Play the four fingers in one order on every string, low to high, then reverse the order on the way back down. Working through all 24 orders trains every finger to follow every other one.
Practice tips
- Pluck with alternating index and middle fingers, and never the same finger twice in a row.
- Keep each finger down until the next one plays, and keep your thumb behind the neck.
- Start slow enough to play it cleanly, then raise the tempo 4–5 BPM at a time.
- Low frets stretch further. If fret 5 feels wide, start at fret 7 and work down.
About Bass Finger Exercises
Guitar Tool Hub's bass finger exercises are one-finger-per-fret drills for the fretting hand: every finger has its own fret, from finger 1 on the start fret to finger 4 three frets higher. Choose one of all 24 finger permutations (1-2-3-4, 1-3-2-4, 4-3-2-1 and the rest), the spider walk, or a chromatic climb that shifts up a fret. Each exercise is shown as bass tab with the finger for every note, and lit up on the neck as it plays. Set the start fret from 1 to 12, play quarter or eighth notes from 40 to 200 BPM, loop it, and use any of 9 tunings for 4, 5 and 6-string bass.
- 01All 24 finger permutations, plus the spider walk and a chromatic climb
- 02One finger per fret, with the finger shown under every note
- 03Bass tab and the positions lit on the neck as it plays
- 04Playback at 40–200 BPM, quarter or eighth notes, with loop
- 05Start fret from 1 to 12
- 069 tunings for 4, 5 and 6-string bass
- 07Left-handed fretboard option
Frequently Asked Questions
The standard fretting-hand exercises are one-finger-per-fret drills: chromatic runs (1-2-3-4 across every string), finger permutations (the same four fingers in a different order), and the spider walk, which crosses strings on every note. They build strength, independence and accuracy in all four fingers, especially the ring finger and pinky. This page has all 24 permutations, the spider walk and a chromatic climb, with playback.
Each fretting finger covers its own fret: the index on the start fret, the middle one fret higher, the ring two higher and the pinky three higher. The hand stays in one position and reaches four frets without moving. On a bass the frets near the nut are wide, so many players start these drills around the 5th fret and move lower as the stretch gets easier.
They are every order the four fretting fingers can play in: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-4-3, 1-3-2-4, 1-3-4-2, 1-4-2-3, 1-4-3-2, and the same for orders starting on fingers 2, 3 and 4, which makes 24 in all. Practising one or two a day trains every finger to follow every other finger, not just the next one along.
The spider walk uses two strings at once. Fingers 1 and 3 play the lower string and fingers 2 and 4 play the higher one, alternating 1-2-3-4, so every note crosses a string. The pair then moves up a string and repeats, and the exercise comes back down in reverse. It trains finger independence and keeps the hand in one position.
Slowly enough to play every note cleanly, with each finger landing just behind its fret. Start around 60 to 70 BPM in quarter notes, and raise the tempo 4 or 5 BPM at a time only when a full pass is clean. Switch to eighth notes to double the speed at the same BPM.
Start each session with five minutes of finger exercises as a warm-up: a chromatic climb, then one or two of the 24 permutations or the spider walk, slowly and cleanly. Then spend time on scales, on learning the notes of the neck, and on playing simple grooves or songs in time with a metronome or drum track. Short daily sessions build more than one long session a week.
Alternate the index and middle fingers of your plucking hand, and never pluck with the same finger twice in a row, including when you cross to a new string. Keeping that alternation strict is part of the exercise.
Yes. The bass finger exercises are free and run in your browser, with no account or download.