As long as picky-butt singers call for bizarre key changes, the 5 string bass will be a necessary instrument.
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Are 5 strings on the way out?
- Thread starter Doug Bright
- Start date
Those singers need to audition for a choir, glee club, or some other vocal ensemble - and see what it’s director says when they want the key changed.
I am the once-and-future (when choir begins again) choir director at my Church. We have a ton - literally - of sheet music with seats for over twenty in the chancel. I’m sure that some of the choir is not singing some of those pieces in the key they’d prefer. If someone in the choir says, “I can’t sing this in this key.”, what is the director’s usual response?
“Well, I guess you won’t sing that part.”
“One monkey don’t stop no show.” Divas don’t make it in group vocal situations.
In my experience, most lead singers aren’t nearly as good as they think they are. If they front the band well, that makes them much more valuable than their singing talent alone would make them. That also applies to most instrumentalists.
Most bands that succeed have a SHOW to offer - not merely a single vocalist (unless he or she is exceptional, e.g, Linda Ronstadt), nor a talented guitarist (lots of possible exceptions, but nobody playing in a bar band), nor a bassist (exceptions: Dave La Rue, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten), nor a drummer. Again, “One monkey don’t stop no show.”
Singers should, IMO, be held to the same standard of musicianship as all other band members. And they should subordinate themselves - not to another member, but to the good of the SHOW.
In choir, the director can always fall back on, “This is for the Glory of God - right?” Bands and band leaders don’t generally have that option available to them. But allowing any band member to dictate to other band members what instrument to play, in a particular tuning, is allowing that member far more power than I would feel is appropriate.
No, I was saying that 5 strings are "modern" instruments that are still preferred for versatility and live performance by many players. I was saying that in the STUDIO and in the ORIGINAL MUSIC, Pop music production, etc, world, that 4 strings are the coolest again because if they're using a real bass guitar vs using a synth sound, they want that "vintage" sound of the real old bass. The Nu-Disco genre type pop music (Dua Lipa type stuff) is a good example of what I mean. They're doing modern productions, but then putting in elements of "old school" stuff in there, especially vintage bass guitar sounding tracks.
I’ve been playing bass for 59 years and playing 5’s for 30 years. I own 26 basses 12 are Fenders, 8 are Precision’s and of those a vintage P has gone to about 4-5 gigs in the last 10 yrs. So IMHO, 5ers will go away around the same time as slapping goes out of fashion.
I have three 5-strings and one 6-string. No plans of getting rid of them any time soon. I'm a big fan of the Low B string.
Fivers were never more popular than four strings in my estimation. Whether you see a lot of them depends on what you play or listen to. Personally, I like five strings for easy access to low Cs and Ds (no retuning necessary for drop-D songs, worst-case you capo 3 for songs that rely on open string intervals) and for the ability to shift up five frets and get narrower fret spacing on songs that otherwise call for a 4-string.
Can someone make a stomp pedal to get us down to an A or whatever we select and play preset chords?
This cracked me up. Tony Levin is the only person that looks cool with a 5 string.I'm considering buying a 5 string but don't really listen to or play any music where 5's are utilized. I lean toward retro everything. But may get an inexpensive Schecter or something similar to mess around with at home.
That’s all great and wonderful and stuff.
But none of this has anything to do with why I play 5-string basses.
What’s so bad about some us that simply prefer 5-string basses?
And has anyone ever seen a 5- or 6-player put down or question the validity of 4-string basses?
Jaco and Anthony did/do quite a bit on anything they picked up.
I’ve noticed the same. It’s all about the passive 4 these days.
5ers are mostly associated with middle aged dudes that wear cargo shorts and live in flyover country, playing genres of music that the hip crowd can’t stand. Pop Country? Extreme Metal? Elevator Jazz? Ew.
Let’s face it, it’s hard to look cool with a 5 string, and your band isn’t likely to be reviewed by Pitchfork. So play them at your own peril.
This cracked me up. Tony Levin is the only person that looks cool with a 5 string.
I'm considering buying a 5 string but don't really listen to or play any music where 5's are utilized. I lean toward retro everything. But may get an inexpensive Schecter or something similar to mess around with at home.
You guys should be Saturday Night Live writers….
5ers are mostly associated with middle aged dudes that wear cargo shorts and live in flyover country, playing genres of music that the hip crowd can’t stand. Pop Country? Extreme Metal? Elevator Jazz? Ew.
Let’s face it, it’s hard to look cool with a 5 string, and your band isn’t likely to be reviewed by Pitchfork. So play them at your own peril.
This cracked me up. Tony Levin is the only person that looks cool with a 5 string.I'm considering buying a 5 string but don't really listen to or play any music where 5's are utilized. I lean toward retro everything. But may get an inexpensive Schecter or something similar to mess around with at home.
You guys should be Saturday Night Live writers….
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I have - not in so many words, but his message was clear.
This was a six years back. I was new to town, and trying to get on the scene by going to jams.
I had a 5 string player talk at me at length about how I needed to switch to a 5 string. He went on about the subject telling me why a 5 string was better. Basically telling me I was doing it wrong by not playing a 5 string.
He was a good player (a middle aged guy who would wear cargo shorts on the gig and lived in flyover country). He had the gig with the hot guitar slinger in town... a few weeks later me and my 4 string were first call on that gig
Anyway, I think a lot of the stuff in this thread is in good fun.
If you like 5-string basses, play away!
I just don’t appreciate being told I MUST play one. Or that I MUST downtune.
That's fine if all you do is the occasional bar band gig and cover tunes from 60 years ago. Some of us are asked to play more modern music. Good luck walking into a theatre gig (or any gig, really) with a four string when your sheet music even says "5 String Bass." Like most genres of music, there are times when you really are supposed to play the pitch represented by the dot on the page.
The real question is why do so many demo videos of five string basses never even touch the low B?
Agreed. That is why I got into 5 string a couple of years ago. Theatre music and modern big band arrangements that kept calling for it where I had to adapt to 4 string. It’s so much better to be able to play it as written. And as others keep mentioning, the positional flexibility even when you don’t need the low notes.
This is what may be happening, if they are not really playing or listening to music that exposes them to a 5 string so they may see no need.
When I first started out, I only had 4 string and that was due to the music I liked (mid 60's/early70's) and listened too. When I got older and started hearing tunes I really liked in the Jazz/Funk they were using 5 strings, so I had to get one to be able to play those tunes without having to downtune to a lower range. One of the first bass players I heard using really low notes was Anthony Jackson, I was blown away at the tone he had and how he got them low notes back in mid 70's.
First album I heard him play one on was Harvey Mason's album "Earth Mover" and then on David Spinozza's "Spinozza" on that album he was a monster.So that's how I got into playing a 5 string. Funny, my latest purchase a Sterling RAY4. My Lakland 5502 Deluxe is the only 5 string I have now.
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And these are the reasons I have a 5-string bass in my arsenal. For those occasions where the music calls for it.
That includes the drop-D and drop-C people in bands. (“It just sounds HEAVIER, man!”) These are the people who tell me, “You have a lot of basses, man. Just set up one in drop-D, another in drop-C, and a third in BEAD, and take ‘em all to the gig!” To play in front of the six people those bands draw.
(insert Facepalm HERE) “No. I’ll just bring my 5-string.”
I'd wager to say most people who play bass didn't choose their string preference because it was a trend that was going "in" or "out" of style, even the OP who posted this 2 years ago.
