What is a bass?

[John B jr]

Another day, another "why P-bass" thread got me thinking about the definition of "bass". When I'm at my brother's house and fingering the four low strings on his acoustic guitar, I'm playing bass but I'm not playing a bass. That's pretty clear.

@el_Bajo_Verde posted a very helpful picture in the other thread of an ANSI standard bass and then another picture of one that pushes the boundaries. I'm not sure I'd recognize the Conklin as a bass without hearing it. I'm not even sure I could play it but it is beautiful in its own way.



So the question stands. Where do we draw the line. I'm going with string diameter. My bandmate gave me a five-pack of Ernie's that are way thinner than anything I would consider bass strings. The pack languishes in a bag somewhere. I would think that they would sound like the unheralded baritone guitar. I dunno. Perhaps this is all a bunch of orange colored root veggies. You gotta have at least on string greater than .090" and none less than .035"

 

[mikeoso]

I would say that fingering the four low strings on a guitar is not playing bass...there's an octave difference, regardless of how many strings. A six string bass is still a bass... because of pitch.

 

[John B jr]

I'll submit pretending to play a bass on a guitar.

 

[dreamadream99]

Many things are bass. Stringed instruments are a small subgroup. Bass is any instrument that fulfills the lowest voice in an ensemble, including tuba, bass clarinet, synthesizer, tympani, voice, bass viol, electric bass, piano, etc.

 

[nostatic]

Another day, another "why P-bass" thread got me thinking about the definition of "bass". When I'm at my brother's house and fingering the four low strings on his acoustic guitar, I'm playing bass but I'm not playing a bass. That's pretty clear.

You're not playing a bass or playing bass. Traditionally bass is determined by the frequency domain. The lowest 4 strings on a guitar are still a guitar., and an octave higher than a bass

The current "standard" 4-string bass is usually tuned E1 to G2, 41hz to 98hz. Guitar is E2 to E4 (82-329hz). While there is overlap, the bottom 4 strings on a guitar aren't really "bass".

Baritone guitar and tenor or soprano bass are somewhere in-between. Lots of overlap and gray areas. That said, it really is about the role the instrument plays and how the player approaches it.

 

[John B jr]

@nostatic , better answer than I was expecting. . A look at bass strings online requires a lower limit on string size as well maybe <.030 in terms of bass guitar. Could be convinced otherwise by the physicists/musicians on board.

 

[KohanMike]

The guitar player in the jazz quartet I photograph who are part of the Big Band of Barristers, will often play the bass lines on his archtop when the bass player is late for a gig. Sounds pretty good I have to say.

In my case, I decided to take up the bass when the leader of my uke group asked if anyone would volunteer and I discovered bass ukes and other 21-25" electric basses available, and not contra or piccolo. As odd as it may be, they sound just like standard scale basses.

 

[The Eristic]

What is a bass? A miserable little pile of secrets.

 

[Wisebass]

What is a bass?

have you tried googling it?

may the bass be with you

Wise(b)ass

 

[twinjet]

What would Leo say? I'd probably go with that.

 

[Bryan R. Tyler]

You gotta have at least on string greater than .090" and none less than .035"

That's a .28 on there.

Sorry, but any theory that says what Anthony Jackson is doing doesn't count as bass playing should immediately be thrown in the trash.

 

[twinjet]

That's a .28 on there.

Sorry, but any theory that says what Anthony Jackson is doing doesn't count as bass playing should immediately be thrown in the trash.

Yupyupyupyupyup...

 

[DigitalMan]

Another day, another "why P-bass" thread got me thinking about the definition of "bass". When I'm at my brother's house and fingering the four low strings on his acoustic guitar, I'm playing bass but I'm not playing a bass. That's pretty clear.

@el_Bajo_Verde posted a very helpful picture in the other thread of an ANSI standard bass and then another picture of one that pushes the boundaries. I'm not sure I'd recognize the Conklin as a bass without hearing it. I'm not even sure I could play it but it is beautiful in its own way.

View attachment 1069707

So the question stands. Where do we draw the line. I'm going with string diameter. My bandmate gave me a five-pack of Ernie's that are way thinner than anything I would consider bass strings. The pack languishes in a bag somewhere. I would think that they would sound like the unheralded baritone guitar. I dunno. Perhaps this is all a bunch of orange colored root veggies. You gotta have at least on string greater than .090" and none less than .035"

By your definition Geddy Lee didn't play bass on Power Windows, Hold Your Fire, Presto, or Roll the Bones.

 

[RickyT]

When I'm at my brother's house and fingering the four low strings on his acoustic guitar, I'm playing bass but I'm not playing a bass.

No. You're playing the four low strings on a guitar, not a bass. Its an octave too high.

 

[btmpancake]

Ask my daughter...when one of her matching set of knick-knacks vibrated off the living room coffee table unto the hardwood living room floor. BTW-It was half of a set of custom made 'lil Snoop Dog what-nots. Yeah I know- right? No hard feelings to Snoop tho. Sorry for derailing, I had to get it out.

 

[mongo2]

As my music theory professor explained decades ago, the guitar is considered to be in the bass register because all the open strings in standard tuning, except for the high E string, are tuned below middle C on the Grand Staff.

 

[Element Zero]

The way I see it, if it can be played in the same register as a "normal bass" yet has more than 6 strings, I call it an extended range bass.

Never understood arguments like these. Same with the extremely tired "Jaco only needed 4 strings" school of thought. In the end, what does it matter how many strings there are or how low or how high the notes can be? Music is music.

 

[Chicory Blue]

So, let's complicate this a bit, because the "octave too high" argument ignores that

1. Piccolo bass is a thing
2. Saying piccolo bass is just a guitar on TB is a volatile can of worms indeed.

So if the bottom strings on guitar aren't playing a bass because they're "an octave too high," does that mean a burst-and-tort P-Bass with Piccolo strings isn't a bass...?

Moreover, what about the use of octave effects? When a guitarist brings his sound down an octave to pluck out a bassline, does his instrument "become" a bass?

And when a bassist takes a high register solo, he's now playing in guitar range, no? Suppose he pushes it higher with an octave up effect- is he a guitarist now?
What if he uses the octave pedal but sticks to the low end of the neck, effectively playing in a range that both guitar and bass are capable of? Has he accomplished quantum superposition and now plays to an audience of one very confused cat?

Pitch and string size alone aren't sufficient to answer this question definitively.

We have to go...

Deeper.

--^@

 

[Pirate Captain]

this

 

[knumbskull]

I don't know but I keep finding them in my house.