Define Bass Guitar Meaning

An instrument scientifically proven to be sexy because its low-end frequency range of 30-100 Hz corresponds with the frequencies at which vaginas vibrate when sexually aroused!

bass guitar
Since most people here seem to be ignorant of what a bass is:

1) It was NOT "based off the guitar", it's an electric adaptation of the double bass which became awkward and increasingly less audible compared to other instruments in the earliest rock/jazz bands.

2) While easier to learn than guitar, it is far far more difficult to master. Anyone can sound cool playing the pentatonic scale and power chords over and over; it takes a great more deal of musical skill and talent to be excellent at bass.

3) On a related note "Anyone who plays guitar can play bass by default" is ridiculous. If you have no sense of rhythm and can't keep a beat, then you can't play bass. Hell, most guitarists I've met can't even play the bass without making the frets buzz their first few times.

4) Bass is a rhythm instrument, with a deeper more mellow sound. Guitar is melodic (or at least mostly used for such). To say bass is inferior to guitar is also stupid.

a four stringed instrument. tuned a octave lower than your normal guitar.
many people overlook the bass as being simple but if anyone has any proper knowledge of the bass then they know that it is harder than it looks to play.
people may say if u can play guitar u can play bass but its not always like that. due to the basses heaviness and longer neck it can take a while to get used to!

(BASE - gitt - TARR) A musical instrument that's a hybrid of the upright bass (also known as the double bass or bass violin) and the electric guitar, conveniently combining the low tonal range of the upright bass with the portability and playability of the guitar. Popularized by models created by Leo Fender in the 1950s, although he wasn't the first to manufacture a bass & guitar combination.

Like the original upright bass, bass guitars most commonly have 4 thick strings tuned EADG. But extended-range models with five (BEADG) or six strings (BEADGC) are available too, as are 8 and 12 string models (based off the idea of 12 string guitars).

a four stringed guitar (E,A,D,G), much cooler than regular guitar

foundation of modern rock bands; person playing it is highly overlooked as a musician although most bassists are much cooler//more talented than guitar players

goes great with drums

An electric, portable version of the double bass designed in the 1930s and first mass produced in the early 1950s by Fender. Shaped like a guitar but larger, many people mistake the bass as a regular guitar. There are more techniques available to a bassist than a guitarist, like slapping and popping. A bass is often played fingerstyle, like a classical guitar, but some prefer to use a pick for the harder more trebly sound produced.

The bassist's role in a rock or metal band is to provide a rhythmic link between the guitar and drums, creating the foundation for a song. In a lot of avant-garde and jazz genres, the bass is featured as a solo instrument, although rock/metal bassists like Cliff Burton have used the bass in this way. A common misconception of the bass is that guitarists are able to play bass using guitar techniques, but this is untrue. A guitarist using techniques for a guitar would only be able to lay down a very simple bassline. Bassists are often overlooked in a band setting because the guitar has a higher volume and plays the role of the lead instrument in most rock and pop bands.

Since most people here seem to be ignorant of what a bass is:

1) It was NOT "based off the guitar", it's an electric adaptation of the double bass which became awkward and increasingly less audible compared to other instruments in the earliest rock/jazz bands.

2) While easier to learn than guitar, it is far far more difficult to master. Anyone can sound cool playing the pentatonic scale and power chords over and over; it takes a great more deal of musical skill and talent to be excellent at bass.

3) On a related note "Anyone who plays guitar can play bass by default" is ridiculous. If you have no sense of rhythm and can't keep a beat, then you can't play bass. Hell, most guitarists I've met can't even play the bass without making the frets buzz their first few times.

4) Bass is a rhythm instrument, with a deeper more mellow sound. Guitar is melodic (or at least mostly used for such). To say bass is inferior to guitar is also stupid.

Saying that if you can play a Electric guitar means that you can play a bass guitar is like saying that: if you can play a Cello you can play a violin. Which is wrong, yes you should be able to play something, because of the tuning to be a like, but the play style and the place and job in the band / Orchestra is very different almost totally different.

Guitar Vs. Bass

The Guitar is one octave higher than the bass and is therefore easier to mix notes and make chords, because the sound will be much brighter and clearer than the bass. As the bass often just makes a blurry dark sound. Don’t take me wrong, you can mix notes with the bass, you just need to know what you’re doing. (Personally, I mix notes all the time but that’s my play style. Often 5th’s and octaves)
The guitar has also a smaller neck then the electrical bass and its therefore shorter space between each fret. This makes it easier to move your fingers.

Bass guitars.

The most common bass is the 4 string bass, as a beginner you don’t need more strings. But advanced players sometimes got the urge for more:P the most common option then is one or two extra strings. A 5 string bass (usually, not in my case) adds a dark B string. Needed for metal or heavy rock riffs. A 6 string bass adds a low B string and a high C string. I haven’t heard about two lighter or darker strings. You can also get a 12 15 or 18 stringed bass, but it’s really as a 4, 5 or 6 stringed bass that has the same concept as the 12 stringed guitar but only with two extra strings per main string. I don’t really know the tuning of the extra strings only that it’s higher. Probably a 5th or an octave higher.
Another bass type is the fretless bass. The fretless bass don’t have any frets (the thin metal lines that makes you hit the exact note.) its like a contrabass, cello or violin. This gives it a mush smoother sound, and not the solid sound that the frets generates. Its also harder to play, ‘cause you need to place your fingers quite exactly to make the right not, but it’s not hard to learn, you just need to get used to it. This bass type is often used in Jazz music, but I’ve seen it in most music genres. Even a disco riff that “Frank Zappa And The Mother” made.
Acoustic Basses are also available but good ones costs a lot and still doesn’t work good in a band. (Feedback, Badsound etc.) But as an instrument for use home alone its great, gives a great feeling.

The Bass players Job

Well this is my opinion, some bass players may disagree. The bass is not a solo instrument as the guitar, its not meant to do the same as the solo guitarist. Although bass solos are awesome.
I always listen to the drums and guitars and try to be a link between them. And from that point I try to make song more interesting.
example:

Guitarist plays D C B A
I Play D E B A not every time, but I try to wary it.

The E gives the round a new feeling, which makes the riff more interesting.

or

Instead of playing each note for example four times you can do this.
The next Example I will show in a tab how to read a tab go here
http://mxtabs.net/content.php? (splitted) file=Reading_Guitar_and_Bass_Tabs

G|----------------------------- --------------------------|
D|-----5-7-5----------4-5-4---- ------4------------5-4-2--|
A|5-5------------3-3----------- --2-2----2----0-0---------|
E|----------------------------- --------------------------|

It depends on the genre you’re playing.

at last you can also play with a pick which if you want an even harder sound much more trebled sound. But gives you a more steadier rhythm if you play on note multiple times. Personally, I prefer fingering technique. I feel more free, more “in touch with the sound” :P and pick bass is for wimps :P

Here is a nifty little video with stu Hamm a Great Bass player.
http://video.google.com/videoplay? (splitted) docid=1158095372160188114&q=ba (splitted) ss+playable%3Atrue

I'm glad for any questions so feel free to Mail me. Basshoe@gmail or enkulinist@hotmail.com

Btw I had to split the links to post it, you'll figure it out

known as the electric bass, far superior to the regular guitar. Yet i play a fretless, which is even far superior to the fretted bass!