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A bass player (bassist) is a musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
 who plays a double bass
Double bass

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
, bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
, or another low-pitched instrument, such as keyboard bass
Keyboard bass

The keyboard bass is the use of a low-pitched keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the bass guitar or double bass in popular music....
 or a low brass instrument such as tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments. Since the 1960s, the electric bass is the standard bass instrument for rock and roll
Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a form of music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its roots lay mainly in rhythm and blues, Country music, folk music, gospel music, and jazz....
, jazz fusion
Jazz fusion

Fusion or, more specifically, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that merges jazz with elements of other styles of music, particularly funk, Rock and roll, R&B, electronic music, and world music, but also pop music, classical music, and folk music, or sometimes even Heavy metal music, reggae, ska, country music, hip hop...
 (and occasionally other forms of jazz), heavy metal
Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified Distortion , extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall...
, country
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
, reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 and pop music
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
. The double bass is the standard bass instrument for classical music, bluegrass
Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has its own roots in Folk music of Ireland, Music of Scotland, Music of Wales and Folk Music of England traditional music....
, and Swing-era and Bebop-era jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
.






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A bass player (bassist) is a musician
Musician

A musician is a person who plays or writes music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music:* An instrumentalist plays a musical instrument....
 who plays a double bass
Double bass

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
, bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
, or another low-pitched instrument, such as keyboard bass
Keyboard bass

The keyboard bass is the use of a low-pitched keyboard or pedal keyboard to substitute for the bass guitar or double bass in popular music....
 or a low brass instrument such as tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments. Since the 1960s, the electric bass is the standard bass instrument for rock and roll
Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a form of music that evolved in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Its roots lay mainly in rhythm and blues, Country music, folk music, gospel music, and jazz....
, jazz fusion
Jazz fusion

Fusion or, more specifically, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that merges jazz with elements of other styles of music, particularly funk, Rock and roll, R&B, electronic music, and world music, but also pop music, classical music, and folk music, or sometimes even Heavy metal music, reggae, ska, country music, hip hop...
 (and occasionally other forms of jazz), heavy metal
Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in England and the United States. With roots in blues-rock and psychedelic rock, the bands that created heavy metal developed a thick, massive sound, characterized by highly amplified Distortion , extended guitar solos, emphatic beats, and overall...
, country
Country music

Country music is a blend of popular American music forms originally found in the Southern United States and the Appalachian Mountains. It has roots in Traditional music, Celtic music, gospel music, and old-time music and evolved rapidly in the 1920s....
, reggae
Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Music of Jamaica, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady....
 and pop music
Pop music

Pop music is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hook , a mainstream style and a conventional structure.The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal" , but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternat...
. The double bass is the standard bass instrument for classical music, bluegrass
Bluegrass music

Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and is a sub-genre of country music. It has its own roots in Folk music of Ireland, Music of Scotland, Music of Wales and Folk Music of England traditional music....
, and Swing-era and Bebop-era jazz
Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
. Low brass instruments such as the tuba or sousaphone are the standard bass instrument in Dixieland
Dixieland

Dixieland music or sometimes referred to as Hot jazz or New Orleans jazz is a style of jazz which developed in New Orleans, Louisiana at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s....
 and New Orleans-style jazz bands.

Despite the associations of different bass instruments with certain genres, there are exceptions. Some 1990s and 2000s rock and pop bands use a double bass, such as Barenaked Ladies
Barenaked Ladies

Barenaked Ladies is a Juno Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated Canada alternative rock band. The band is composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, Tyler Stewart, and formerly Andy Creeggan and Steven Page....
; Indie
Indie rock

Indie rock is alternative rock that most notably exists in the Independent music underground music scene. It primarily refers to rock musicians that are or were unsigned, or have signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels....
 band The Decemberists; and punk rock
Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock....
/psychobilly
Psychobilly

Psychobilly is a genre of rock music that mixes elements of punk rock, rockabilly, and other genres. It is often characterized by lyrical references to science fiction, horror films and exploitation films, violence, lurid human sexuality, and other topics generally considered taboo, though often presented in a comedic or tongue-in-cheek fashi...
 groups such as Tiger Army
Tiger Army

Tiger Army is an American psychobilly band that was formed in 1996 in Berkeley, California. ...
. Some fusion jazz groups use a lightweight, stripped-down electric upright bass
Electric upright bass

The electric upright bass is an electronically amplified version of the double bass that has a minimal or 'skeleton' body, which greatly reduces the size and weight of the instrument....
 rather than a double bass. Some composers of modern art music use the electric bass in a chamber music
Chamber music

Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber....
 setting. Some jazz big bands use electric bass. Some fusion, R&B and house music groups use synth bass or keyboard bass rather than electric bass. Some Dixieland bands use double bass or electric bass instead of a tuba. In some jazz groups and jam band
Jam band

Jam bands are musical groups whose albums and live performances relate to a fan culture that originated with the 1960s group Grateful Dead and continued in the 1990s with Phish and similar bands....
s, the basslines are played by a Hammond organ
Hammond organ

The Hammond organ is an electronic organ which was invented by Laurens Hammond in 1934 and manufactured by the Hammond Organ Company. While the Hammond organ was originally sold to Church as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, in the 1960s and 1970s, it became a standard keyboard instrument for jazz, blues, Rock and r...
 player, who uses the bass pedal keyboard or the lower manual for the low notes.

Electric bass players


Electric bassists play the bass guitar
Bass guitar

The electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum.The bass guitar is similar in appearance and construction to an electric guitar, but with a larger body, a longer neck and Scale length, and usually four strings tuned to the same pitches as those of the double bass, whic...
. In most rock, pop, and country genres, the bass line outlines the harmony of the music being performed, while simultaneously indicating the rhythmic pulse. In addition, there are different standard bass line types for different genres and types of song (e.g. blues ballad, fast swing, etc.). Bass lines often emphasize the root, third, and fifth of the chord progression
Chord progression

A chord progression is series of chord s played in order. Chord progressions are central to most modern music and the principal study of harmony....
 being used in a given song. In addition, pedal tones
Pedal point

In tonality, a pedal point is a sustained tone, typically in the bass , during which at least one foreign, i.e., consonance and dissonance harmony is sounded in the other register ....
 (repeated or sustained single notes), ostinato
Ostinato

In music, an Ostinato is a motif or phrase which is persistently repetition in the same musical voice. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody....
s, and bass riff
RIFF

The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic meta-format for storing data in tagged chunks.It was introduced in 1991 by Microsoft and International Business Machines, and was presented by Microsoft as the default format for Windows 3.1x multimedia files....
s are also used as bass lines. While most electric bass players rarely play chord
Chord (music)

In music and music theory a chord is a set of two or more different note that sound simultaneously. Most often, in European-influenced music, chords are tertian Sonority that can be constructed as stacks of thirds relative to some underlying musical scale....
s (three or more notes all sounded at the same time), chords are used in some styles, especially jazz fusion
Jazz fusion

Fusion or, more specifically, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that merges jazz with elements of other styles of music, particularly funk, Rock and roll, R&B, electronic music, and world music, but also pop music, classical music, and folk music, or sometimes even Heavy metal music, reggae, ska, country music, hip hop...
 or progressive rock
Progressive rock

Progressive rock is a form of rock music that evolved in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." The term "art rock" is often used interchangeably with "progressive rock", but while there are crossovers between the two genres, they are not identical....
.

Double bass players


Classical double bass players

  • Johannes Matthias Sperger
    Johannes Matthias Sperger

    Johannes Matthias Sperger was an Austrian Bassist and composer.Sperger trained from 1767 in Vienna as a contrabassist and composer. He worked from 1777 in the Hofkapelle of the Archbishop of Pressburg....
     (1750-1812) Composer
  • Domenico Dragonetti
    Domenico Dragonetti

    Domenico Carlo Maria Dragonetti , was an Italy double bass virtuoso. He stayed for thirty years in his hometown of Venice, Italy and worked at the opera buffa, at the St Mark's Basilica and at the Grand Opera in Vicenza....
     (1763-1845) composer, conductor
  • Giovanni Bottesini
    Giovanni Bottesini

    Giovanni Bottesini was an Italy Romantic music composer, Conducting, and a double bass virtuoso....
     (1821-1889) composer, conductor
  • Franz Simandl
    Franz Simandl

    Franz Simandl was a double-bassist and pedagogue who is remembered most for his New Method for the Double Bass, 30 Studies, and more advanced collection of studies, Gradus ad Parnassum....
     (1840-1912) composer
  • Edouard Nanny
    Edouard Nanny

    Edouard Nanny was a famous France double bass player, teacher, and composer. He was part of la Soci?t? de concerts des Instruments anciens....
      (1872-1943) composer
  • Serge Koussevitzky
    Serge Koussevitzky

    Dr. Sergei Aleksandrovich Koussevitzky , was a Russian-born conducting, composer, and double bass known for his long tenure as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1924 to 1949....
     (1874–1951) Conductor, composer
  • Marshall Grant
    Marshall Grant

    Marshall Grant was the upright bass and electric bassist of singer Johnny Cash's original backing duo, the Tennessee Two, in which Grant and electric guitarist Luther Perkins played....
     (1928-present)
  • John Moses (1995-present)


Famous Bassists

Paul Mccartney
Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney Member of the Order of the British Empire is a multiple Grammy Award-winning England singer-songwriter, poet, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer, Painting, and Animal rights....
, Sting, Lemmy Kilmister
Lemmy Kilmister

Lemmy , also known as Lemmy Kilmister, Ian Willis and Lemmy von Mot?rhead, is an England singer and bassist. He is best known as the founding member of the Heavy metal music band Mot?rhead....
, Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons

Gene Simmons is an United States hard rock bassist, Singing, and actor. He is best known as "The Demon," the blood-spitting, fire-breathing, and tongue-wagging bassist in the hard rock band Kiss , an act he co-founded in the early 1970s....
, Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan

Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an United States musician and Rock music bassist, who is best known for his thirteen-year tenure in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses....
, Michael "Flea" Balzary
Flea (musician)

Michael Peter Balzary , more commonly known by the stage name Flea, is an Australian-born American bassist, trumpet player, and occasional actor....
, John Entwistle
John Entwistle

John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, and Horn player, who was best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band The Who....
, Steve Harris
Steve Harris (musician)

Stephen Percy Harris is the bassist, band leader and primary composer of the Heavy metal music band Iron Maiden. In addition, he plays keyboards, and sings backing vocals....
, Pete Quaife
Pete Quaife

Pete Quaife is an English people musician, artist and author. He was a founding member and the original bass guitarist for The Kinks, from 1963 until 1969....
, Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo

Roberto Trujillo is a bassist who played with Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, Jerry Cantrell, and Ozzy Osbourne's band before joining Metallica in 2003....


Lists of double bass players

  • See List of contemporary classical double bass players
    List of contemporary classical double bass players

    Contemporary classical double bass players are performers who play the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument. They perform European art music ranging from Mozart-era Classical pieces to contemporary avant-garde works in a variety of settings, ranging from huge orchestras to small chamber groups, or as soloists....
  • See List of jazz bassists
    List of jazz bassists

    This list of jazz bassists includes performers of the double bass and, since the development of jazz-rock fusion in the 1970s, electric bass players....
    , which includes both double bass and electric bass players.


External links

  • - The UK magazine for bass players
  • - How to play bass
  • - Bass Player magazine
  • - Thousands of bass players listed.
  • - Resource about double bass in jazz
  • - Forum and Wiki by and for bassists.