The Five Most Popular Bass Instruments

Introduction

A bass is an instrument that has a seemingly low pitched sound. The sound is mixed with higher tuning instruments to produce a wonderful and alarming mix of music. These string instruments are the largest in the string instrument family because of their deep and low pitches. In a string quartet, the bass instrument is the tenor of the production instead of the cello. The following are the most popular and widely used bass instruments. They have been used in numerous classical music concerts and still provide the public a sense of flow and beautiful open sound.

Step 1

The double bass has any names. It has been called the bass fiddle, the upright bass, doghouse bass, stand up bass, and the strong bass; its most common name. The double bass is a string instrument used in symphony orchestras because of its mixed sound. The double bass is widely known for its use in old blues and jazz. 50s style jazz and rockabilly tunes all have the double bass featured in them, playing loudly as possible. The instrument is played by plucking strings to keep the register at a low tenor. The French bow style was generally used during the 19th century and had a softer sound to it, which produced wonderful calming music that was popular during the century.

Step 2

Bass horns all have different names and types. Tubas and sousaphones are the most popular. They are in the wind family of instruments and are played in a low deep register, hence the bass name. Woodwind instruments such as the bass clarinet and bass saxophone are used for blue grass and jazz remnant of the 1980s. The serpent shape of the tuba and sousaphone is fashioned in a twisty form the musician can hit high octaves of sounds to around a middle C. The first use of these serpent shaped instruments dates back the 1500s, when fools and musicians privy to the king would burst out in song for entertainment and enjoyment.

The keyboard bass is much like the bass instruments guitar and is sometimes used in union with it. It is also a substitute for the double bass because of its low register. Bass keyboards were bass instruments that were very popular during the reign of rock music in the 1970s. Rush, Led Zeppelin, Yes, and the dance group the B-52’s all used bass keyboards. Piano bass is still used in songs today of the alternative variety.

Step 3

The washtub bass use to be a homemade and one of the most simple bass instruments that was made out of jugs of washtubs. They were used in African American jug bands of the 1900s and are still used today in art house music. Other names for the bass are dumdum, gas-tank bass, bush bass, and dan bau.

Bass drums are in almost every rock or concert band’s arsenal of bass instruments. They are used also in concert band music and Italian musical concerts. The bass drum was originally made in the middle east and uses a snare drum in the middle which creates its loud and booming sound. Mallets were first used before drumsticks, which made the bass drum the perfect wake up call to the Ottoman Empire royalty in the 1500s.

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