How to Play the National Anthem on Bass Guitar

The United States of America's National Anthem is an iconic and very memorable song. Playing the National Anthem on the six-string guitar was made popular by legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix's rendition of the classic tune at the 1969 Woodstock music festival. Seemingly since then, this piece of music has been transcribed to be played on every musical instrument. One instrument that may not get as much notoriety as the six-string guitar, but one that can be used to very easily and proficiently play the national anthem is the 4-string bass guitar.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bass Guitar

National Anthem

1. Identify the proper way to read a bass tab. The bass is made up of four strings; from left to right they are, E, A, D and G. A bass tab will show the string the note is played on, denoted by the letter, and the fret the note is played in, denoted by the number. An example of a bass tab would look like this:
   Gl-----------------3--
   Dl-------------4-------
   Al--2------2----------
   El------3--------------

2. Play the first section of the national anthem for the lyrics, "Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light..." To do this, play the the seventh fret followed in order by the fourth fret, open (no fret), fourth fret, seventh fret, 12th fret, 16th fret, 14th fret, 9th fret, 11th fret, and finally the 12th fret, all played on the a-string.

3. Play the second section of the national anthem with the lyrics, "What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming." To play this, play the 12th fret twice followed in order by the 16th fret, 14th fret, 12th fret, 11th fret, 9th fret, 11th fret, 12th fret, 12th fret, 7th fret, 4th fret, and finish open(no fret), all on the a-string.

4. Play the section for the lyrics, "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there." To play this, play the 16th fret three times followed in order by the 17th fret, 19th fret twice, 17th fret, 16th fret, 14th fret, 16th fret, 17th fret three times, 16th fret, 14th fret, 12th fret, 11th fret, 9th fret, 11th fret, 12th fret, 4th fret, 6th fret, and finsih on the 7th fret, all on the a-string.

5. Play the last section of the song for the lyrics, "Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave, for the land of the free, and the home of the brave." To play this, play all on the a-string, the 7th fret followed in order by the 12th fret twice, 11th fret, 9th fret twice, 11th fret, 14th fret, 17th fret, 16th fret, 14th fret, 12th fret, 11th fret, 7th fret twice, 12th fret, 14th fret, 16th fret, 17th fret, 19th fret, 12th fret, 14th fret, 16th fret, 17th fret, 14th fret and finish by letting the 12th fret ring out.

Tips & Warnings

• The entire tab for the national anthem, all on the a-string, would look like this; Al----7--4--0--4--7--12--16--14--9--11--12----12--12--16--14--12--11--9--11--12--12--7--4--0----16--16--16--17--19--19--17--16--14--16--17--17----17--16--14--12--11--9--11--12--4--6--7----7--12--12--11--9--9--11--14--17--16--14--12--11----7--7--12--14--16--17--19----12--14--16--17--14--12