Bass Guitar Beginnings

The bass has always played an important role in the music of yesterday and most modern music today. 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. Music would sound hollow and incomplete without a driving bass line. As music styles evolved into modern jazz, blues, rock and roll and r&b, there was a need for a new type of bass instrument to provide the necessary strong bass line support. The bass guitar was then invented.

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. Instead of playing it vertically and either plucking the strings or pulling a bow across the strings, the bass guitar is played just like a regular guitar and is held horizontally. 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. A bass guitar typically has four strings which are tuned an octave lower than the lowest strings of a regular guitar. While guitars are primarily strummed and picked, the bass can be played with a variety of techniques as well including, fingering, picking, slapping,thumb play, muting thumping and more. 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.