Class of musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range
A bass instrument (/beɪs/) is a musical instrument that produces tones in the low-pitchedrangeC2–C4.[1] Basses belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles. Since producing low pitches usually requires a long air column or string, the string and wind bass instruments are usually the largest instruments in their families or instrument classes.
A musician playing one of these instruments is often known as a bassist. Other more specific terms such as 'bass guitarist', 'double bassist', 'bass player', may also be used.
The electric bass guitar is usually the instrument referred to as a "bass" in pop and rock music. The electric bass guitar, while invented in the 1930s by Paul Tutmarc, was first mass-produced by Leo Fender in 1951 and quickly replaced the more unwieldy double bass among non-classical musicians.[2]
The double bass is usually the instrument referred to as a "bass" in European classical music and jazz, sometimes called a "string bass" to differentiate it from a "brass bass" or "bass horn", or an "upright bass" to differentiate it from a "bass guitar".[3] Although being bowed instruments, they can be played pizzicato, which is a standard double bass technique in jazz, blues and rockabilly.[citation needed]
Mozart called the cello the most common bass instrument in his time, and in chamber music of the late eighteenth century, the cello was specified more often as the bass instrument (Basso) than the double bass.[4]
The basso profondo is a subtype of the bass voice type able to sing low notes, extending to C2 and possibly lower.[citation needed]
Wind instruments
A bass horn, such as a tuba, serpent, and sousaphone from the wind family and low-tuned versions of specific types of brass and woodwind instruments, such as bassoon, bass clarinet, bass trombone, and bass saxophone, the last of which was the first saxophone invented by Adolphe Sax.[6] The serpent was invented around the end of the 15th century, with lower instruments, such as the bass-tuba appearing over subsequent centuries.[7]
Other
Keyboard bass, a keyboard alternative to the bass guitar or double bass (e.g. the Fender Rhodes piano bass in the 1960s or 13-note MIDI keyboard controllers in the 2000s). This instrument peaked in popularity during the late 1970s and early 1980s, being particularly associated with the synth pop genre.[8]
"Violoncello and Double Bass in the Chamber Music of Haydn and His Viennese Contemporaries, 1750-1780". Journal of the American Musicological Society: 413–438. JSTOR830968.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Bass_instrument, and is written by contributors.
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