A bass player (bassist) is a musician who plays a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass, or wind bass, which includes tuba, sousaphone, bass saxophone, etc. Certain musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments. Since the 1960s, the electric bass is the standard bass instrument for rock and roll, jazz fusion (and occasionally other forms of jazz), heavy metal, country, reggae and pop music. The double bass is the standard bass instrument for classical music, bluegrass, and Swing-era and Bebop-era jazz music. However, there are exceptions in both cases. Some 1990s and 2000s rock, pop, indie, and punk rock/psychobilly bands use a double bass, such as Barenaked Ladies, Two Tons of Steel, Tiger Army, The Living End, The Decemberists, and HorrorPops occasionally. Some composers of modern art music use the electric bass in a chamber music setting, and some jazz big bands use electric bass. In 2006, Bass Guitar Magazine voted Jaco Pastorius to be "The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived."

Electric bass players

Electric bassists play the bass guitar. In most rap, country, and pop genres, the bass line outlines the harmony of the music being performed, while simultaneously indicating the rhythmic pulse. In addition, there are different standard bass line types for different genres and types of song (e.g. blues ballad, fast swing, etc.). Bass lines often emphasize the root, third, and fifth of the chords of the music. In addition, pedal tones (repeated or sustained single notes), ostinatos, and bass riffs are also used as bass lines.

Though less common, some bass players employ a polyphonic style of playing instead of a single-note melody, using full chords and double-stops to accent their bass lines.

Classical double bass players of historical importance

• Johannes Matthias Sperger (1750-1812) Composer
• Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1845) composer, conductor
• Giovanni Bottesini (1821-1889) composer, conductor
• Franz Simandl (1840-1912) composer
• Edouard Nanny (1872-1943) composer
• Serge Koussevitzky (1874–1951) Conductor, composer

Lists of double bass players

• See List of contemporary classical double bass players
• See List of jazz bassists, which includes both double bass and electric bass players.
• See List of double bass players in other popular genres

External links

• Bass Guitar Magazine - The UK's No.1 magazine for bass players
• Bass Player magazine - Bass Player magazine
• BassPlaza.com - Thousands of bass players listed.
• BassGirls web magazine - monthly web magazine
• JazzDoubleBass.com - Resource about Double Bass in jazz
• TalkBass.com- Forum and Wiki by and for bassists.