Root, major 3rd and perfect 5th. The 3rd is what makes it major, so every major shape keeps it.
Root & 10th
R – 10
The 3rd an octave up, so it stays clear even low on the neck. The classic bass double stop.
Root, 5th & 10th
R – 5 – 10
A full triad spread across three strings, with the 3rd kept high.
Close triad
R – 3 – 5
All three notes packed together. Muddy on the low strings, so play it on the higher strings or above the 7th fret.
R is the root; the other numbers are chord degrees. Tap a note to hear it.
About the Bass Chords Tool
Guitar Tool Hub's bass chords tool shows chord shapes that work on bass guitar, where a low, close-packed chord turns to mud. Pick a root and one of 8 chord types — major, minor, power chord, dominant 7th, major 7th, minor 7th, sus4 and diminished — and every voicing that spells it appears as a diagram: root and 5th, root and 10th, spread triads, close triads and 7th-chord shells. The fingerings are worked out from the tuning, for a root on any string, so they are right for all 9 tunings on 4, 5 and 6-string bass. Hear each shape strummed, and see it on the full neck with the chord degrees marked.
- 018 chord types: major, minor, 5, 7, maj7, m7, sus4, dim
- 0210 bass voicings: power chords, 10ths, spread and close triads, 7th shells
- 03All 12 roots, with sharp or flat note names
- 04Shape diagrams with the chord degree on every note
- 05Root on any string, or the lowest string that fits
- 06Hear each shape, and see it on the full neck
- 079 tunings for 4, 5 and 6-string bass
- 08Left-handed fretboard option
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, but not the way a guitarist does. Low notes close together sound muddy, so bassists play two to four notes spread out: the root and 5th (a power chord), the root and 10th (the 3rd an octave up), or a triad with the 3rd kept high. These shapes are used for fills, intros, solo bass and chordal parts in funk, jazz and metal.
The power chord: the root plus the 5th, one string up and two frets up in standard tuning. Add the octave on the next string up, at the same fret as the 5th, and it gets bigger. Because it has no 3rd, the power chord works over both major and minor chords.
A 10th is the 3rd of the chord, played an octave higher: 16 semitones above the root for a major 10th, 15 for a minor 10th. In standard tuning, from a root on the E string it is three strings up and one fret up for major, or at the same fret for minor. Root and 10th is the classic bass double stop, because the wide gap keeps the chord clear.
Two notes close together low on the neck make a rough, beating sound, because their overtones clash in the low register. A 3rd below about C2 is the usual culprit. Spread the notes out, with the root low and the 3rd or 7th an octave up, or play close shapes higher on the neck. The tool labels the close triads and compact shells so you know to play them higher.
A shell voicing plays only the root, the 3rd and the 7th of a 7th chord, leaving out the 5th. The 3rd and 7th are the notes that tell a major 7th, a dominant 7th and a minor 7th apart, so nothing essential is lost. The root, 7th and 10th version, with the 3rd on top, is the most common one on bass.
Yes. The shapes are worked out from the tuning you pick, so they are correct in Drop D, Drop C, BEAD and the 5 and 6-string tunings, where some string pairs are not a 4th apart. On a 5 or 6-string you can also put the root on the low B string for four-note shapes.
On bass, the lowest note is heard as the chord's root. If the 3rd or 5th is at the bottom, the chord becomes an inversion (a slash chord such as C/E) and can sound like a different chord altogether. Every shape here keeps the root lowest, so it names the chord you chose.
Yes. The bass chords tool is free, runs in your browser and needs no account or download.