This tab illustrates how to play diatonic 10ths.
we will use the key of Ab as our example.

10ths are simply just 3rds up an octave.
(if you don't know what i'm talking about, check out my intervals tab)

example)
 
 |root    3rd     |root    10th    |
 |Ab      C       |Ab      C       |
G|————————————————|————————5———————|
D|————————————————|————————————————|
A|————————3———————|————————————————|
E|4———————————————|4———————————————|
 |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |

notice how the 3rd and the 10th are the same note.



Now we'll chart out each 10th for each note in Ab major:
(notes in Ab major: Ab,Bb,C,Db,Eb,F,G)

I will label the quality of the 10th above the tab.

 |1) major tenth  |2) minor tenth  |3) minor tenth  |4) major tenth  |    
 |Ab      C       |Bb      Db      |C       Eb      |Db      F       |
G|————————5———————|————————6———————|————————8———————|————————10——————|
D|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|
A|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|
E|4———————————————|6———————————————|8———————————————|9———————————————|
 |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |

 |5) major tenth  |6) minor tenth  |7) minor tenth  |    
 |Eb      G       |F       Ab      |G       Bb      |
G|————————12——————|————————13——————|————————15——————||
D|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————||
A|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————||
E|11——————————————|13——————————————|15——————————————||
 |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |

You can also play them as chords:

 |Ab maj  Bb min  |C min   Db maj  |Eb maj  F min   |G dim   Ab Maj  |
G|5———————6———————|8———————10——————|12——————13——————|15——————17——————|
D|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|
A|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|————————————————|
E|4———————6———————|8———————9———————|11——————13——————|15——————16——————|
 |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + |



10ths are alot of fun to play around with.
flea uses 10th's alot on some of the later albums.
here's a couple of examples:

"We Believe" (verse)

  |E minor         D major         |E minor         D major         |
G||12————12————————11——11——————————|12————12——————1211——11——————————||
D|o————————————————————————————————|————————————————————————————————o|
A|o————————————————————————————————|————————————————————————————————o|
E||12————12————————10——10——————————|12————12——————1210——10——————————||
  |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

"Charlie" (chorus)

  | C minor        Bb major        |F major         Eb Major        |
G||————————8———————————————7———————|————————14——————————————13——————||
D|o————————————————————————————————|————————————————————————————————o|
A|o————————————————————————————————|————————————————————————————————o|
E||8———————————————6———6————————///|13——————————————11——11——————————||
  |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a |

These are just a few of the many instances where flea applies 10th's.
He's not the only bass player to do this.
many great bass players use this trick to embellish their bass lines.
I encourage you to come up with some of your own bass lines using 10th's.
have fun!

message me for any questions,
and please give me constructive criticism.

—Connor Larkin