#3 Slap that Bass!

#3 Slap that Bass  

The double bass has a huge history (fitting for it's size).  Here are some key highlights.

-Probably invented sometime in the 1500's.

-The double bass probably originated as a member of the viol family, not the violin family.  Viols have a different shape and are fretted.  The double bass eventually lost its frets.

-The double bass is called the "double" bass, because for many years its role was exclusively to double the cello part down an octave.

-The bass started to become a more important instrument during the 1900's and its lines slowly became emancipated from the cello lines in the orchestra.

-The first sting bass virtuoso was Domenico Dragonetti, a contemporary of Beethoven's.

-The double bass varied greatly in size, shape, tuning, and number of strings until the 19th century when the 3 string double bass became the standard.  The fourth string started to come in toward the end of the 1800's.

In swing music the bass is in the rhythm section for a reason, because it's played percussively.  Bassists pluck the strings on every beat - 4-notes to the bar - and those notes are short and accented in swing music.

When bop music became prevalent, there was more a focus on independent lines and counterpoint in jazz.  Thus bass lines became more melodic and more legato (legato means the line is more connected instead of short thumpy notes).  This is when the "walking bass" really came to the forefront of jazz music.  In the swing era, the notes are often repeated and there is less movement around the instrument.  The focus is on creating rhythm and not melody.

Let's hear the difference.  Here's an example of swing era bass playing courtesy of Dave Brown playing with my band, Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators.



Next a different Brown, Ray Brown.  Ray is one of the best bass players of all time.  He is the epitome of the more modern style of bass playing, connected melodic lines.




For some more great examples of swing era bass playing (and to just hear a generally killer band), check out Mills Blue Rhythm Band bassists Elmer James and Hayes Alvis.

cheers,
Glenn

www.bluerhythmband.net
band.to/syncopators

Next time: The Guitar!!