Fingerboard Knowledge
Understanding the sequence of notes and the fingerboard is important. You want to know the name of the note you are playing at all times. Notes are named using the alphabet letters A thru G. Along with these  seven notes, we have additional notes that make up all twelve notes of the chromatic scale. (The chromatic scale consists of all twelve notes used in western music) Our octave is divided into 12 notes. The smallest interval in music is one half step -the distance from one note to it’s adjacent note.
The piano keyboard gives us a clear, visual understanding of the 12 notes of the chromatic scale. The white keys of the keyboard are the notes A,B,C,D,E,F and G. The notes B and C and the notes E and F are one half step apart. In between the notes C and D there is a black key on the piano. This note is either called C# or Db (C sharp or D Flat) To sharp a note raises it by one half step, to flat a note lowers it by one half step. Raise C one half step and you have C#. Lower D one half step and you have Db. These notes that sound the same (they are the same pitch) but have two possible names are called enharmonic equivalents.

The fingerboard of the fretted electric bass is divided by frets. Each fret is one half step, the smallest increment in music. Moving from fret to fret is the same as moving from key to adjacent key on a piano keyboard. The sequence of notes is the same.

Begin by learning the notes up to the fifth fret on each string. You will see that the fifth fret on the E string is the note A. This is the same as the adjacent open string. This pattern repeats across the neck of the bass. The bass is tuned in fourths (the interval of a perfect fourth) Each string on the bass is equidistant from the adjacent string. Because of this, patterns repeat all across the fingerboard.

The pattern of notes on the acoustic bass fingerboard is the same as the electric bass fingerboard. At first it can be difficult to find each note on a fingerboard without frets but with practice, you can play precisely in tune just like a fretted instrument. Remember to practice with the bow. This will bring each pitch into sharp focus making it easier to hear.