"... Get Your Groove On and Play With ATTITUDE!"

Mastering The Electric Bass Guitar

The unsung hero of many a rock band has got to be the Bassist. He or she may not get the adoration of the Lead Guitarist or Lead Vocalist but without the Bassist the whole sound of the band will be flat and one dimensional.

The Bassist is the cool character that provides the glue of rhythm and harmony to give the band depth and soul. In the right hands it gives the band it's feel and attitude - it's the very heartbeat of the band.

Why else would you turn up the volume of your favourite rock song and get lost in the deep, mellow and irresistible hypnotic rhythms of this powerful instrument.

The Bass Guitar is responsible for linking the harmony (chords) of a song with the distinctive rhythm (groove) that contributes to the feel or style of the music.

One of the primary functions of the Bass Guitar is keeping a steady rhythm or pulse. The Bass Guitar works very closely with the drummer in a stasis of synergy.

The Electric Bass Guitar (also called an Electric Bass or just Bass) is similar in appearance to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and scale length, and usually four strings tuned an octave lower in pitch, in the bass range.

BASS GUITAR HISTORY

Since the 1950s, the electric bass has largely replaced the double bass in popular music. The bass is typically used to provide the low-pitched bassline and bass runs in popular music and jazz. The electric bass is also used as a soloing instrument in Jazz, Fusion, Latin, Funk styles.

BASS GUITAR DESIGN

A wide variety of different options are available for the body, neck, pickups, and other features of the bass. Instruments handmade by highly-skilled masters of the craft of lutherie (guitar-making) are becoming increasingly available. Design options include:

Body
Bodies are typically made of wood although other materials such as graphite have also been used. While a wide variety of woods are suitable for use in the body, neck, and fretboard of the bass guitar - the most common type of wood used for the body is alder, for the neck is maple, and for the fretboard is rosewood. The choice of body material and shape can have a significant impact on the timbre of the completed instrument as well as on aesthetic considerations.

Other design options include finishes, such as lacquer, wax and oil; flat and carved designs; Luthier-produced custom-designed instruments; headless basses, which have tuning machines in the bridge of the instrument; and several artificial materials such as luthite. The use of artificial materials allows for unique production techniques such as die-casting, to produce complex body shapes.

While most basses have solid bodies, they can also include hollow chambers to increase the resonance or reduce the weight of the instrument. Basses are also built with entirely hollow bodies, which changes the tone and resonance of the instrument.
 

Necks
Bass guitar necks, which are longer than regular electric guitar necks, are generally made of maple or ash. More exotic woods include bubinga, wenge, ovangkol, and goncalo alves. Graphite or carbon fiber are used to make lightweight necks, an approach pioneered by G. Gould of Modulus Guitars. Peavey makes the graphite-necked basses such as the G-Bass the B-Quad, and Status has manufactured entire basses out of graphite, many other guitar companies also use graphite in their necks, to add stability and sustain.

Acoustic Bass Guitars are typically equipped with piezoelectric or magnetic pickups and amplified.

STRINGS

The materials used in the strings gives bass players a range of tonal options. String types include all-metal strings (roundwound or flatwound), metal strings with different coverings, such as tapewound and plastic-coatings, and non-metal strings made of nylon.

Roundwounds have a brighter timbre with greater sustain than flatwounds. Flatwounds are still used by bassists who want a more vintage, smooth, or damped sound.

BASS GUITAR TUNING

The more you look into playing the bass guitar the wider the scope becomes. To start we will look at the standard tuning arrangements of the 4-string bass and it's more common tuning variants. Then we will move onto the extended range bass guitars ranging from 5-string to 12-string.
 

STANDARD 4-STRING BASS TUNING

The standard design electric bass has four strings, tuned E, A, D and G with the fundamental frequency of the E string set at 41.2 Hz, making the tuning of all four strings the same as that of the double bass. This tuning is the also same as the standard tuning on the lower four strings on a 6-string guitar, but an octave lower.

A number of other tuning options and bass types has been used to extend the range of the instrument. The most common are:

Four strings with alternate tunings to obtain an extended lower range. Tunings such as:

 Detuners are mechanical devices operated by the left-hand thumb that allow one or more strings to be instantly detuned to a pre-set lower pitch. These are typically used to drop the "E"-string down to "D" on a four string bass.
More rarely, some bassists will add detuners to more than one string, to enable them to detune strings during a performance and have access to a wider range of chime-like harmonics.

EXTENDED RANGE BASS TUNING

Less commonly, bassists have used other types of basses or tuning methods to obtain an extended range. Instrument types or tunings used for this purpose include:

OTHER BASS GUITAR TUNING TYPES

15-string Bass: Eee Aaa Ddd Ggg Ccc
First conceived by Jauqo III-X has been produced by Warrior Guitars.

4 String Guitar-tuned Bass: D-G-B-E
The  tuning matches the first four strings (from highest to lowest) of a guitar, pitched two octaves lower.

Tenor Bass: A-D-G-C,
Like the top 4 strings of a 6-string bass, or a simply a standard 4-string with the strings each tuned up an additional perfect fourth.

Piccolo Bass: e-a-d-g
An octave higher than standard bass tuning—-the same as the bottom four strings of a guitar - used by Stanley Clarke.

Sub-contra Bass: C#-F#-B-E
C# being at 17.32 Hz, or the sub-bass guitar E-A-D-G one octave below standard ("E" being at 20.6 Hz). To amplify the low pitches of these instruments, a subwoofer capable of extended low-range reproduction may be needed.

11-string and 12-string Extended Range Bass Guitars
Luthier Michael Adler built the first 11-string bass in 2004 and completed the first single course 12-string bass, a concept created by bassist Garry Goodman, in 2005. The bass matches the range of the 97 note grand piano and requires special strings. These instruments are now being built by other luthiers.

BASS PLAYING TECHNIQUES

Plectra vs. Fingers or Thumb

The electric bass, in contrast to the upright bass (or double bass), is played in a similar position to the guitar, held horizontally across the body. Notes are usually produced by plucking with the fingers or with a guitar pick  (plectrum). Picks are widely used in pop, hard rock, punk rock and metal styles.

Using a pick typically gives the bass a "brighter", "punchier" sound, while playing with fingers makes the sound softer and round. Some bassists use their fingernails flamenco-style to provide some compromise between playing fingerstyle and using a pick.

Instead of alternating downstrokes and upstrokes, players can perform all downstrokes, which provides a more consistent attack to each note. Bassists trying to emulate the sound of a double bass will often pluck the strings with their thumb or fingers rather than a plectrum, and use palm-muting to create a short, "thumpy" tone.

Right Hand Support and Position

Variations in style also occur in where a bassist rests his right-hand thumb (or left thumb in the case of left-handed players).

A player may rest their thumb on the top edge of one of the pickups. One may also rest their thumb on the side of the fretboard, which is especially common among bassists who have an upright bass influence.

Also, bassists may simply anchor their thumbs on the lowest string (and move it off to play on the low string). This technique is known as the "floating thumb", and was previously popular mainly with bassists who played five or more string basses, but is now common for all bassists.

Early Fender models also came with a "thumbrest" attached to the pickguard, below the strings. Contrary to its name, this was not used to rest the thumb, but to rest the fingers while using the thumb to pluck the strings.

The thumbrest was moved above the strings in 1970s models, and eliminated entirely in the 1980s.

Striking or Plucking Position

Depending on where the string is plucked, a different timbre is produced. Plucked close to the bridge, produces a bright and "punchy" sound. Plucked closer to the neck, near the neck pickup, gives a darker sound with a stronger fundamental.

"Slap and Pop," Tapping, and Related Techniques

The slap and pop method, in which notes and percussive sounds are created by slapping the string with the thumb and releasing strings with a snap. Another technique, the "double thump," is when the string is slapped twice, on the upstroke and a down-stroke. Examples of the slap and pop technique can be seen at http://www.howtoslapbass.com/slap-bass-tutorial/

In the two-handed tapping style, both hands play notes by rapidly pressing and holding the string to the fret, which makes it possible to play contrapuntally, and utilize chords and arpeggios.

In the piano hammer-style, the right hand is whipped towards the bass string then retracted quickly by pivoting the wrist, so that the index finger taps the string in the same way that a piano hammer strikes a piano string. Usually two fingers are required with this technique. Patting technique related from the piano hammer-style, where three or four fingers are used to pat several strings close to the bridge, while chords are played with the left hand.

Resource Links

Bass Guitar History

Bass Guitar Design

Strings

Bass Guitar Tuning

Bass Playing Techniques

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From the makers of Jamorama..
"Bassorama"

Under development, Bassorama further develops guitar playing skills while specifically targeting skills and techniques needed to play bass guitar. Expected release date is mid 2007.

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