The Cipher for Bass Guitar         Before reading this be forewarned that I use Commonsense String Numbers for Bass in all explanations. Index of The Cipher for Bass Guitar: 3 Minute Introduction for Bass Commonsense String Numbers for Bass Five Degree Calculation Line for Bass Demonstrations for Bass Pattern of Unisons and Octaves for Bass Triads on Bass Guitar fretboard (four pages) Scales, Major and minor, in parallel, on the Bass Guitar fretboard Notes of the Bass fretboard spelled Blank 4 string fretboard grid paper in PDF Number-formula translation tables The Cipher System’s Five-Degree (Perfect-Fourth) Calculation Line used for plotting musical materials on the guitar fretboard also works for bass guitar (fretted or un-fretted). For application to bass; ignore (drop) the two pattern points within the Five Degree Calculation Line that correspond to the guitar’s two highest pitched strings. This bass version is shown in Figure 2. The bass version of the Five Degree Calculation Line is much simpler because the pattern is made entirely of uniform P-4ths (moving straight across the fretboard) without any pattern shift like the one on guitar (at the fifth string). As usual, commonsense string numbering order is also used here — low E is String-One (Figure 1) A Pattern of Unisons and Octaves specific to the four string bass is also needed.       For 4-string bass guitar: A four string Five Degree (Perfect-Fifth) Calculation Line is used, see Figure 2. [this is the same as the pattern on the guitar’s four lowest pitched strings]   The same Cipher number formula (for intervals, scales, and chords) used for guitar are used for bass as well. The formula are simply plotted relative to the 4-string version of the Five Degree Calculation Line and it’s resulting counting grids. Again, these patterns and counting grids are natural to the bass guitar neck. This is how it truly works (in it’s standard tuning). Commonsense string numbering order applies to four-string instruments as well those with six (meaning guitar), Figure 1.   A Pattern of Unisons and Octaves specific to the 4-string fourths tuning pattern is also needed, see Figure 3.   The notes of the bass guitar fretboard spelled with letters is also required.   Blank 4 string fretboard grid paper in PDF (Adobe Acrobat Reader) are available on the Free page for downloading and printing. Can be used as: bass grids, mandolin grids, tenor banjo grids, ukulele grids, and more.       Figure 1           Figure 2           Figure 3             Figure 4   Up to Top of page