What does a slash mean in bass tabs?

What does a slash mean in bass tabs?

Some common bass tab markings you may encounter: For markings on the strings: A forward slash ( / ) indicates a slide moving up in pitch. A back slash ( \ ) indicates a slide moving down in pitch. A caret (^) indicates a bend.

What do dashes on a tab mean?

The dashes between numbers / notes on a string should be a way of spacing out the notes to show the rhythm – the more dashes in between, the longer the note length. Unfortunately so many people write bad tablature where they just put one note after the other with nothing to indicate the timing.

What is a ghost note on bass guitar?

Ghost notes are notes that are muted while they are plucked to give a percussive sound. They are often used before a note to give a funky feel to the line. To play a ghost note, you simply need to rest the left hand over the string to deaden it and pluck with the right hand.

What is hammer-on bass?

A hammer-on is a common articulation on bass and other stringed instruments. A hammer-on produces a note, not by plucking the string, but instead by pressing down, or “hammering,” an already-ringing string with a finger of the fretting hand.

What is a ghost note on guitar?

In music, a ghost note is a musical note with a rhythmic value, but no discernible pitch when played. In musical notation, this is represented by an “X” for a note head instead of an oval, or parentheses around the note head. “Muted to the point where it is more percussive sounding than obvious and clear in pitch.

How do you do a dead note on bass?

To play a dead note, rest two or more fingers from your left hand on a string. (Be sure not to press the string to the fingerboard, though.) Then strike that string with your right-hand index or middle finger. The result is a non-pitched thud.

What do the strings on the bass tab mean?

Bass tab shows the strings of the bass drawn horizontally. Most often bass tab is written for 4-string bass, but you may see it for 5-string and 6-string basses, too. That will depend on whether more strings are required to play the song.

What do the slashes mean in bass tab?

Slides are represented in bass tab by slashes, or by the letter s. An up slash / indicates a slide up and a down slash indicates a slide down. When found in between two fret numbers, as in the first two instances in the example above, it means you should slide from the first note to the second.

What do the s and P stand for in bass tab?

If you’re looking at bass tablature for a funky song that uses some slap bass technique, you may see the capital letters S and P on the bottom below the notes. These stand for slap and pop. A slap is when you strike the string with your thumb so it slaps into the fretboard. Do this on every note that has an S written underneath it.

Is there a way to read the bass tab?

You can read more about standard bass tunings and alternate bass tunings on StudyBass. There’s not too much to reading bass tab. It’s just fret numbers on string lines. Bass tab can be a real aid to beginners before they have learned to read standard music notation or have learned the note names on the fretboard.