About the Bass Scales Tool
Guitar Tool Hub's bass scales tool draws any scale across the full bass neck, from the open strings to the 24th fret, in all 12 keys. Every root note is ringed, so you can see where each scale shape starts and where a bass line can land. Choose from 12 scale types — major, natural minor, major and minor pentatonic, blues, harmonic and melodic minor, and the modes — on 9 tunings for 4, 5 and 6-string bass. Tap any note to hear it at bass pitch, label the scale with intervals or Roman numerals, and print a chart for the practice room.
- 01Major, minor, pentatonic, blues, harmonic and melodic minor, and the modes
- 02All 12 keys
- 03Root notes ringed across the whole neck
- 049 tunings for 4, 5 and 6-string bass
- 05Tap any note to hear it at bass pitch
- 06Label the scale with note names, interval numbers (1 2 ♭3), or Roman numerals (I II ♭III)
- 07Left-handed fretboard option
- 08Printable scale chart
Frequently Asked Questions
Start with the major scale and the minor pentatonic. The major scale is the source of almost every bass line in pop and rock, and the minor pentatonic (root, flat 3rd, 4th, 5th, flat 7th) is the backbone of blues, rock and funk grooves. After those, the natural minor, the blues scale and the Mixolydian and Dorian modes cover most of what you will hear in popular music.
A five-note scale. The minor pentatonic is the root, flat 3rd, 4th, 5th and flat 7th — A, C, D, E and G in A minor — and the major pentatonic is the root, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th. Both drop the two notes most likely to clash with a chord, which is why so many rock, blues and funk bass lines are built from them. Add the flat 5th to the minor pentatonic and you have the blues scale. Pick Minor Pentatonic, Major Pentatonic or Blues Scale to see any of them across the whole bass neck in all 12 keys.
12 scale types in all 12 keys: major (Ionian), natural minor (Aeolian), major pentatonic, minor pentatonic, blues, harmonic minor, melodic minor, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian and Locrian.
The ringed notes are the root of the scale — the note the key is named after. Bass lines lean on the root more than any other note, so seeing every root on the neck at once shows you where each scale shape starts and where you can land a line.
The notes are the same — an A minor pentatonic is A, C, D, E and G on any instrument — and on the four strings a bass shares with a guitar (E A D G, an octave lower) the shapes are identical. What changes is how you use them: bass players tend to outline the root, 3rd, 5th and octave of each chord rather than run the whole scale.
Yes. Choose from 9 tunings, including standard 5-string (B E A D G), 5-string high C (E A D G C) and standard 6-string (B E A D G C), and the scale is drawn across every string.
Yes. Set Labels to "Intervals (1 2 3)" and every note shows its scale degree counted from the key you picked — the minor pentatonic reads 1, flat 3, 4, 5, flat 7 in every key. Choose "Roman (I II III)" for Roman numerals instead.
Yes. Set Fretboard to "Left-handed" and the bass neck mirrors, with the nut on the right, so every scale shape reads the way it looks on a left-handed bass. The string order stays the same. The setting is remembered in your browser and applies to every fretboard tool on the site, guitar and bass alike.
Yes. Print / Download produces a full-neck chart of the selected scale in your current key, tuning and labels, which you can print or save as a PDF.
Yes — completely free. No account, no download and no payment.