A recorded electric bass
Every note comes from a recording of a real electric bass, pitched from the nearest recorded note. A new note on a string stops the one before it, as your fretting hand would - so lines stay tight instead of blurring.
Bass guitar · Real samples · No account
Virtual Bass Guitar - play bass online
A recorded four-string electric bass, played with your mouse, your fingers or your computer keyboard. Each string has its own row of keys, so a bass line is under your fingers as soon as the page opens - and every note you play is written as tablature under the neck.
4 STRINGS
2 TUNINGS
40 KEYS
15 FRETS
0 INSTALL
What you get
A bass you can play straight away
Recorded strings, a neck at real proportions and your computer keyboard laid out like a fretboard.
Your keyboard is the fretboard
Four rows of keys, four strings: Z X C V... play the E string from the open note to fret 9, the row above plays A, then D, and the number row G. Moving a finger one key to the right is moving one fret up, exactly like on the neck.
Tap the neck
With a mouse or on a touch screen, tap any fret of the four strings, with several fingers at once. Turn on note names to learn where each note sits, or show the keyboard keys on the strings instead.
The guitar next door
The online guitar uses the same neck with six strings, 18 chords and strumming, and the guitar chord charts show what the guitarist is playing over your line.
Getting started
From the first note to a bass line
Play a note
Tap a fret, or press Z for the open E string. The first note starts the sound; the bass notes load while the page settles.
Walk up a string
Z X C V B N M play the E string from the open note to fret 6. The row above (A S D F...) does the same on the A string.
Find the root and the fifth
Play a root on one row, then the key two places to the right on the row above: that is its fifth, on any pair of strings - the shape of half the bass lines ever written.
Read it back
The tablature under the neck keeps the last notes you played. Switch to drop D for heavier riffs, or to the left-handed neck.
Specifications
The full sheet
| Type | Sampled electric bass, playable on this page, free |
|---|---|
| Strings | 4, standard tuning E A D G or drop D (D A D G) |
| Neck | 15 frets on a wide screen, 9 on a tablet, 5 on a phone |
| Computer keyboard | Z row = E string, A row = A string, Q row = D string, number row = G string, frets 0 to 9, by key position - QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ |
| Display | Note names or keyboard keys on the strings, left-handed neck, live tablature |
| Input | Mouse, touch (several fingers) and computer keyboard |
| Riffs | 10 bass lines with tablature, loop and 50 / 75 / 100% speed: public domain classics and traditional patterns, GOONS originals |
| Credits | Bass samples from tonejs-instruments by Nicholas Brosowsky, CC BY 3.0 |
| Requirements | Any modern browser with Web Audio - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari |
An online bass that plays like a fretboard
A bass line is mostly about where your fingers go on four strings, and that is what this layout copies: one row of computer keys per string, one key per fret. Shapes you learn here - root and fifth, an octave two strings up and two frets over - are the same shapes on a real bass.
Learn where the notes are
Turn on note names and the open strings show E, A, D and G; the tablature under the neck writes every note as a string and a fret. Between the two you learn the fretboard by playing it, not by reading a chart.
Bass guitar or bass synth
This page is a recorded bass guitar. For electronic bass - sub, saw and square, with glide and a filter - Bassline Studio is the synth in GOONS Studio, with scale lock so every note fits the key.
Questions
Frequently asked
Which bass lines can I learn on this page?
Ten bass riffs sit under the bass: the Canon in D ground bass, In the Hall of the Mountain King, a habanera ostinato and a boogie walk-up, all public domain or traditional, plus six GOONS originals: a walking blues, disco octaves, a funk groove, a reggae one drop, rock eighths and a soul line. Each one plays on the neck with its tablature; loop it and slow it down while you learn it.
Can I play bass guitar online for free?
Yes. The bass at the top of this page is free, with no account and nothing to install: real recorded electric bass notes on four strings, played with the mouse, touch or your computer keyboard.
Which keys play the bass on my computer keyboard?
Each row of keys is a string, from the open note to fret 9: Z X C V B N M , . / for the E string, A S D F G H J K L ; for A, Q W E R T Y U I O P for D, and 1 to 0 for G. Keys are read by position, so the same physical keys work on QWERTY, AZERTY and QWERTZ keyboards.
How is a bass guitar tuned?
Standard tuning is E A D G from the lowest string, one octave below the four lowest strings of a guitar. Drop D lowers the E string to D for heavier riffs; both are in the Tuning menu.
Does it work on my phone?
Yes. Tap a fret to play it, with several fingers at once. Upright the neck shows the first five frets in full size; turn the phone sideways for more.
Is this the same as Bassline Studio?
No. This page is a sampled bass guitar. Bassline Studio is the bass synthesizer of GOONS Studio, with oscillators, a filter, glide and a step progression sequencer.
Keep exploring
Other apps in the studio
Ready when you are
Lay down a bass line
The bass on this page is free, with no account. When you want drums and chords under it, GOONS Studio has them in the browser - free for 7 days, no card required.
Free on this page, no account. Play the guitar →