December 18th, 2011 9:34 pm
Many bass instruments are played upright, as a direct result of the fact that the bass strings are ordinarily the longest, and accordingly the instrument is naturally much longer than general ones. However, electric bass guitars are played in incisively the same way as a usual guitar, and the length of the instrument is roughly the same. This is of course an vantage achieved through the fact that the actual sound heard is produced electronically, and the overall tone, pitch and frequency of the note may be altered digitally.
The typical method used to play the electric bass guitar is different somewhat from that employed in the playing of a general electric guitar, since the main method used is pizzicato, or the plucking of strings. Obviously those players who carry out on usual electric guitars may also pluck the strings, but this is only one of a range of proficiencies that may be used. Electric bass guitarists closely solely use the plucking or pizzicato technique allround their performance.
Plucking may be achieved rather happily through using the index and middle finger, or in some cases the thumb and ring finger too, but since the strings are steel, some players prefer to use plectrums or picks. Using a pick may help to increase both the speed at which a performer may hit the notes, and likewise the hardness with which the string is plucked. Usually the sound invented by an electric bass guitarist using a plectrum or pick is much sharper and harder, than the equivalent sound formulated by a performer using just his or her fingers.
Of course, it is also unfeigned to say that the nature of the pick itself makes a huge divergence to the quality and sharpness of the sound, and thicker, firmer picks will construct a harder, heavier sound, whereas the more flexible lightweight picks will construct a softer and more tame tone. For a pick which sounds very similar in tone to using fingers would be one distinctively made from felt.
In a heap of types of music it is preferable to invent a sound using an electric bass guitar which evokes an impression more similar to a double bass. This double bass sound is achieved not by using a pick or a plectrum, but by actually plucking the strings. This on it is own have a tendancy to give rise to a note which is without doubt or question longer than that developed by a double bass, and so the typical technique is to pluck the string, and then use the flat of the hand to mute the note. This gives rise to rather a thumpy sound, and is applied rather many times in respective styles of music.
Yet another method applied by galore electric bass guitarists is to either slap or pop the strings, creating a sound which is remindful of funk music. This technique in a literal sense involves slapping a string with the index finger or middle fingers, creating a flatter sound, or by popping the strings with the same fingers. This slap technique has been popularised in such other styles of music as rock and fusion.