You don’t need to use a six-foot-tall, 8×10” speaker, “refrigerator” style bass cabinet similar to that used by Metallica’s Cliff Burton… at least not at the beginning of your bass-playing career. One 12” or 15” speaker is plenty for your bass amp. A lot of bass combo amps use a single speaker. Similarly, you should consider the size of speakers in your rig. This way, you only have to purchase a single piece of gear, rather than two, and the combo will be easier to transport than a stack. If you’re just staring out on bass, however, we recommend that you use a combo bass amp. There are benefits to both approaches, and neither is inherently better than the other. Generally, you can buy a bass amp either as a combo, with amplifier and speaker in one housing, or as separate amplifier and speaker. This requires more power and a bigger speaker to produce a clear, discernibly musical sound. This is because the low-pitched notes of a bass guitar have low frequency waveforms, which are longer than those produced by a standard guitar. While you can play a bass through a guitar amp, at best, the sound won’t be great, and at worst, you might damage the speakers.īass amps and speakers are designed specifically for the low tones produced by a bass guitar.īass amps typically use larger speakers and higher wattages – 150 to 500 watts plus, as opposed to the 100 watts or fewer of a guitar amp – to push out the powerful low tones of the bass guitar. If you want anyone to be able to hear your bass, then you’ll need an amplifier.īass amps are similar, but not identical, to guitar amps. Types of Bass Guitar Standard Bass Guitarīass guitars are, with the exception of acoustic basses, electric instruments. It also made precise tuning and note definition a major feature of bass playing. The inclusion of frets on a bass guitar, as opposed to the fretless neck of a double bass, made it a relatively easy instrument to learn. The instrument was developed as a lighter, more portable, alternative to the upright double bass, which was commonly used in the jazz and rockabilly ensembles of the time.īecause the bass guitar was easy to transport to shows, and significantly less expensive, than a double bass, it achieved rapid success. The strings of a bass guitar are tuned to the following pitches:Į1 (lowest / bottom / thickest string) A1 D2 G2 (highest / top / thinnest string)īrief History Of The Bass Guitar The electric bass guitar was designed as an alternative to the double bass.Īlthough rudimentary bass guitars were developed earlier, the bass as we know it was designed and mass produced by Leo Fender in the 1950s. Each fret is a semitone, so if you play a note at the 5 th fret of any of the first three strings of a bass guitar, it will be the same note as the next string.) (Without getting too technical, a “fourth” is an interval of 5 semitones. The four strings of a bass guitar are tuned to the same pitches – E, A, D and G – as the lowest four strings of a standard guitar, but an octave lower.Ī bass guitar is tuned in fourths. Conventional Bass Guitar Tuning The strings of a bass are tuned to the same notes as the lowest four strings of a guitar – but an octave lower. The bass guitar is the electric equivalent of the upright double bass (the strings of both instruments are tuned to the same pitches), and performs a similar role to that instrument, as well as other low-pitched instruments such as the ‘cello or tuba, in their respective ensembles. Tuned an octave lower than a standard guitar, the bass guitar is the lowest-pitched of all the instruments in the guitar family. (As you’ll find out below, acoustic bass guitars, and bass guitars with more than the standard, four strings, are available.)Ī bass guitar has a longer neck than a standard, six-string electric guitar and is strung with much thicker strings. In some songs, the bass line can be the focal point of the music in others, the bass will play a more background role, filling out the music’s “bottom end”.Ī bass player acts as “go-between” between the drums, which have a purely rhythmic role, and the melodic and harmonic layers provided by other instruments.Ī standard bass guitar – such as the Squier Precision Bass, above – is a solid-bodied instrument with four strings. In a typical song, the bass guitar supplies both “groove” – by reinforcing the rhythm of the drums, and harmonic context, by playing low notes that suggest the song’s chord changes. Just as a building would be significantly weaker without foundations, a song would have significantly less impact without a bass line providing a foundation for the rest of the music. We cover what a bass guitar is, the different types of bass guitar, bass playing styles, and the bassist’s role in a typical band. On this page, you’ll find a brief guide to playing bass guitar for beginners.
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