Upright Bass: What the Numbers Turn Into

The chord reference for this reader. Pick a root, then any of 54 qualities, and get the positions plus the thing a chord chart never prints: which digit stands for this chord once somebody counts off in a key.

An upright player reads the same root the electric reads and a longer way to get to it — the chart says which number, and the distance between two numbers on this fingerboard is what decides whether it is walked or arrived at. The digit is the same digit the electric got; what differs is the distance the left hand covers to reach it, which is why this reader looks at the NEXT number sooner than anyone.

Every position below is drawn for EADG, 4 strings, open positions first and movable ones after them, and each one plays back — because the fastest way to check that a number was read right is to hear it.