Types of Bassists (Part 1)

In order to further my purpose of helping the world understand bassists I think it would be to my advantage to give laymen a guide to the different types of bassists out there.

The Meat and Potatoes Bassist – This is probably the most common type of bassist out there. These musicians generally stick pretty close to the root note, don’t ask too many questions and hold down the fort for the rest of the band. Generally they are the master of a few styles of music and technique though they only get fancy when required. A great example of this type would be Tom ‘Two-Tone Tommy’ Blankenship of My Morning Jacket.

The Picker – This class of bassist is probably the second most common and is made up of the youngest demographic of bassists. These musicians are often converted guitarists who have not learned to play finger-style yet or they simply prefer the pick sound to finger-style. Many older bassists often look down on these players because the pick technique is considered easy (despite the fact both Paul McCartney and Sting used this technique quite often). Personally I rather enjoy playing with a pick when I get a chance. A great example of a modern picker would be Michael Jared Followill of Kings of Leon.

The Funk Master – This class of bassist enjoys playing in a “slap n’ pop” style using their thumb and finger to bounce the strings off of the fretboard and get that signature funk sound (see the intro to Seinfeld if you don’t know what I mean). It is technically much more challenging than picking and finger-style and often takes an experienced bassist to pull off correctly. Most people have probably heard Flea play some slap bass for the Chili Peppers though is you want to hear a true master check out Victor Wooten of the Flecktones. He is probably one of the greatest bass players of all time.

Of course these are many more types of bassists but I will get to them next week with Types of Bassists Part 2.

Guitar vs. Bass

Last week I mentioned that many people look down on or ignore the bass guitar which is, I believe, due in part to an overall lack of knowledge on the subject. To remedy part of this problem do not know the difference between a bass guitar and a normal guitar. In order to lay this question to rest I decided it would be best to show a side by side comparison of the two instruments to really give the musical layperson an idea of how different these two instruments are. The bass guitar is on the left and the normal guitar is on the right.

The most obvious difference that one might be able to see is that the bass guitar lacks the B and e strings of a normal guitar (the two highest strings) and has a neck that is quite a bit longer than that of a guitar. If you are ever in doubt which is which just count the tuners on the head of the guitar. If it has six it is most likely a guitar. If it has any number less than six (usually four) it will undoubtedly be a bass guitar.  Now bear in mind there are exceptions to this rule, but they are rare enough that it should not be a problem.

Now that you know the difference between how the two instruments look, the next question is probably how do they differ in sound? One of the more subtle things that you probably cannot pick up from this picture is that the strings on a bass guitar are much thicker than those on a normal guitar. The combination of longer string length and larger strings gives the bass a much lower range of notes. Lower range of notes? But BassRespect my non-musically inclined brain cannot fathom the sound frequency differentiation of which you speak without concrete examples! If only someone could give me some sort of side-by-side comparison. Fret no more reader, for I have already prepared such a comparison!

Hopefully this shed a bit of light on the subject of sound.

Now that you know the difference between the two instruments in general looks and sound the next major thing on the agenda in my quest to enlighten the world is the argument for why the world needs the bass guitar, but just does not know it yet. If you want any further bass listening check this out:

My Morning Jacket: Holding on to Black Metal

Stay classy and don’t forget to respect the bass!