All posts tagged bass

Bass Lessons in Barcelona

By on March 8, 2021 in online classes with No Comments

The bass guitar is a key instrument in a band. It is responsible for keeping the other players in the band on tempo to adding new levels and depth to the music. Rhythm, harmony, and melody are the three most important parts of music and the bass player creates the foundation as well as provides support to these elements. The bass brings all the music together, and both holds and guides the performance, demonstrating the power of this vital instrument.

Shine Music School offers Bass guitar lessons in Barcelona with qualified music teachers. Bass classes can be held in our studio, one-on-one in a private class or online from the comfort of your home. Classes are fun and our teachers have years of experience sharing their love of music. If you have been thinking of picking up a new hobby or expanding your musical repertoire, then a bass lesson could be for you. Our bass lessons are suitable for both adults and kids, and each lesson is adapted to the student. Our bass classes from Barcelona are affordable and our teachers are able to teach in Spanish, English or Catalan. Check out our price guides, or read on to discover more about the Bass instrument.

SIGN UP FOR BASS LESSONS

What is Bass Guitar?

The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass, is a member of the guitar family. It is the lowest pitched instrument of all the guitars and typically has four to six strings. Since the mid-1950s, the bass guitar has largely replaced the double bass in popular music. In the 1930s, musician and inventor Paul Tutmarc created the first electric bass guitar as we recognise it today. The bass is a fretted instrument, played horizontally as opposed to upright and standing like the double bass. During the 1950s, Leo Fender and George Fullerton worked on manufacturing this type of electric bass on a large scale. The Fender Bass revolutionised the bass for gigging musicians. In comparison its large and heavy upright cousin, which had been the main bass instrument during the early 20th century, the electric bass guitar could now be easily transported to shows. The addition of frets enabled bassists to play in tune more easily than on fretless acoustic or electric upright basses, and allowed guitarists to transition to the instrument relatively easily. Electric bass guitars are played when plugged into an amplifier.

Why play the Bass?

It makes you a great musician

Like a heartbeat, bass plays the rhythm that we all respond to. This is more often than not the foundation to the harmony of the music. When multiple notes are played the bass rhythm ties them all together in a pleasing way, supporting the harmony. The bass can guide a song giving it both soul or funk and a consistent beat, this is the heartbeat of the band. Essentially the bass is what makes your audience tap their foot, or dance to the music. Learning the bass gives you a perfect in grounding in music as you study how to “feel” the music by playing the beat. It can also help in your composing and arranging, as studying bass gives you good knowledge of how the music works together in a combo.

It’s great for Shy musicians

Bass players are an essential part of the band, and a good bassist is a sought after element in any musical group. Without the added pressure of being the “frontman” they still make up the backbone of the music alongside the drummer, and popular music today would not be able to do without them.

Great Bassists know that their beat punches a powerful beat

But don’t only listen to us! Science can even back up how vital the bass is to any piece of music!

The bass affects listeners and how it helps them perceive the music other instruments play. Studies have indicated that more people respond to the rhythm when it is a lower-pitched instrument that plays it. This is because deeper bass notes have a unique effect on peoples’ minds and bodies. The actual beat of the bass can resonate through our bodies and we can not only hear it, but feel it as well. In fact the bass is what deaf people respond to when music is played to them, as they can feel the rhythm and beat of the music. It has also been shown that your heartbeat can even sync to the deeper bass beat of the music you are listening to.

Its clear that bass is a unique and important instrument and can be a great musical instrument to learn to play.

sources: wikipedia and mspot

So you wanna play Bass?

By on June 20, 2020 in guitar, online classes with Comments Off on So you wanna play Bass?

“When I heard BB King’s ‘Sweet Sixteen, I knew I wanted to play bass because that was the thing that made that record: the bass player.” Donal Dunn

I remember speaking with David, one of Shine’s best teachers about the bass guitar. He said proudly that the bass guitar is for real music lovers, for those who don’t want leadership or to stand out from the rest of the group, but become the body of the group, bringing all of the other instruments together. “This is why bass guitar players have to be really passionate about it, because they become both body and soul of any band”, he said.

Very often people ask themselves what’s the real difference between a guitar and a bass. If you are an absolute newbie to music you may not even understand the basic differences between guitar and bass. The two instruments are more similar than you probably realise. The electric guitar is a six-stringed instrument, and standard tuning is: EADGBE. That means the lowest string is tuned to the note E, the next to the note A, the next to D and so on. But knowing the notes isn’t really important right now, as much as understanding how the guitar and bass are related.

The standard bass guitar has only four strings, and is a slightly larger instrument. The tuning of a bass guitar is the same as the lowest four strings of a regular guitar, except one whole octave down in pitch. Therefore, the strings of bass guitar are tuned EADG, just like the lowest four strings on a regular guitar. In many ways, the bass is exactly the same as the guitar, except with two fewer strings and lower tuning. The same scales, chords and music theory you might learn on one carries over to the other. The two instruments are directly related. This is important, because many players think they have to choose one or the other when first starting out. Understanding that there is a direct correlation between the two might make your choice seem a bit less stressful. What you learn on guitar will apply to bass and vice versa. You can make the switch at any time. It might be fun to try!

Keep in mind, there are all kinds of different tunings used on both instruments, and all kinds of variations of each instrument. There are 7- and 8-string guitars, and 5- and 6-string basses. Don’t let any of that worry you. Once you understand the basics of one instrument, the rest is easy to figure out.

One thing many young musicians wonder is why a rock band even needs a bassist. They’re just in the background, and many bands are so drum and guitar-heavy on their albums that you can’t even hear the bass. This is especially true now that so many guitarists are detuning down to the frequencies once occupied only by the bassist. In truth, while average bass players may be content with taking a backseat, a good bassist knows that his or her job is to carry the band. They provide the backbone that holds up the other instruments. In genres like jazz and blues, this means settling into a groove and working with the drummer. In metal and hard rock, it means supplying the meat of the guitar riff, that part of the sound that puts the audience through the back wall.

Good bassists are indeed very valuable, so if bass is the path you decide on, then wear your choice proudly!

Ok, let’s be honest. It’s actually pretty easy to play bass. You only have to play one note at a time, you can just stand in the back and chill, and if you make a mistake, you just call it a “passing tone.” But the insider trick to know is that if you play in-time and play the right notes most of the time, you are keeping the song moving melodically and rhythmically. You, my friend, are the most important part of the song. The bass player is the perfect mediator in the band. He (or she) keeps the other players in line and holds everything in place. Without the bass player, everything would fall apart and be a big mess.

I’ve heard many musicians say that one of the hardest things to do is to find a good bass player. So if you’re a good bass player, you’ll get work. You don’t even need to be great. You just need to play the right notes in time.

Electric bass guitar, when played acoustically, is probably the quietest instrument that exists. A bass player can plug in headphones and mixer and sound like he’s playing in a stadium in his ears, but to the people around him, pretty much nothing is happening.

Can you think of a quieter instrument? Right. Bass is it. Great for practicing at home and not bothering the neighbors

Also, a bass player will always be a great friend. A bass player is patient. A bass player loves what he does, and knows that the most important job is to ensure that people feel something. That they dance. That they lose themselves in the groove.

If you decide to give it a try, you can contact Shine Music School for face to face lessons or online lessons.

You can also come down to The Music Room in Barcelona and rent a bass for a couple of months to see how it goes or visit our instrument rental page.

You might want to listen to some of the best bass players of all times and see what they sound like : Flea, John Entwistle, Cliff Burton and Victor Wooten.