Folks. Does anybody know why 6-string bass tuning is B-E-A-D-G-C but guitar tuning is E-A-D-G-B-E ?
What is the history or theory behind the difference? My googling skills falls short and could not find any resources that cover this. Thank you for your help.
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As far as I understand it, it basically goes like this:
Guitar has the tuning it has because of chords, chords are easier to finger with this tuning.
Bass on the other hand uses chords much less, and the route of “change in pitch is the same on each string to the next” was taken. That way, patterns can be moved across the fretboard, the octave shape is always the same, two frets up, to strings up, no matter where you are on the bass (well, as long as you can go to strings up and 2 frets up).
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It’s also interesting that in Bass, the additional 2 strings for 6-strings bass are 1 lower pitch below E string and 1 higher pitch above G string, instead of adding 2 higher pitch note above G-string.
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There are also EADGCF tuned 6-strings, but most bass players want that low B.
The bass is tuned in 4ths. The lower four strings on a guitar are also tuned in fourths, with G-B being a third, and then B-E being a 4th again. My understanding is this is purely for chord fingering convenience.
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Aah I didn’t know that there are 6-string bass players who tuned their bass to E-A-D-G-C-F @howard . If I have a 5-string bass, I also prefer adding higher C rather than lower B.
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You can certainly do that though it is not very common so you might need a new nut.
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As far as I can find from google, the guitar tuning is tuned as E-minor pentatonic.
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Indeed, the open strings on the guitar in standard tuning are the Em pentatonic scale. I’d never actually noticed that, though I am a beginner guitarist at best 
The bass makes more sense to tune in ascending fourths/descending fifths, though of course there are plenty of alternate bass tunings too.
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If you like the 6 string guitar tune with one octave lower you can get the Squier vintage modified bass VI. Not the string spacing I like but sure is interesting.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SQCVB63TS--squier-classic-vibe-bass-vi-3-tone-sunburst
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Dang. That looks more like a guitar than a bass. I guess you can slap this bass and must use a pick. 
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Yes to this.
And because the roles are different and we bass players get so dialed in to our lovely and unchanging tuning-in-fourths pattern, it makes more sense to keep the pattern the same and add more strings than have to relearn all the fingerings for that one string tuned differently.
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Definitely. Bass is are shape creatures. If the tuning are different the it’s more confusing to run different shapes.
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It’s solely intended for barre chords on the guitar. Without that tuning it wouldn’t be so easy to do.
We bassists have less need for such chords.
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I think this was used in Wichita Lineman?
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Oh, I didn’t know that. You learn something new every day. Thanks. 