Bass guitar
Fender Jazz Bass | |
| String instrument | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Electric bass guitar, electric bass |
| Classification | String instrument |
| Hornbostel–Sachs classification | 321.322 (Composite chordophone) |
| Inventor(s) | Paul Tutmarc |
| Developed | 1930s, United States |
| Playing range | |
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Range of a standard tuned 4-string bass guitar (brackets: 5-string) | |
| Related instruments | |
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The bass guitar, also known as the electric bass guitar, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an electric but with a longer neck and scale length. The electric bass guitar most commonly has four strings, though five- and six-stringed models are also built. Since the mid-1950s, the electric bass guitar has often replaced the double bass in popular music due to its lighter weight, smaller size and easier portability, most models' inclusion of frets for easier intonation, and electromagnetic pickups for amplification.
The electric bass guitar is usually tuned the same as the double bass, corresponding to pitches one octave lower than the four lowest-pitched strings of a guitar (typically E, A, D, and G). It is played with the fingers and thumb or with a pick.
Because the electric bass guitar is acoustically a quiet instrument, it requires external amplification, generally via electromagnetic or piezo-electric pickups. It can also be used with direct input boxes, audio interfaces, mixing consoles, computers, or bass-effects processors which offer headphone jacks.