Intervals on the bass guitar, and on any other instrument, represent the distance between the root note and another note.
Here’s a diagram showing all bass intervals in a single position, organized chromatically.
And, if you read my posts or watched my videos about dyads, then you’ve already learned some common intervals including:
- Octaves
- Perfect fifths (which produce a power chord)
- Major 3rds
- Minor 3rds
- Major and minor tenths
- Tritones (b5 intervals)
If you want to make intervals fairly easy, I want you to learn this simple major scale shape:
If you play the shape from the 3rd fret of the A-string, you’ll get the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B, which spells out the C major scale.
Playing these notes will give you the intervals 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 (8 = the octave).
Note: the major scale shape might be easier for you to play at the 8th fret of the E-string.
Interval practice
Using the fretboard diagrams, say the intervals out loud and practice them daily so you can memorize bass intervals and improve your overall knowledge of scales, harmony, and fretboard visualization.
Now that you have a basic understanding of intervals, you can move on to learning triads on the bass.
