Bass Instruments

• Examples
• Roles

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

Examples

The most common bass instrument is variously known as the acoustic bass, string bass, double bass, upright bass, standup bass, contrabass, or simply the bass:

There is also a bass guitar, also known as the electric bass:

The tuba is in the bass instrument category as well:

Roles

These instruments, while limited for the most part to playing one note at a time, are pitched so low that they are rarely called upon to play a traditional melodic role. Instead, they spend most of their time playing as members of the rhythm section in an accompanying role.

There are two primary functions of the bass in a standard rhtyhm section. The first is to provide a harmonic foundation, usually by playing the roots of the chords. In fact, for ballads, it is not unusual for a bassist to play almost nothing but roots, changing notes only when the chord changes:

In most other situations, however, the bass plays some sort of rhythmic pattern. This leads to the second primary function of the bassist - to outline the pulse. While many people think of the percussion instruments as the ones keeping the beat, the bass is at least as important for this purpose. For example, in bebop and similar styles of jazz, the bass tends to play a "walking" pattern, with an insistent one note per beat:

Whereas in the bossa nova, a different pattern is employed:

Other styles have their own characteristic bass patterns. The bassist is usually free to vary the pattern or define one of his own. However, a bassist might forego playing a particular pattern at all, and instead choose to play more freely in terms of rhythm. Rather than use a regular repeating pattern that outlines the pulse, he may simply play melodies that balance whatever other melody a horn player or other instrument is playing:

This suggests that the bass is not incapable of playing melodically, and indeed, sometimes the bass does play the melody for a composition, which makes for an interesting change of pace:

This is fairly rare, however. Bass players do not tend to take improvised solos as often as other instruments, either. When a bass player solos, there is usually no other bassist to support him, and as a result, much of the momentum of the performance might be lost. It is up to the rest of the rhythm section to keep this from happening. On the other hand, they have to be careful not to overplay and drown out the bassist. It is a difficult balance. Here is an example of a bass solo with typical rhythm section accompaniment:

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Bass Instruments