Origins of the Bass Guitar
August 16th, 2009 at 12:02am Under General
Regardless of the age of a piece of music, there has always been a musical line written for a bass part. No matter what the instrument is, a bass line is usually always represented in some form or another, from the lower instruments of an orchestra, to the bass notes played by a solo acoustic guitarist, the bass line serves as the foundation and root for the music. We tend to notice the emptiness of when music lacks a bass line or implicit bass line. With styles of popular music changing and evolving, plus the increasing demands of the working musician for portability, playability and loud volume, there was a strong need for a new type of bass instrument. This is when the bass guitar came into play.
Though the very first electric bass guitar was invented in the 1930′s it never achieved the critical mass of popularity until the Fender bass guitars brought the electric bass to the masses. The equivalent prior instrument, the upright bass existed for hundreds of years prior to this. With a sound that was different from the familiar upright acoustic basses in use, the electric bass guitar offered a variety of tonal adjustments, playing techniques, sounds and all of this could be heard clearly and loudly with new electric amplification, which in and of itself offered some means of creative tonal adjustments and sound shaping. Unlike the acoustic bass which is played vertically, the electric bass guitar is played horizontally like a regular guitar. The bass guitar looks similar to an electric guitar in that it’s body is solid, but the bass guitar has a longer neck than an electric guitar. Also, unlike an acoustic guitar which is hollow, with a sound hole to allow for amplification, the sound of a Fender bass guitar is amplified by plugging it in to an amplifier and speaker. The electric bass generally has four strings which are tuned in 4ths like the 4 lowest strings on the guitar but they are tuned an octave lower than those on the guitar. Some of the bass playing techniques include, picking, fingering, slapping, thumb playing, thumping, muting among others. The bass is probably one of the closest interacting instruments to the drums; it’s because of this relationship that the bass guitar is a prominent rhythm section instrument. The combination of bass and drums and their unique interaction can completely influence the feel and vibe of the music.
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