Bass 6-String Standard Tuner — Tune to 6-String Standard in Your Browser

6-string bass standard tuning is B E A D G C, low to high — B0, E1, A1, D2, G2, C3. It combines the low-B and high-C extensions on a single instrument: a perfect fourth below the standard 4-string and a perfect fourth above. The full range covers from roughly 30.9 Hz at the lowest open B to 130.8 Hz at the open high C, with all four standard strings sitting unchanged in the middle.

The 6-string is built for solo and ensemble bassists who want both registers without switching instruments. Bass lines, chord voicings, and melodic phrases coexist on a single neck. The all-fourths layout means every scale and arpeggio shape that works between two strings on a 4-string still works between any two adjacent strings here — there is no major-third break to navigate as on a guitar.

Modern fusion, progressive metal, and chordal solo bass are the natural settings for 6-strings. Jazz fusion and instrumental progressive bassists tend to be the most common voices in this register. The trade-off is mechanical: a 6-string neck is wide, sometimes 80mm or more across the nut, and right-hand muting has to handle six strings instead of four. Many players who try 6-strings return to 5-string after deciding the extra string is rarely worth the wider neck.

If you are stepping up from a 4- or 5-string, treat the 6-string as a 4-string with two extra strings rather than a fundamentally new instrument. Keep playing your existing repertoire on the middle four strings until muting feels reliable. Then practice scales that move across all six strings to build comfort with the wider neck. The high C and low B are tools for specific moments, not strings to be on constantly — over-using either is the most common mistake on a fresh 6-string.