FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

I've played guitar for years, but when it comes to bass guitar, I'm pretty much a newbie. Direct me to a FAQ if need be, but I have a couple of quick questions. Where, exactly, is the bottom E of the bass guitar on the piano? Which octave? Also, how many octaves is this E below the E of a 6-string guitar? (Does that make sense?) Relative to the piano, is the bass guitar an octave different, the way a 6-string guitar is?

Answer:

http://www.daddario.com/STRINGCT/Dcatalog.htm Select the link under the text of A complete technical reference for fretted instrument string tensions to obtain the pdf document about string tensions which I am using as an information source. This pdf document also identifies note frequencies for the electric guitar and the elecric bass guitar using diagrams. My version of these diagrams below show the frequency in Hertz (Hz) of a note on the instrument with notes marked for discussion purposes. Electic Guitar (EADGBE 6-string) Fret String ----------------------------------------- Open 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th E E F F# G G# A 329.6 349.2 370.0 392.0 415.3 440.0 |-----| B B | C | C# D D# E 246.9 |261.6| 277.2 293.7 311.1 329.6 |-----| G G G# A A# B 196.0 207.7 220.0 233.1 246.9 D D D# E F F# G 146.8 155.6 164.8 174.6 185.0 196.0 A A A# B C C# D 110.0 116.5 123.5 130.8 138.6 146.8 E E F F# G G# A 82.4 87.3 92.5 98.0 103.8 110.0 For the diagram of the electric guitar above, I have drawn a box around Middle C (at 261.6 Hz). Electric Bass Guitar (BEADG 5-string) Fret String --------------------------------------- Open 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th G G G# A A# B C 98.0 103.8 110.0 116.5 123.5 130.8 |------| D D D# | E | F F# G 73.4 77.8 | 82.4 | 87.3 92.5 98.0 |------| A A A# B C C# D 55.0 58.3 61.7 65.4 69.3 73.4 E E F F# G G# A 41.2 43.7 46.3 49.0 51.9 55.0 B B C C# D D# E 30.9 32.7 34.7 36.7 38.9 41.2 For the diagram of the electric bass guitar above, I have drawn a box around the E note (at 82.4 Hz) which corresponds to the lowest note on the electic guitar (EADGBE 6-string). On a standard 88-key piano, the lowest note is an A note at 27.5 Hz. An electric bass guitar with a low-B string has a B note at 30.9 Hz and this B note is two notes above the lowest note of the A note on the piano. Where, exactly, is the bottom E of the bass guitar on the piano? The open bottom E string on an electric bass guitar has a frequency of 41.2 Hz. This E note is the fifth white key from the left on a standard 88-key piano. Note: Consider a standard 4-string electric bass guitar with the open strings of EADG. The note of Middle C occurs on the 17th fret of the G-string. In the diagram above for the elecric bass guitar, there is a C note at 130.8 Hz on the G-string fifth fret. Ascending 12 frets is an octave increase which means a doubling of the frequency. Thus, 130.8 Hz doubled is 261.8 Hz, that is, Middle C.