by How to tune a bass by ear – why would you even need to know this when you’ve got a headstock tuner strapped to your bass as well as a stompbox tuner in your pedalboard.
Well imagine this:
In between songs, a buddy leans over to you and says, “Hey – can you tune your bass up? I think one of your strings might be a little out.”
OF COURSE!
That’s probably why things haven’t sounded the way you know they should have the last few songs.
Something had felt a little ‘off’ over the last couple of tunes, even though you were playing all the right notes, but somehow it sounded ever so frustratingly wrong.
Thanks to your buddy diagnosing the problem, you turn to your trusty headstock tuner, and click the ‘On’ button, or give your stompbox tuner a very satisfying *stomp*, only to find…
Your Bass Tuner Isn’t Working
Not only do you not know which strings are out of tune, but without knowing how to tune your bass by ear you have no way of fixing this problem on the fly without stopping everything and asking someone to help you tune up, or just twiddling your headstock tuners and hoping for the best.
Of course, if you can tune your bass by ear, this isn’t an issue for you at all. You simply use one of three tuning methods that makes the most sense for you and the jam session/rehearsal/gig/worship service goes on without a hitch.
In today’s video, that’s exactly what I want to show you how to do. You’ll learn 3 distinct ways of tuning your bass by ear, which means you won’t have to rely on any tuners or apps (or needing a guitar tech tuning it for you like some bona fide rock god).
And the best part is what you DON’T need in order to do this:
- You DON’T need perfect pitch
- You DON’T need a ‘good’ ear
- You DON’T need years of experience
All you need to do is listen for the one key ‘signal’ that you’re in tune – although it’s more of a lack of it being there that really shows whether you’re in tune or not.
Once it’s pointed out to you, you’ll be able to notice it pretty quickly and get on the path to tuning your bass 100% by ear.
Check out the lesson here:
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One of the cool things about learning how to tune your bass by ear is that it almost ‘primes’ you to open up your ear and even start thinking about playing by ear, so you don’t have to be chained to tabs or YouTube covers to learn songs, and when that happens, a whole world of possibilities opens up to you.
If playing bass entirely by ear sounds like something you want to do, but don’t know where to start, check out my other video: How To Get Started Playing Bass By Ear
By the way, even if you can tune by ear, it’s usually a good idea to have a (functional) tuner handy – especially if you’re playing a high-ish stakes gig or a recording session.
You want to make sure that your bass is in tune with itself, but ALSO with all the other instruments you’re playing with. Even bassists with great ears will still use tuners for precisely this reason.
Good luck with the lesson and happy tuning!
Cheers,
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