Bass music – an octive off?

Question:

I’ve looked high-’n-low for a reference that maps a bass fretboard to a standard keyboard.  No luck.  I have a bass lesson book w/ tab, and the music in the book has, ‘middle C’ (the C just above the staff) on the 5th fret of the G string.  I just found a reference, however, that states that middle C is on the 17th fret of the G string. During my previous electronic tuner query, there were a few mentions of the tuning frequency of a 5-string’s low ‘B’ string being ~30Hz.  I’ve seen this elsewhere too, which corresponds to an octive lower than the written music in my book. I’m confused.  Is bass music generally written an octive high to keep it on the staff? Jay

Response:

<<  Is bass music generally written an octive high to keep it on the staff? >><BR><BR> Exactly.

Response:

keyboard and summoned the courage to write: >I’m confused.  Is bass music generally written an octive high to keep it on >the staff?

Yup. Guitar music too. — Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.   (Aldous Huxley)

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > I’ve looked high-’n-low for a reference that maps a bass fretboard to a > standard keyboard.  No luck.  I have a bass lesson book w/ tab, and the > music in the book has, ‘middle C’ (the C just above the staff) on the 5th > fret of the G string.  I just found a reference, however, that states that > middle C is on the 17th fret of the G string. > During my previous electronic tuner query, there were a few mentions of the > tuning frequency of a 5-string’s low ‘B’ string being ~30Hz.  I’ve seen this > elsewhere too, which corresponds to an octive lower than the written music > in my book. > I’m confused.  Is bass music generally written an octive high to keep it on > the staff? > Jay

Yup…  Then you play the "written" middle c, it sounds an octave lower. -Ted Partin (now posting from google)

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> I’ve looked high-’n-low for a reference that maps a bass fretboard to a > standard keyboard.  No luck.  I have a bass lesson book w/ tab, and the > music in the book has, ‘middle C’ (the C just above the staff) on the 5th > fret of the G string.  I just found a reference, however, that states that > middle C is on the 17th fret of the G string. > During my previous electronic tuner query, there were a few mentions of the > tuning frequency of a 5-string’s low ‘B’ string being ~30Hz.  I’ve seen this > elsewhere too, which corresponds to an octive lower than the written music > in my book. > I’m confused.  Is bass music generally written an octive high to keep it on > the staff?

Yes.  Low E, written as 2 E’s below middle C, is really 3 E’s below middle C (~41 Hz, the lowest E on a standard 88-key piano). – Gary Rosen

Response:

 > I’ve looked high-’n-low for a reference that maps a bass fretboard to a  > standard keyboard.  No luck.  I have a bass lesson book w/ tab, and the  > music in the book has, ‘middle C’ (the C just above the staff) on the 5th  > fret of the G string.  I just found a reference, however, that states that  > middle C is on the 17th fret of the G string. The frequency of middle C is 261.6 Hertz (Hz) using the reference frequency of the A note at 440 Hz. for a description of the note frequencies on the first five frets and their relationships.  > During my previous electronic tuner query, there were a few mentions of the  > tuning frequency of a 5-string’s low ‘B’ string being ~30Hz.  I’ve seen this  > elsewhere too, which corresponds to an octive lower than the written music  > in my book.  >  > I’m confused. I was too until I worked things out by assigning frequency values to the musical notes. for my explanation when I was trying to figure this out.  > Is bass music generally written an octive high to keep it on the staff?  From my adventures with standard music notation to date, I have encountered three staffs, the bass clef staff, the treble clef staff and the grand staff. The grand staff is a combination of the bass clef staff and the treble clef staff. From what I have seen, the bass clef staff and the treble clef staff are joined together by a vertical line on the left hand side to create a grand staff. Sometimes, a left curly brace exists to the left of the joining vertical line to indicate a grand staff. The primary instrument of use for a grand staff is the piano. Thus, the reference octave on a grand staff is tailored for the piano. Guitar and bass guitar instruction books use the staffs of treble clef and bass clef, respectively, to indicate the notes for play. And, the reference octave for these instruction books is appropriate to the applicable instrument. However, in both cases, the reference octave is one octave below the reference octave of the grand staff. For myself, the type of staff and its context determines the reference octave. Having said all of the above, you’re the player and you determine the octave of play, or whoever is paying for your time. Doug

Response:

Ahh, I get it – what was once vague is now clear.  Thanks all. Jay

Response:

Related Posts