Bass is at the heart of music! Just as our hearts beat within our bodies, so does the bass within the music. It also helps drive our bodies to move; we dance to the beat, exercise to the beat, and so much more.
So what lies behind every good bass beat? Having scoured the online bass chats and forums, here is an A - Z summary of some of the thoughts and comments out there as to what constitutes the role of the bass within music.
A - Accompaniment - to the treble and other instruments.
B - Band - to make the band / ensemble sound better.
C - Consistency - of rhythm and tempo / speed.
D - Dynamics - of when do play loudly or quietly, such that the listener might not hear the bass but knows it is missing if it isn't in the mix.
E - Ear - a good bass ear, for the layers in the music eg the sound, rhythm, melody, harmony etc.
F - F clef - the Bass Clef, below the Treble Clef.
G - Genre's - an addition to many different genres and styles of music.
H - Harmony - to provide the
underlying harmony.
I - Improvisation - to provide a simple groove on the spot by ear.
J - J Bass/Jazz Bass - plays the
Jazz club, nice!
K - Kit - a well maintained bass kit with spares.
L - Lynchpin - the bridge between the rhythm section and the chords of the song, holding them together.
M - Material - a good bassist knows the material.
N - Naturalist - sounds good without adjustment.
O - Optimisation - gets the best
bass sound from how the instrument is played.
P - P-Bass / Precision Bass
In The Pocket - playing with
others in the group, maintaining communication, in unison as a whole.
Q - Quintessential - strives to be better and works towards that constantly.
R - Rhythm - to add depth to the rhythm, in a space between being strictly rhythmic (like the drum section) and melodic.
S - Sight reading - to read and
perform from sheet music or tablature.
T - Technique - to play many
different techniques eg. fingerstyle, plectrum, slap etc.
U - Upright Bass (aka "double bass")
V - Versatility - to adapt (eg, in playing style / sound) to many different functions or activities (eg, chamber, orchestral, session or band musician etc.)
W - Whole note - pride in a well-placed whole note.
X - Percussive (X) - plays in time
with the drums and glues the drums to the song by providing notes in addition to the rhythm.
Y - Bass note of a slash chord written "X/Y" where "/" separates the chord (X is the chord's root note) and the bass note (different from its root).
Z - Z-bass (aka Van Zalinge bass), a bodiless electric upright/stand-up bass designed and manufactured by Dutchman Henk Van Zalinge.
So what does all of this tell us? It tells us that the bass player isn't just the figure in the shadows, rather, they help make everything move collectively for the band and for audience enjoyment.
Hopefully, this will help in putting the bass in the right perspective.
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