The Electric Bass

The electric bass sounds an octave below the four lowest guitar strings and, like the double bass, is tuned in fourths. In almost every band it supplies the roots of the harmony and joins them to the drums to make a groove. Good bass players are rarely in the spotlight – and yet you notice at once when their timing is off. Since Leo Fender’s Precision Bass of 1951, the electric bass has replaced the double bass in rock, pop, soul, funk, reggae, metal and much of jazz, and has brought forth a world of its own in techniques, sounds and virtuosos – from James Jamerson’s Motown lines through Larry Graham’s slap and Jaco Pastorius’s fretless singing to Richard Bona and Victor Wooten.

1Overview and classification

The electric bass is an electric plucked instrument with frets (or without), usually with a solid body and magnetic pickups. Like the double bass, it is written in the bass clef an octave above its sounding pitch. It shares construction, electronics and the basic logic of the fingerboard with the electric guitar, but its musical task is quite different: foundation, pulse, and the link between harmony and rhythm.

In English the instrument is called the electric bass, the bass guitar or simply the bass; an early name was the Fender bass (in the 1950s and 1960s the brand name almost became the generic term). In the studios of the 1960s people spoke of the “bass guitar” to distinguish it from the double bass, the “string bass”.

2History

Forerunners

In the swing and dance orchestras of the 1930s the double bass was often barely audible against horns and amplified guitars, and it was large and awkward to transport. In 1935/36 the musician and instrument maker Paul Tutmarc of Seattle built the Audiovox Model 736 Bass Fiddle, an electric fretted bass guitar played horizontally – the first known electric bass of this kind. It was a commercial failure. Electric “stick” double basses (Rickenbacker, Vega, Regal) likewise failed to catch on.

The Fender Precision Bass

• 1951 Leo Fender presents the Precision Bass: a solid body like the Telecaster, a bolt-on maple neck with frets (hence “precise” intonation), a 34″ scale and a single-coil pickup. The instrument is manageable, loud and resistant to feedback. Lionel Hampton’s bassist Monk Montgomery is one of the first prominent players.
• 1956 Höfner (Germany) builds the 500/1 “violin bass” with a hollow body and short scale – made world famous by Paul McCartney.
• 1957 A new P-Bass with a split-coil, hum-cancelling pickup and a Stratocaster-like body – the shape still current today.
• 1959–1963 The Gibson EB-0 and Thunderbird, the Rickenbacker 4001 (1961), the Danelectro Longhorn.
• 1960 The Fender Jazz Bass: a slimmer neck, an offset body and two single coils – more versatile in tone.
• 1962 Rotosound (London) brings out the first roundwound bass strings; John Entwistle (The Who) uses their brilliant sound.
• 1960s Motown, Stax and the Los Angeles studios (James Jamerson, Duck Dunn, Carol Kaye) make the electric bass the centre of pop.
• 1965 The Fender Bass V: the first production five-string bass (with a high C string).
• 1971 Alembic build basses with active electronics and a neck-through design (Stanley Clarke, Jack Casady).
• 1975 Anthony Jackson asks Carl Thompson to build a six-string “contrabass guitar”; Jimmy Johnson and Alembic introduce the low B string.
• 1976 At Music Man, Leo Fender develops the StingRay with a humbucker and active EQ.
• 1979 Ned Steinberger presents the headless bass made of carbon fibre.
• since 1980 Five-string basses with a low B become standard in gospel, R&B, metal and the studio; boutique makers (Fodera, Ken Smith, Sadowsky, Warwick, Lakland, Mayones) shape the market.

Manufacturers worldwide

Region	Manufacturers (a selection)
USA	Fender, Music Man (Ernie Ball), Gibson, Rickenbacker, Alembic, Fodera, Ken Smith, Sadowsky, Lakland, Spector, Dingwall (Canada)
Germany	Warwick and Framus (Markneukirchen), Höfner, Marleaux, Sandberg
Japan	Yamaha, Ibanez, ESP, Atelier Z, Fujigen
Europe	Mayones (Poland), Sire (Korea/USA), Status Graphite (United Kingdom)
Asia	production in Indonesia, China, Korea and Mexico for entry-level and mid-range models (Squier, Epiphone, Yamaha)

3Body shapes and models

Model / type	Characteristics	Sound and use
Precision (P-Bass)	a split single coil in the middle, a wide neck	round, powerful, midrange-focused; rock, soul, Motown, punk
Jazz Bass (J-Bass)	two single coils, a slim neck	versatile; a growling bridge pickup (Jaco), funk, fusion, pop
PJ bass	P and J pickups combined	an all-rounder
StingRay (Music Man)	a humbucker at the bridge, active EQ	punchy and present; funk, slap, rock
Rickenbacker 4001/4003	neck-through construction, stereo output	wiry, rich in overtones (Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Lemmy)
Violin bass / hollowbody	hollow body, short scale	warm, percussive (the Beatles sound)
Thunderbird, EB-3, SG bass	Gibson models with humbuckers	fat and bassy; rock
Fretless	no frets (often with lines), fingerboard of ebony or epoxy	singing, with the “mwah” sound and sliding transitions
Headless, multiscale	no headstock; fanned frets	ergonomic, with a well-defined low B
Acoustic bass guitar	a hollow guitar body, often with a piezo pickup	unplugged playing; quiet without an amplifier
Baby bass / electric upright	an electric double bass (the Ampeg Baby Bass, 1960s)	salsa, Latin

Scale length

The long scale of 34″ (864 mm) is the standard. Short-scale basses (30″, 762 mm) are lighter and easier to handle, sound rounder and suit children, small hands and vintage sounds; the medium scale (32″) lies between the two. Scales of 35″ and longer improve the tension and definition of the B string on five- and six-string instruments.

Woods and construction

As on the electric guitar, alder, ash, mahogany, basswood and maple are common for the body, with maple for necks and rosewood, maple or ebony for fingerboards. The neck is bolted on (Fender, Music Man), glued in, or runs right through the body (Rickenbacker, Alembic, the Warwick Thumb NT). Neck-through construction is considered especially rich in sustain; graphite necks (Steinberger, Status, Modulus) are unaffected by climate.

4Pickups and electronics

Type	Characteristics
P pickup (split coil)	two offset coil halves, each under two strings; hum-free, strong in the midrange
J pickup	a single coil across all the strings; hum-free when both are used together
Soapbar / humbucker (MM)	double coils; powerful, hum-free
Active pickups	low impedance, with a preamp; very even
Piezo	in the bridge; an acoustic sound

The bridge pickup sounds slimmer, more growling and better defined (a solo tone), the neck pickup rounder and richer in bass. Passive electronics (volume, tone and sometimes a blend control) sound natural and need no battery. Active electronics with a 9- or 18-volt battery provide a preamp and a two- to four-band equaliser (bass, low mids, high mids, treble) on the instrument itself; they deliver a strong, low-impedance signal that copes with long cables. Many basses have an active/passive switch so that the instrument still works when the battery is flat.

5Strings

Type	Construction	Sound
Roundwound	round winding wire (nickel, nickel-plated steel, stainless steel)	brilliant and rich in overtones; the standard since the 1960s; stainless steel is especially bright (slap)
Flatwound	a flat ribbon winding	warm, round and mellow with little finger noise; Motown, reggae, jazz, vintage sounds
Halfround / groundwound	round wound and then ground flat on the outside	between the two
Tapewound	wound with nylon tape	close to a double bass, very soft
Coated	with a polymer coating	a longer life

Typical gauges for a four-string set: .045 – .065 – .085 – .105 (regular) or .040–.100 (light), with .125–.135 added for the B string on a five-string. Bass strings last longer than guitar strings; over time they lose brilliance (“go dead”), which is exactly what is wanted in reggae and the Motown sound. James Jamerson is said not to have changed his flatwounds for years.

6Tunings and range

Bass	Tuning	Notes
Four-string	E1 – A1 – D2 – G2	the standard
Five-string (low)	B0 – E1 – A1 – D2 – G2	a low B string (30.9 Hz); very widespread today
Five-string (high)	E1 – A1 – D2 – G2 – C3	an additional high C string; solo playing
Six-string	B0 – E1 – A1 – D2 – G2 – C3	chords, solos, a wide range (Anthony Jackson, John Patitucci)
Drop D	D1 – A1 – D2 – G2	rock, metal
D standard, drop C, B standard	all strings lowered	metal, stoner rock
Tenor tuning	A1 – D2 – G2 – C3	solo playing, jazz
Piccolo bass	an octave higher (E2–G3)	Stanley Clarke, solo work
Tuning in fifths	C1 – G1 – D2 – A2	a few specialists; a wider range

7Technique

The right hand

Technique	Description	Sound and styles
Fingerstyle (alternating)	index and middle finger in alternation; in the rest stroke, the finger comes to rest on the next string	the standard in almost every style; warm and controlled
Raking	one finger sweeps down across two strings when changing strings	efficient arpeggios
Three- and four-finger technique	the ring finger (and little finger) as well	very fast passages (Billy Sheehan, Matt Freeman)
Pick	down and up strokes	even, full of attack; punk, rock, metal (Paul McCartney, Chris Squire, Carol Kaye)
Thumb style	the thumb plucks while the heel of the hand mutes at the bridge	short and round; Motown, old-school playing
“The hook”	the index finger alone (Jamerson)	the Motown groove
Palm muting	the edge of the hand mutes at the bridge	percussive, close to a double bass

Where you pluck changes the sound: near the bridge it is biting and slim, over the end of the neck round and soft. Muting the strings you are not playing is central on the bass, because low strings ring on and vibrate in sympathy: the right hand uses a floating thumb or an anchored technique, and the left hand mutes with the fingers it is not using.

Slap and pop

The slap technique goes back to Larry Graham, who in the 1960s stood in for the missing drummer in Sly and the Family Stone: the thumb strikes the low strings against the last frets (the “slap”, like a bass drum), while the index or middle finger pulls the high strings and lets them snap back onto the fingerboard (the “pop”, like a snare). Ghost notes, hammer-ons and double stops are added. Later developments include Louis Johnson (“Thunder Thumbs”), Mark King (Level 42), Marcus Miller, Flea and Victor Wooten with his “double thumbing” (the thumb strikes down and up) and “open hammer pluck”.

The fretting hand and further techniques

The left hand usually works on the principle of one finger per fret; in the lowest positions and for small hands, the Simandl system (1-2-4, see the double bass) is an alternative. Other techniques: hammer-on, pull-off, slide, vibrato, natural and artificial harmonics (Jaco Pastorius’s “Portrait of Tracy”), chords and double stops (thirds, tenths), two-handed tapping (Stuart Hamm, Michael Manring, Billy Sheehan), and ghost or dead notes as rhythmic filler.

8Fretless

The fretless bass allows continuously variable pitch, glissandi and a vocal vibrato. The characteristic “mwah” sound arises when the string vibrates against the fingerboard; it is most pronounced with roundwound strings on an ebony or epoxy fingerboard and with the bridge pickup. Jaco Pastorius, who removed the frets from his own Jazz Bass, made the fretless famous in the 1970s (with Weather Report); other defining fretless players are Pino Palladino (with Paul Young), Mick Karn (Japan), Percy Jones (Brand X), Tony Levin, Gary Willis, Michael Manring and Richard Bona. Intonation demands a trained ear; lines on the fingerboard help with orientation.

9Bass lines and groove

Basic principles

Styles

Style	Typical bass line	References
Rock	continuous quavers on the root, often with a pick	Adam Clayton (U2), Cliff Williams (AC/DC)
Motown, soul	melodic, syncopated lines with chromatic passing notes and ghost notes	James Jamerson (“What’s Going On”, “Bernadette”)
Funk	syncopated semiquavers, ghost notes, rests, slap, emphasis on “the One”	Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, Rocco Prestia, Verdine White
Disco	octave leaps in quavers	Bernard Edwards (Chic)
Reggae	low, round notes, plenty of rests, emphasis on beat three (the one drop)	Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Robbie Shakespeare
Jazz	walking bass (continuous crotchets), two-feel	Jaco Pastorius, Steve Swallow, John Patitucci
Latin, salsa	the tumbao: anticipated notes on the “and” of 2 and on 4, with the downbeat left open	Cachao (double bass), Carlos del Puerto, Lincoln Goines
Country	root and fifth on 1 and 3, with walk-ups	Nashville studio musicians
Metal	unison with the guitar riffs, gallop rhythms, pick playing, low tunings	Steve Harris (Iron Maiden), Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler
Punk	fast quavers with a pick	Dee Dee Ramone, Matt Freeman
Pop, R&B, gospel	groove-led lines, fills, chord shapes; gospel with virtuoso runs and five-string basses	Nathan East, Pino Palladino, Andrew Gouché
Afrobeat, highlife	circling, ostinato patterns	the bassists in Fela Kuti’s bands

Timing and the “pocket”

The most important quality in bass playing is a sense of time. Bass players speak of the pocket: the shared, stable placing of time together with the drums. Within that frame you can deliberately play on the beat, ahead of it (pushing) or behind it (laid back). Practising with a metronome (even one clicking only on 2 and 4, or on single beats), with drum loops and with real drummers is therefore essential.

10Amplification, sound and mix

Amplifiers and cabinets

Low frequencies call for plenty of power and cone area: bass amplifiers usually deliver 200–1,000 watts, and cabinets come as 1×15″, 2×10″, 4×10″, 2×12″ or 8×10″. Historic milestones include the Ampeg B-15 “Portaflex” (1960, the studio and Motown standard), the Ampeg SVT (1969, a 300-watt valve amp with the “fridge” 8×10″ cabinet), the Fender Bassman, and modern lightweights with class-D power stages and neodymium speakers (Markbass, Gallien-Krueger, Aguilar, Ashdown, Darkglass).

The DI box and the studio

Live and in the studio the bass is almost always fed straight into the mixing desk through a DI box, often alongside a microphone on the amplifier. Preamp pedals (SansAmp, Darkglass and others) deliver an amp-like sound directly to the desk.

Frequency ranges

Range	Effect
30–60 Hz	deep bass, “weight”, felt more than heard; often shared with the bass drum
60–120 Hz	the foundation, the fundamentals
150–300 Hz	warmth; too much sounds muddy
500 Hz–1 kHz	growl, definition, audibility on small speakers
2–5 kHz	attack, string noise, slap presence

Because many playback systems (phones, laptops) reproduce hardly any deep bass, the overtones between 500 Hz and 2 kHz are what keep bass lines audible. A compressor evens out differences in level between notes and strings and is almost always used in the studio. Other typical effects: overdrive and distortion (mixed in parallel so as to keep the foundation), an octaver, an envelope filter (auto-wah, funk), chorus, and synth bass pedals.

11Notation and lead sheets

The bass is written in the bass clef an octave above its sounding pitch. In rock and pop, four-line bass tablature is widespread (the G string on top). Studio and jazz bassists read notation and chord symbols (lead sheets) and build their own lines from them; a knowledge of harmony (chord construction, scale degrees, scales and modes) is the basis for this.

12The electric bass around the world

Region / style	The role of the bass	Names
Jamaica: ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub	the bass as the leading instrument; low, round lines with plenty of space; in dub it is mixed to the front	Lloyd Brevett (double bass, ska), Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Robbie Shakespeare
West Africa: Afrobeat, highlife, mbalax	circling ostinato figures interlocking with the percussion	the bassists in the bands of Fela Kuti and Youssou N’Dour
Cameroon: makossa	virtuoso, melodic bass lines	Richard Bona, Étienne Mbappé, Armand Sabal-Lecco
South Africa: mbaqanga	bouncing, melodic lines	Bakithi Kumalo (Paul Simon, Graceland, 1986)
Cuba: salsa, timba, songo	the tumbao; timba with complex, funk-influenced lines	Carlos del Puerto, Feliciano Arango
Brazil: samba, MPB, jazz	surdo-like figures on beat two, bossa nova roots	Nico Assumpção, Arthur Maia, Jorge Helder
Europe	jazz rock, progressive rock, studio work	Jack Bruce, John Entwistle, John Paul Jones, Pino Palladino (United Kingdom); Dieter Petereit, Wolfgang Schmid (Germany); Jonas Hellborg (Sweden)
Japan	fusion, J-pop, metal, city pop	Tetsuo Sakurai (Casiopea)

13Leading bass players

Field	Names
Studio and soul (1960s/70s)	James Jamerson, Carol Kaye, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Chuck Rainey, Jerry Jemmott, Joe Osborn, Willie Weeks
Funk	Larry Graham, Bootsy Collins, Louis Johnson, Rocco Prestia, Verdine White, Bernard Edwards
Rock	Paul McCartney, John Entwistle, Jack Bruce, John Paul Jones, Chris Squire, Geddy Lee, Lemmy Kilmister, Sting, Tina Weymouth, Flea, Les Claypool, Kim Deal
Metal	Geezer Butler, Steve Harris, Cliff Burton, Robert Trujillo, Billy Sheehan
Jazz and fusion	Jaco Pastorius, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Anthony Jackson, Jeff Berlin, John Patitucci, Victor Wooten, Gary Willis, Matthew Garrison
Pop and studio (since 1980)	Nathan East, Pino Palladino, Abraham Laboriel, Leland Sklar, Will Lee
The present day	Thundercat, MonoNeon, Joe Dart, Tal Wilkenfeld, Esperanza Spalding, Mohini Dey, Charlie Hunter (hybrid instrument)

14Training and teaching material

The electric bass is taught on popular music and jazz courses at conservatoires and academies (Berklee College of Music, the Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, the Popakademie in Mannheim, among others); graded examination systems such as Rockschool and Trinity offer levels from beginner to professional. The German youth competition “Jugend musiziert” has pop categories that include the electric bass.

Area	Teaching material (a selection)
Starting out	the Hal Leonard Bass Method; various German-language bass methods (Voggenreiter, AMA Verlag and others)
Groove and style	Allan Slutsky: Standing in the Shadows of Motown (1989); Rocco Prestia: Fingerstyle Funk; Chuck Rainey: The Complete Electric Bass Player
Walking bass and jazz	Ed Friedland: Building Walking Bass Lines; Carol Kaye: books and courses
Slap and technique	Tony Oppenheim: Slap It!; Stuart Clayton: Ultimate Slap Bass
Musical thinking	Victor L. Wooten: The Music Lesson (2006)

15Health and ergonomics

Basses are heavy (3.5–5 kg); a wide, padded strap, the right strap height and a light instrument all spare the shoulder and back. The wrist of the fretting hand should stay as straight as possible, which a higher strap position and a shorter scale help with. On loud stages, hearing protection matters for bass players too – low frequencies are often underestimated because they seem less painful.

16Buying and costs

Category	Guide price (new)	Notes
Beginner’s bass	about €200–500	a branded instrument with a good set-up; a short scale for children
Practice amp (with headphone output)	about €100–300	–
Mid-range	about €600–1,500	better woods, hardware and electronics
Professional bass (production model)	about €1,500–3,500	–
Boutique, custom	from about €3,500	hand-made
Stage amplifier and cabinet	about €600–2,500	for band and stage work

17Care and maintenance

• Wipe the strings after playing, and wash your hands before you play.
• Change strings according to the sound you want (roundwounds every 2 to 6 months, flatwounds far less often); clean the fingerboard while the strings are off.
• Replace the battery of active electronics regularly, and unplug the cable from the socket when you are not playing (the socket switches the battery on).
• Check the neck relief with the seasons; adjust the truss rod only in small steps.
• Do not store the instrument next to radiators or in a hot car.

18Learning the electric bass

Stage	Content
The first weeks	posture, alternating fingers, muting, playing roots along with songs, counting and the metronome
Year 1	chord tones (root, fifth, octave), major and minor scales, the bass clef and tab, first grooves (rock, pop, Motown), playing in a band
Years 2–3	styles (funk, reggae, shuffle, Latin), ghost notes, the basics of walking bass, ear training, working songs out by ear
Years 4–5	the basics of slap, modes, seventh chords, fills, sight-reading, the five-string bass
Advanced	improvisation, solos, tapping and chord playing, studio work and playing to a click, fretless

19The electric bass at Cuxhaven Music School

We teach the electric bass with an eye on what really matters: timing, groove and musical listening – in rock, pop, funk, reggae, Latin and jazz. Our bands are always looking for bass players, and playing together with drums, electric guitar and keyboard begins early. If you would also like to try the double bass, the two instruments can be combined.

20Frequently asked questions

Is the bass easier than the guitar?

Getting started is often quicker, because you can play along early on. But playing the bass really well calls for particularly precise timing, a feeling for style and an understanding of harmony.

Four strings or five?

A four-string bass is enough to begin with. Anyone playing metal, gospel, R&B or modern pop will later appreciate the low B string.

Fingers or a pick?

Both are legitimate. Fingerstyle is the most versatile; the pick gives an even, attacking sound for rock and punk.

Do I need to read music?

Tab is enough at the start. Reading in the bass clef and understanding chord symbols are very useful for band, studio and jazz work.

What is a fretless bass?

A bass without frets, with a singing tone and continuously variable pitch; it calls for a reliable ear for intonation.

Can you move from electric bass to double bass?

Yes. The tuning and the note names are the same; what is new is the size, the fretless fingerboard, the posture and the bow.

21Glossary

Active electronics

A built-in preamp with a battery and tone controls.

DI box

A direct connection from the bass to the mixing desk.

Double thumbing

A slap technique with down and up strokes of the thumb.

Flatwound

Flat-wound strings with a warm sound.

Fretless

A bass without frets.

Ghost note

A muted, percussive note.

Long scale / short scale

A scale length of 34″ and 30″ respectively.

Pocket

The shared placing of time with the drums.

Pop

Pulling the string away from the fingerboard when slapping.

Raking

Playing two strings with one finger in a downward sweep.

Rest stroke

A stroke in which the finger comes to rest on the next string.

Roundwound

Round-wound strings with a brilliant sound.

Slap

A percussive thumb stroke against the frets.

Tumbao

The syncopated bass line of Cuban music.

Walking bass

A bass line in continuous crotchets.

22Sources and further reading

• Jim Roberts: How the Fender Bass Changed the World. Backbeat Books 2001.
• Tony Bacon, Barry Moorhouse: The Bass Book. Backbeat Books 1995, expanded edn 2008.
• Allan Slutsky: Standing in the Shadows of Motown. The Life and Music of Legendary Bassist James Jamerson. Hal Leonard 1989.
• Bill Milkowski: Jaco. The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius. Backbeat Books 1995.
• Victor L. Wooten: The Music Lesson. Berkley 2006.
• Ed Friedland: Building Walking Bass Lines. Hal Leonard.
• Manfred Zollner: Physik der Elektrogitarre. Regensburg 2014 (also on bass pickups).
• Magazines: Bass Player (USA), Bass Professor and Bass Quarterly (Germany).

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Last updated: September 2026 · Musikpedia editorial team, Cuxhaven Music School