History of the Electric Bass

By Nick Koechel

Build• Commonly contain 4

strings

• Similar to a guitar, but bigger

• Different verities in basses

Theory

Transposed instrumentNotated in bass clefOctave lower than a guitarSounds an octave lower than

is written

Early HistoryPaul Tutmarc’s invention

in the 1930sElectric bass fiddleNot a commercial

successCreated it to make it

easier to move from gig to gig

Fender

1951 Fender created the first Precision bass

Only had single coil pick up and 20 frets

1957 Fender created a second Precision bass that is most similar to the one today

Gibson

Started by creating a bass that could be played upright or horizontally

1961 was when Gibson release their most popular

electric bass

OthersW

arwic

k Music M

anFodera

Pedulla

Amps

Need an amp to play a bass loudly Creates an electrical signal through the

bass to create a louder sound Endless amounts of effects and sounds

Techniques!

Finger Style or Picking

• You can pick the string with your fingers or with a pick

• They both create different sounds

Slap BassoUse your thumb to thump the

string and using your index or middle finger to pop the string

oUsed a lot in funk

Palm Muting

• Involves resting your palm on the bridge of the bass while playing

Tapping

oUsing both hands to fret notes

oCreating more hammer ones and pull offs

The bass continues to change today

The End

Attributions• Stan the Man- Steve Bailey• Donna Lee- Jaco Pastorius• Power- Marcus Miller• Get Up Stand Up- Bob Marley• Ari’s Eyes- Victor Wooten• Bass Guitar by Feliciano Guimarães- <div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#"

xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" about="http://i.images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-477085398-hd/Musical_Instruments/String_instruments/Guitar/Bass_guitar/Bass_guitar.jpg"><span property="dct:title">Bass guitar</span> (<a rel="cc:attributionURL" property="cc:attributionName" href="http://www.fotopedia.com/users/80n3pj2502nc9">Feliciano Guimarães</a>) / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">CC BY 2.0</a></div>

• Bass Clef by jaschon- http://openclipart.org/detail/132547/bass-clef-by-jaschon• Victor Wooten by Jason Scragz- <div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#"

about="http://nopsa.hiit.fi/pmg/viewer/images/photo_109426737_e53908f685_t.jpg"><a rel="cc:attributionURL" property="cc:attributionName" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/scragz/109426737/sizes/m/">Jason Scragz</a> / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">CC BY 2.0</a></div>

• Fender by jenny downing- http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenny-pics/3620083920/• Paul Tutmarc by ABOZ- http://www.abozbassandguitars.com/history.html• Guitar tech by Roadside Guitars-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadsideguitars/3405379647/• Old Bass Guitar by Olddanb- http://es.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-2399691118• Bass guitar by por gerar_79- http://www.arteyfotografia.com.ar/16129/fotos/317721/• The countless ticking of the roundclock- http://indieridley.i.ph/blogs/indieridley/2005/08/