The Bass Guitar And Why It Rocks!

This post will introduce you to the bass guitar, touch on its history, its evolution and mention some of the amazing bass players that have graced the instrument. Read on to learn more about the bass guitar.

Welcome to the world of the bass guitar; if you’re reading this then you’ve taken an interest in the electric bass and have decided to pursue it further. Maybe this post will reaffirms your decision to play bass guitar, or perhaps it will be the final argument for you to start playing the bass yourself.

The bass guitar is a pretty cool instrument. It may not be as flashy as a drum kit, or command as much attention as a pimped out electric guitar, but it has a subdued, laid-back vibe all its own. A standard bass guitar has four strings and is tuned E-A-D-G; an octave below the lowest strings on a guitar to provide a sonic foundation for the melody to build upon.

While you may give up the fame and glory of the spotlight when you choose to become a bass player, you gain full control of the key of the music, and full dominion over the bass frequencies. 

Bass Guitar Frequencies Move People

This is almost a mystical power that most people won’t even realize that you have. Many won’t even realize that it is the bass player and the way he chooses to play certain notes, leave others out, and the space and rhythms in between these that are hypnotizing them into dancing. It is a great responsibility that you take on – called the groove – without it; any music you play will be lame.

So besides this, why take on the bass guitar? What is it about the bass guitar that is cool, or should be attractive to someone just starting out that just wants to play SOMETHING? Well, getting up and running with a bass guitar is much easier than most other instruments. You don’t have to have four-way independence as with drums, you don’t have to memorize all the chord fingering patterns like you would with a guitar, and you don’t have to spend years to get a sound that doesn’t sound like a cat being tortured as you would with a violin. You can pick up a bass guitar and start playing bass lines almost immediately – the good news is that the easier it is to play an instrument along to music you like when you’re starting out, the more likely you’ll stay with the instrument for good.

Another great reason why the bass guitar is cool is that EVERYONE needs a bass player. You make the other band members sound good, and there are many styles of music out there that use the bass guitar. That means that if you’re a good bass player, you’re willing to work hard, learn and you have a great attitude –you’re going to have many more job opportunities than many other musicians would have.

Being a bassist is as much a state of mind as it is a position in the band. You need to put the song and the other musicians before yourself. You are the glue between the rhythm and the melody – you straddle the line between the drummer and the guitarist, giving the music that third dimension that makes music so exciting. If you’re willing to put your ego on the back burner, you can become a truly great bassist that is in demand.

Is playing the bass guitar easier? Yes it is. But to master any instrument is virtually impossible. Playing bass guitar is initially much easier than guitar; you can outline chords one finger at a time as opposed to learning the fingerings for each chord. You also have fewer strings to change than the guitarist, but keep in mind that bass guitar strings are thicker – so in some ways, playing the bass guitar is more difficult because you need to play just as fast as the guitarists but with thicker strings. This means that you’re moving more mass in the same amount of time or energy. 

What you may not know about the bass guitar is:

There is something to be said for a simple bass line that does what it’s supposed to do, get some asses out of the chairs at the bar. 

Bass guitars can be beautiful and expensive, they can break your heart and if you get used to playing them – playing bass guitar can indeed be habit forming!

The electric bass guitar was responsible for making rock n’ roll music come to life in the fifties – the bass could now be heard (as well as felt!) and helped to drive the new-fangled rock n roll bands mercilessly into the spotlight. 

The electric bass guitar started out with 4 strings and remained that way for several decades, before evolving to 5, 6, 8 and even 12 stringed versions beginning in the mid-70s. These multi-stringed basses owe a large debt of thanks to Anthony Jackson who helped open the door to more than 4 string basses by commissioning the first six string bass guitar to be built in the 1970s!
Some famous bass guitarists include Paul McCartney, Sting, Geddy Lee, Jaco Pastorius, James Jamerson, Flea, Les Claypool, Victor Wooten, Billy Sheehan, Stanley Clarke and John Entwistle.

You can get started with a bass guitar kit that includes a bass guitar, a bass amp, a guitar strap, an bass guitar instrument cable and a tuner for around $250 or you can even rent a bass guitar from many major music instrument retailers. Even if you don’t know of any teachers in your town, you can surf Youtube and find plenty of lessons for free that can get you started. There’s no good reason to sit on the fence anymore, playing bass guitar can be an affordable hobby that can actually make you some extra money if you choose to play out in bands.

Choosing to play the bass guitar has given me plenty of opportunity to learn and grow as a human being. It’s allowed me to experience the thrill of performing in front of large audiences while sharing the stage with some amazing bands and meet terrific people. Playing bass guitar is a great way to be creative, relieve stress and have fun! 

Free Online Guitar Lessons For Beginners - part 2

Umpteen sites on the internet have free guitar lessons for beginners. It's just a matter of looking for them. Type in "free online guitar lessons" and you will be rewarded with numerous sites to explore. If you stay with the thought of getting your guitar lessons from YouTube, all you want to do is pick the lessons you most want and the lessons you most like and save them in your bookmarks. For instance, if you are a raw beginner, you will be looking for a video showing you how to tune your guitar, and maybe a lesson showing you how to change your guitar strings. If you are an electric guitar player you will want someone to show you how to set up your guitar.

As for actually learning how to play. If you don't have any idea of the variety of songs you want to play, start with fooling around with some of the entertaining stuff you find on YouTube like power chords or fingerpicking. You will find plenty of lessons for these areas of guitar playing and seeing easy chords and fingerpicking patterns will set off your interest in guitar playing.

Even if you do find some free online guitar lessons, any beginner would be well advised to seek out his local guitar teacher and get a few examples from a live person. A teacher sitting in the same room as you are can see your mistakes and correct how you are picking or how you are holding the guitar. These are the basic things that you really should get right from the beginning. You could also look for lessons on HOW to practice and on PLANNING your daily practice. Most guitar players advise beginners to practice for shorter periods at first, with plenty of rests rather than slog it out for long, boring sessions.

Free Online Guitar Lessons For Beginners

Free online guitar lessons are a popular item at the moment. Maybe it's a symptom of the post-Christmas period. There's a whole other school of commencing guitar players out there who just received free guitars, and today they desire free online guitar lessons. If you possess no thoughts on how to begin to play your new guitar, you will be searching about the internet for info on what you will need to discover how to play your guitar. Maybe you've even paid a visit to your local guitar teacher, and not been smitten by their charisma and virtuosity. So now you're back online, searching for free guitar lessons.

One of the problems for beginners is when you start looking at online guitar lessons the terminology can be a little scary. Learning what all the strings are called, finding out how many notes you have to learn. This is where online guitar lessons excel. On video sites like YouTube every facet of guitar playing is explained to you by experienced guitar players. The printed word does not give us information as effectively as someone looking at us from our computer screen and talking us through matters.

cheap guitar amps

When you have purchased a guitar, next thing you want to do is to buy cheap guitar amps. Guitar amplifiers come in all shapes and sizes: practice, pre, mini, full and half stacked amps etc. Some amplifiers can do well in many departments, while some others are designed to produce specific tonal qualities. The most popular companies known for producing amps are: Marshall, Yamaha, VOX, Fender, Mesa, Line 6 etc.

While looking for cheap guitar amplifiers, you will have to choose between the tube amps solid state amps and hybrid amps You will also have to decide whether you want a combo or separate head and speaker cabinet. Of these amps tube based amps use the vacuum tubes to produce sound. They are very loud and generate lots of heat when operated. Many musicians prefer tube amps as they produce warm tones and if pushed hard they can produce a natural distortion which adds more impact to the music.

The solid state variety use transistors and integrated circuits instead of tubes. Although they can't match the sound quality of the natural, smooth distortion produced by tube amplifiers, still they are versatile, maintenance free and economical. They use a broader range of tones as compared to tube amps If you are looking for cheap guitar amps you should go for solid state amps they provide reasonably good quality sound in a small budget.

Since the advent of microprocessors and digital technology, digital amplifiers have come in the market. They can simulate the sounds of a variety of tube amps without using actual tubes. They are cheap guitar amps which combine the latest technology with traditional sound quality. You can't make out the difference unless you are very sensitive to the notes.

A hybrid guitar amplifier combines the power of the solid state amps while tone comes from the tube amps technology. This way you get cheaper guitar amplifiers as compared to tube amps with similar quality, it's easier to carry and maintain.

Other Considerations

Combos: They consist of a single unit to house the electronics and the speakers. Thus, they are easier to transport and are quite handy. They are also not very expensive and give you full value for money.

Separate amps: These amps give you more flexibility in terms of speaker size and type. The speaker is away from the electronics, thus electronics are shielded from vibrations, which increases life and reliability of the electronic components.

There are cheap guitar amps available in the market, known as practice or mini amps For beginners they provide good support and are easy on the pocket. They are small in size, and the quality of sound produced by them is reasonably ok. You can use then as practice amps at home or in small gatherings. What kind of amp you choose depends solely on your usage, style, budget and personal choice.

The bigger idea is that an amplifier is an integral part of playing a guitar. Even the costliest best quality guitar won't sound as good if it is not attached to a suitable amplifier. So don't just go in for the cheap guitar amps go for amps that provide you with desired sound effects. An amplifier is a long term investment, you won't buy it every month, and so do not compromise on quality, your style and actual needs.

guitar amps

what are guitar amps? These are amplifiers that amplify the sound coming from the guitar and passing through them. The amps drive the guitar loudspeaker. When a guitar is played some sound waves are generated. These waves are then converted into an electrical signal, and fed into the guitar amplifier. Sometimes the input of the guitar amp is not compatible with the minute signal emanating from the guitar; in such a case the signal is first sent to a pre-amplifier. From the pre-amplifier the output is fed into the guitar amp.

Stages Of Work

The guitar amp works in four stages. These stages are the input stage, signal modulation stage, signal amplification stage, and the output stage.

Input

In this stage the signal from the guitar or the guitar pre-amp is fed into the guitar amp. The amplifier has some input female jacks; the signal cable is attached into these jacks. Sometimes the guitar signal is very weak, and cannot be fed into the guitar amp directly. In such situations the signal is made to pass through the guitar pre-amp before reaching the main amplifier. The impedance match between the available input signal impedance and the particular guitar amp's input signal impedance must be ensured. If there is any such impedance imbalance, it invariably causes distorted guitar sound on the loudspeaker.

Most amplifiers come with a pre-amp stage incorporated in to them. It removes the hassle of passing the guitar signal through a separate pre-amp. With such amplifiers the signal from the guitar can directly be routed through the amp itself.

Signal Modulation

The electric guitarists do not like the idea of plain music coming out of the loud speakers. They are happy if the guitar sounds can be jazzed up. The twangy, the funky, and the heavily distorted sounds are well liked by them. For example if a guitarist wants to incorporate the heavy metal rock sound into his guitar sounds, the input signal will need to go through the required heavy distortion. Similarly to produce wa-wa sounds or reverb etc., the input signal must undergo modulation before the sounds are finally amplified. The equalizers and tone control knobs too need to undergo the signal modulation stage.

Signal Amplification

It is at this stage that the actual amplification happens. That is why this stage is known as the business stage of a guitar amp. The outgoing signal at this stage is the same as the incoming signal from the modulation stage. The only difference is that the output is of much greater amplitude. In short, the signal amplifier simply and faithfully amplifies the incoming signal.

Output

Output stage is the last stage of a guitar amp. In some amp there is a sub-stage of output driver stage, but some have just a simple output stage. If your guitar amp is not of a good quality, it will just feed the outgoing signal from the amplification stage directly into the loudspeaker. The good quality guitar amps ensure that there is a signal conditioning output stage that matches the output signal to the input specifications of the loud speaker.

A serious guitarist is supposed to have a good working knowledge of guitar amps. If you are knowledgeable, you will always go for a good guitar amp. A good guitar amp makes all the difference to the reliability and predictability of the musical sounds that finally come out of the loudspeaker, when you play your guitar.

All about amplifiers

an amplifier is a gadget that transfers an increasing sound of an instrument. Amplifiers are widely used in radios, television sets, microcomputers, guitars and other instruments of music. There are different kinds of amplifiers.

An amplifier is a gadget that transfers the increasing sound of an instrument. Amplifiers are widely used in radios, television sets, microcomputers, guitars and other instruments of music. There are many types of amplifiers which include the following: electronic, power vacuum or valve tube, video, music and many more.

Moreover, amplifiers have certain features that are important to consider. These features are gain, bandwidth, efficiency, linearity, noise, output dynamic range, slew rate, rise time, settling time and ringing, overshoot and lastly the stability factor. Nowadays, amplifiers normally refer to an ‘electronic amplifier’ that has an audio. Amplifiers also have an input frequency known as the ‘transfer function’. Amplifiers also have magnitudes of the transfer function that are called ‘gain’. An amplifier is a device that highlights the sound of any instrument.

Listed below are the features of an amplifier:

• Gain: The gain of an amplifier is the ratio of the output to the input power and is basically measured by the volume.

• Bandwidth: Bandwidths give the amplifier a ‘satisfactory performance’. This feature can also be defined as “the dissimilarity between the lower and upper half power points”. The half power points are located where the power goes down by half its peak value.

• Efficiency: This amplifier feature is measured by how much input power is usefully applied to the amplifier. The limit of an ordinary amplifier is that the amplifier has up to 50 percent efficiency. Class A amplifiers are useless. This is because the efficiency of this kind of gadget ranges from 20 up to 30 percent with a maximum percentage of 45. Class B amplifiers have extremely high efficiency.

• Noise: The noise is measured by the amount of noise the amplifier had launched. The noise is also measured by its volume and also known as the “peak output power” that is created by the amplifier.

• Output dynamic range: The output dynamic range that is frequently specified in amplifiers is between the minimum and prime functional output levels. The lowest functional level is limited by the output noise while the prime is limited by distortion.

• Slew rate: The rate modifies the output variable. Slew rates are usually quoted in volts per second. A lot of amplifiers are only limited to its slew rate. Thus, they are typically the impedance of a drive current having to overcome the capacitive effects. The slew rate may limit the full power of the bandwidth.

• Rise time: The rise time of an amplifier is the time taken for the output to change from 20 percent up to 90 percent on its final level by driving a step input.

• Settling time and ringing: The settling time and ringing is the time taken for the output to settle to a certain percentage of the final value. This is generally precise for oscilloscope vertical amplifiers and has a high accuracy measurement system. Ringing refers to an output that cycle its final value while its final value had been delayed.

• Overshoot: It is the amount of output exceeded to its final and steady-state value.

• Stability factor: Stability factors are a main concern in RF and microwave amplifiers. The stability degree of an amplifier can be regarded by a so-called stability factor.

Listed below are several types of Amplifiers.

• Electronic amplifier: This type of amplifier is a gadget that is normally used in radios, televisions, guitars, microcomputers and other instruments. An electronic amplifier may be considered as a device used for modulating the output of a power supply.

• Power amplifier: This particular kind of amplifier is used in taking a signal from a source gadget and making it appropriate for a powerful loudspeaker. The purpose of this power amplifier is to take a weak signal and make it a strong one, which should be enough to drive a powerful speaker. The units of power amplifiers are known as watts. Power amplifiers also have a power rating. The power rating is present in various types of amplifiers. Power amplifiers are the ones that typically need the most attention towards the power.

• Vacuum Amplifier: This type of amplifier is also called a valve tube amplifier. It is a gadget that is used to create an electrical signal by controlling the function of electrons in a low-pressure space. A vacuum or valve amplifier is much more cost efficient in a high power application such as ‘radar’ counter measures equipment or communication equipment. A vacuum or valve tube amplifier also has an application of pre-dated electronics. Electronics is determined as a mechanical computer like slide that rules to the peak of obsolescence.

• Operational amplifier: operational amplifiers are also called “Op-amps”. This kind of amplifier has a solid state of integrated circuit amplifiers that is used in order to control any outside feedback. Operational amplifiers must contain a high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a degree of difference in its inputs and a normally single output. Usually, the output of this kind of amplifier is controlled by a negative feedback that has a large verified degree of its output voltage. Op-amps have the most widely used electronic gadget. This kind of amplifier is also the most used by consumers. Operational amplifiers are used as an industrial and scientific gadget.

guitar amplifier

A guitar amplifier (or guitar amp) is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of anelectric guitar or an acoustic guitar louder and modify the tone by emphasizing or de-emphasizing certain frequencies and/or by adding electronic effects. There are two types of guitar amplifiers: combination ("combo") amplifiers, which include an amplifier and one, two, or four speakers in a wooden cabinet; and the standalone amplifier (often called a "head" or "amp head"), which does notcome with a speaker. The amplifier components in combo amplifiers and amp heads include both preamplifier, which boosts the signal coming out of the guitar to prepare it for the next amplifier stage, and a power amplifier, which provides the higher current which causes the speaker to produce sound. The simplest guitar amplifiers have only a power switch, a volume knob, and one or two tone control knobs. Guitar amplifiers may also have one or more electronic effects such as distortion, chorus, and additional controls such as a graphic equalizer. There are two main classes of amplifiers used with electric guitars: tube (or valve) amplifiers, which use vacuum tubes; and solid state(transistor) amplifiers.

Combo amplifiers range from small practice amplifiers with one 6" or 8" speaker and a 10 to 15 watt amplifier, to mid-sized combo amps with a 12" speaker and a 50 watt amplifier (suitable for rehearsals or performances in small venues), to large combo amplifiers with four 10" speakers and 100 or more watts of power, which can be used for shows in large clubs or halls. Amp heads are used with one or more speaker cabinets, creating what is nicknamed a "stack". Some guitarists who use amp heads and separate speaker cabinets use a single 4 X 10" speaker cabinet with the amp head. In some styles of music, such as heavy metal and blues rock, guitarists may connect the guitar amp head to a number of 4 X 10" cabinets. Guitar amplifiers range in price and quality from small, low-powered practice amplifier designed for students which sell for less than $50 USD to expensive "boutique" amplifiers which are custom made for professional musicians, and which can cost thousands of dollars.

Bass guitars, which are a type of guitar that can play notes an octave or more below a regular guitar, are typically amplified with a bass amplifier which is designed to handle the low frequency range. Acoustic guitar amplifiers differ from electric guitar amplifiers in that while electric guitar amplifiers are typically designed to modify the tone of the instrument--either by "rolling off" high frequencies or adding the warmth of tube overdrive--acoustic guitar amplifiers are generally designed to reproduce the natural sound of the acoustic instrument fairly accurately, without adding coloration or overdrive.