 5 or 6 strings. Instead, you see mostly a lot of chords with 2 or 3 notes (I realize that 2 notes isn't really a "chord", but you get what I'm saying). In those settings, especially if it's on the higher strings, that B is only going to make things harder. For example, a simple power chord that you might play on the 2nd and 4th frets of the G and C would need to be played on the 2nd and 5th of the G and B. If you were doing a three note powerchord, with the extra octave, you'd have to do a shape that's still more awkward, all for the sake of something that should be easy, in my opinion.

I just don't see the benefit of EADGB tuning on bass.

[~ignited~wings~]

I don't really think it matters that much. it's all what you're able to wrap your head around. I often tune to DADAC or EADGD for different harmonics.

[Fnord Explorer]

I tune my guitar to AEADF#BE a lot. Always fun chord voicings that way. Otherwise I just play standard BEADGBE

[anthowl]

Originally Posted by mutedeity

That's news to me. My basses play chords perfectly well. I hope no one breaks the news to them.

yer but if you were playing chords with a b string the chord shape using that string would be wider than with the C. with the fifth string as a high C all the power chords, which are probably the best to play on bass, would all the that same shape.

it in the end becomes a question of whether ya want to be playing all the same fret positions as the guitarist or if you can stand to transpose stuff down a fret. simple as that.

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by HaVIC5

What, that fourths are inferior to the third tuning for chords? How many jazz guitarists you see tune their guitars EADGCF? Read the book "Fretboard Logic", it really gets you into the whole system.

Yes, it is all a matter of opinion. It has nothing to do with how many people have one opinion over another. Maybe it's that you are confused about what an opinion is.

It's a matter of opinion that playing chords lower down on a bass sound like mud. It's an opinion that you won't play more than 4 note chords on a bass. It is an opinion that the M3 interval is superior. All opinions. The fact that you find it superior is an opinion, whether that opinion is shared by most people or not is nothing to do with whether it is a matter of opinion or not. Even if I shared that opinion myself, it would still be a matter of opinion. The difference, it seems is that I know what an opinion is.

I've said this to you on more than one occasion, but popular agreement doesn't make an opinion an unequivocal fact. I also think that the important thing to keep in mind is that as soon as you say that something can or can't be done or should or shouldn't be done because everyone else agrees, someone comes along and does that very thing, proving you wrong.

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by anthowl

yer but if you were playing chords with a b string the chord shape using that string would be wider than with the C. with the fifth string as a high C all the power chords, which are probably the best to play on bass, would all the that same shape.

it in the end becomes a question of whether ya want to be playing all the same fret positions as the guitarist or if you can stand to transpose stuff down a fret. simple as that.

Personally, I never play power chords.

[mutedeity]

Originally Posted by TL5

Typically, my five string fretless is EADGC.
However, depending on the song and key, I may re-tune the C to B.
Example: If playing in G the b would allow major third open drones and (5th fret) harmonics.

fwiw, I used to have this bass strung BEADG, I rarely to never used the lower extension on the fretless - YMMV.

This is probably the best approach, really. If you are tuning EADGC primarily there is really no reason not to have the flexibility to retune depending on the application. The only issue would be about tension and pitch, which should be fairly minimal tuning between B and C.

[anthowl]

Originally Posted by mutedeity

Personally, I never play power chords.

fair enough, just using it as an example becouse it's just a two note, basic chord type that people get easily. it's just a root (or octive of the root) with a fifth thrown on.

other chord shapes are likely to involve the key theory more.