Musicians: How important is the bass player in a band?

The bass line is the road on which the music travels. The drummer can serve the function to an extent, but given the choice between the the bass and drums, the bass usually wins hands down. Even with the bass absent, someone’s going to be playing “the bottom”

I can almost never hear the bass, either. There have been rare occasions where I could, and hubby says those particular bass players are really good.

I’ll ask him his take on the question of importance and report back.

It’s All About That Bass, no treble.

I imagine, even if you think you can’t hear the bass player, if you heard the band without the bass, it’d sound like something very important was missing.

The bass drives the music. Bass is way important.

@Jak But what do you mean by the bass drives the music?

Having played in rock bands on and off most of my life I can tell you that the bass player is the most expendable but a good one can make a great band exceptional. Good ones are very, very rare since it’s often where people who are just interested in playing in a group and not into the music so much end up. They are the bridge between the harmony and rhythm.

The bassist serves an extremely important function in the modern rock or pop band. The most minimalist form is the so-called power trio, consisting of guitar, drums and oh, look! bass! On a keyboard, the chords are really defined by the lowest note played, and that translates to the job of the bassist in an ensemble. If you may not notice the bassist or the bass line, it’s because you’re not picking it up from the totality.

Is it true women can’t hear bass tones as well because of the physics – smaller ears vs longer waveforms?

Honest question, I read that fact (or myth) long ago and it seemed to make sense.

@jaytkay Never heard that. Too low? :-)

Not sure… I have no problem distinguishing bass drum beats (I can even hear the difference between a single- and double-pedal blast beat), but the bass guitar is tricky.

I think they also tend to get buried in the mix during many live performances. There are lots of bad sound engineers out there.

@jaykay Myth I’ve known several bass player that were female.
I played bass in everything from blue grass with a “wash-tub” bass to double bass in symphony and jazz groups. I also played a four string electric bass guitar in several groups including rhyme & blues also rock and roll. One group I was with opened for Procol Harum at University of Connecticut in 1968 for a block party, on the campus streets.

At fourteen played at several bars and saloons on Friday and Saturday nights, it was a two piece group; piano player and me on bass.

Hubby says it depends on whether the bass player is a bass player or just a guy who wanted to be a guitar player but couldn’t hack it.

He’s so helpful. Haha.

@Tropical_Willie But my question is about the role of the bass player. What do you see it as?

Second part @janbb Playing in a two piece made the difference having the bass player. He had tried doing a “piano bar” gig but found the bass made a difference. We would trade jazz improvisation melody lines.

@Seek That’s been my experience.

It’s been said that if you truly want to know a bass player’s worth within the band you should ask a bass player and then prepare to lose an hour of your life.

To me, the bass is a percussion extension used to not only to help maintain the beat but also allow folks to feel the beat. The Beatles tune Maxwell’s Silver Hammer is, in my opinion, an excellent example for learning to pick this up. Paul’s bass line is very easy to hear and follow.

@Jak. Bass driving the music. James Brown or ANY Blues band. All of the rhythm & blues greats that I grew up on, the best of rockn roll – I mean for me it is impossible to imagine most of it minus the bass. It also comes as a surprise that 2 of the women here have difficulty picking up the bass notes. To me the bass is the backbone of any piece I can pull up in my head.

It may be the style of music. Hearing a stand-up bass in a rockabilly band is way easier than hearing an electric bass in a thrash metal band.

Is there a site on the web where I can listen to songs and isolate the bass line like you could turn up the bass on all old stereo?

@Blondesjon I think I heard it more just listening to Maxwell.

@janbb . . . Is he any good? I haven’t heard of him before now but then I don’t possess the same level sababa as my favorite flightless bird.

@Blondesjon No – I meant “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”

@janbb . . . Ahhh. I googled Maxwell when I read your post and this was the first thing to pop up. I just figured it was you being the trendsetting hep daddy we all know and love.

When I’m Sixty-Four is another good example.

@janbb. I’m using my mobile so I can’t link. For a great example go to you tube and search Paul Young – I’m gonna tear tour playhouse down. This is a definitive example. The bass is the foundation and everything wraps around it. This is a crappy medium for me to expound on this subject. Seriously though. Check out that song. Well worth a couple minutes of your time. Let me know how you feel afterward.

@janbb I see your point and would not have believed it possible that anyone could find a Beatles tune where the bass was absolutely useless. Maxwell’s silver hammer is all by itself. Can you name another?

Nose? Fight? HAHAHAHA! Don’t edit. Please!

@Jak Oh yeah! Can definitely hear and see the centrality of the bass in that!

I, too, had heard that in general men hear lower frequencies than women. I decided to do a little searching and just found this plot comparing the hearing range average of 5 women and 5 men. Men were better in the low range and women were better in the high range.

A lot depends on the kind of music you’re listening to. In metal music, for instance, bass can sound virtually non-existent.That’s partially because metal bands tend to be so focused on the guitar that the guitars basically get the bulk of the mix (also, for some reason, many metal bands and listeners have an aversion to decent production. Listenable albums aren’t “true” enough I guess). Also in metal (whether trash, death, black, etc) the bass tends to simply follow the rhythm guitar anyway. Rare is the metal band where the bass is of any significance (an extremely notable example of this rarity is Iron Maiden, who’s music tends to be built around Steve Harris’s bass).

@Darth Algar What a great observation. Also a really great question from the penguin. “Do you hear what I hear?”

The bassist gives the music “bottom.” Also, a bass guitar is a rhythm instrument as well as a harmonic/melodic instrument and a GOOD bass player is worth his or her weight in gold to the sound of a band.

What do you suppose Getty Lee would say? (Not mentioning he is part of the best three-piece band bar none)

To the audience, the bass player is the most thankless position in a band and to the band he is second in command that follows the true leader of the band….the drummer. Why do you think the drummer has his sticks over his head and cracks them together to start the song…1….2….3….5….

Unless of course you are Billy Sheehan then you rule the roost!

@janbb if you want to hear the bass in a song, on an Graphical EQ cut all frequencies above 280hz. You will most likely hear the kick drum as well, but everything else will be the bass.

@Silence04 What’s a graphical EQ?

Equalizer

Yeah – but on what device?

I have a Bose, iTunes and use Pandora.

It IS the device. Google it

Oh. Ok, then not happening.

No when you see a photo you will recognize the thing and it will all fall into place.

iTunes has one built in.

@janbb They are a fancy way of adjusting the tone in your stereo with sliders instead of knobs
usually

@Cruiser But I don’t have a stereo set up anymore.

Will check out iTunes later.

For a while you could find boom boxes with levers set up like graphic equalizers. The term is merely a fancy name for a “sound board” that allows you to control which sound frquencies to either augment or diminish.

Oh cool. I just found it on iTunes and am playing The Band with the bass way up. Thanks guys!

While you’re there check out Mean Mr. Mustard or I Feel Fine.

Just tried the same thing with Dire Strait’s “Calling Elvis.” Can really hear what the bass line is doing this way.

How is it possible that you are without a stereo system?

I have one in the attic but we moved from records to CDs many years ago and now I listen to CDs on the Bose in the kitchen and Pandora most other places. The AIWA and the LPs are in the attic.

Well, I’m in a bluegrass band. We often play without a bass although as a banjo player I far prefer playing with a bass than without one for a couple of reasons. First, it rounds out the sound. Second, a good bass player really knows how to keep the timing. In bluegrass the two most important instruments are the bass for beats 1,3 and guitar or mandolin for beats 2,4. The mandolin is like the snare drum.

So playing without a bass is kind of like playing without a floor. We get by because our guitarist is particularly good at accentuating the down beats.

Interesting answer @Rarebear. I never thought of it that way and you are spot on. I play guitar and my oldest plays bass and my youngest is the drummer. Together we each have our obvious role and instinctively when it is just me and bass son I am playing the role of drummer accentuating the snare hi-hat beats and when it is just me and son drummer I am filling in and providing the bass line on my guitar. Very few things are more fun than jamming out!