Last week I spent most of my time talking about the difference between a guitar and a bass guitar so this week I am going to talk about why bass guitars are important. I am sure some of you are wondering why is it that even though many musicians look down on basses and bass players they are in a majority of bands and recordings? You see as I said the first week the bass guitar has a very special place in music. Musically it occupies a space between percussion (drums) and the other instruments like guitars, horns, etc.
Without the bass a band with both drums and guitars would sound hollow. Take for example the (now disbanded) rock group the White Stripes. This duo is the only band I can think of off the top of my head that lack a bass player and don’t play with one live. Now let us compare the White Stripes to the Raconteurs. Both bands include singer/guitarist Jack White, yet you will notice the difference the bass player makes in the overall sound of the group. The bass really helps to bring all the instruments together.
I am not saying I dislike the White Stripes, I just think they illustrate just how much sonic space is left open without a bass guitar. In a few weeks I will have a better example of this with a few samples from a recording I am working on with some friends. I’ll post it with and without the bass so you can a direct idea of the effect it has on a single song.
I could babble on for hours about the bass’ role in creating chord foundations and all that fancy dancy music speak, but for now all you need to know is that the bass serves a very important sonic purpose. Now that all this wonderfully boring official intro-to-bass-ology stuff is out of the way I can finally get to the fun stuff. Until next time check out this song by the White Stripes which features an actual bass line. It also happens to be their most successful song. Coincidence? I think not!
bassrespect 