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Electric - Acoustic Bass Guitars / History:Most musicians picture their heroes when they pick up a bass guitar, and the hero could be anybody from Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), Duff Mckagan (Guns N Roses), Geddy Lee (Rush), Les Claypool (Primus), Jason Newsted (Metallica), or maybe even Poison. The electric bass guitar has been around since the 15th century and we are pretty sure it will be around forever because of the awesome sounds it produces. Surprisingly to us, the electric bass guitar takes a lot of it's personality from older string instruments like the cello and violin. The bass guitar produces the low end sound (bottom end sound) you hear on your cd's (mp3s and ipods) that we all love to listen to. There are many types and styles of bass guitars (stand up bass, electric bass, acoustic bass, 4,5, even 7 string bass guitars) , but the most popular model and the type most beginners practice their scales and lessons on is the 4 string electric bass guitar. We reviewed many websites and resources on the bass guitar and a great site for the history of the instrument is www.weedhopper.org/Music/Bass_Guitar_History.asp. The website is unique in that it has a timeline about the electric bass and all the transformations and updates people have made on the instrument. Some of the important features to know on the bass guitar are the strings (things you pluck, most bass guitars are 4 strings), the neck (which is the long part of the bass that the strings are attached to), the body (which is the bulk of the bass that sits in your right hand or lap), and the pickups (the pieces that the stings are run through to get a unique sound). A great website for a pictorial of the electric bass and all its parts is bassplayer.com. The bass is sometimes considered easy to play, or easy to pick up, but that is not entirely true and like anything else the more you practice the better you will get at playing (maybe even starting a band).
Buying a Bass Guitar:Whatever style of music you play from rock, jazz, blues, country, rap, and even pop music the electric bass guitar is a crucial part of the sound. Are you looking to buy a bass guitar? Buying an electric bass guitar can be confusing and expensive because you also need to buy an amplifier (amp), a case, sheet music or song books to learn from, and of course the bass guitar itself. Researching the bass guitar online before you buy one is smart, and a great place to buy a guitar is guitarcenter.com - check out their site for a location near you. For only $299 you can buy the Ibanez bass guitar beginners kit, which includes an electric bass (comes in red, black, grey), a combo amp, an electronic tuner, a carrying case, and strap. For most beginners this is a great purchase and includes everything you need to learn how to play bass guitar. Some other popular models are the Fender Squire which starts at about $220 - depending where you buy it, some online sites like ebay.com and craigslist.com offer great deals on used products. If you are an advanced player and want a nice bass guitar then check out the Geddy Lee Signature 4 string bass guitar for $699 (a replica of the instrument he uses on tour and for recording in the studio). Some other popular brands are Hartke, Washburn, Brownsville, Esp, and Dean, which all have models in the price range of $200 to $2500 for a brand new bass guitar. If you are looking to buy an acoustic bass remember they are a hard instrument to learn on and you can't hide behind the sound of an amplifier like you would on an electric bass guitar. Samash.com is a great website for more details on buying an acoustic bass, the cheapest you will find is about $159 for a low end Fender. A great place to buy used musical equipment and bass guitars is backpage.com ( an online classified site with local ads for most cities), check them out for great deals in your town. After you decide on a bass guitar to buy remember you are going to need an amp, cables, picks, a stand, a case, and some tablature books or instruction on the instrument itself. Have fun and get jamming...Free Bass Guitar Lessons Online:Do you want to find free guitar lessons online? If you do we recommend you check out guitarnoise.com/bass.php. Most people that learn how to play bass guitar get lessons from a friend or maybe a local musician in town, but with the emergence of the internet came another option. Check out guitarnoise.com where you can get free lessons online which can help even amateurs and beginning players. The website offers help on everything from tuning your guitar to playing along with your favorite songs on the radio (something we call do when we dream about being a rock star). Some of the better lessons on the site include, keeping time, using effects, stringing your guitar, chords, riffs, scales, and most importantly working on your tone (the sound that you make while playing). If you feel more comfortable learning the bass guitar with a live teacher then check out the classifieds ads in your city on craigslist.com where they offer a musicians section. In Los Angeles private bass guitar lessons will cost you about $35 per hour (maybe cheaper if you find a novice teacher or a group class), while lessons in a city like Tampa Bay will be a little cheaper at about $25 per hour. The price you pay usually depends on how experienced and qualified your teacher is, and also how big of a city you live in (population and music scene go hand in hand). You can also buy dvds that teach bass guitar so you can learn at your own pace, something that is really good for a beginner or a slow learner. Check out ebay.com for instructional dvds on bass guitar (they will cost anywhere between $10 and $40).
Free Bass Guitar Tablature:If you are a great bass player or just starting out you probably want some bass tablature to download or print from the internet so you can play your favorite songs. We reviewed a lot of music sites and found the best site for bass guitar tablature to be tabcrawler.com where you can find tablature music from Ozzy, Hinder, Linkin Park, The Fray, Metallica, Bon Jovi, Guns N Roses, Nirvana, Pixies, My Chemical Romance, Black Sabbath, Green Day, Megadeth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Mayer, Led Zeppelin, Radiohead, and even The Beatles (they actually have over 200,000 songs). Tablature is just the music you hear written out on paper, in 4 line sequences where every line represents a string on the bass. The basic idea behind bass tab music is that it shows you which string to press down on what fret (and in what order in rythmn). At first it feels weird to read music, especially trying to read tablature, but with a little practice and maybe a couple lessons you will be jamming along in no time. Most beginners can play along to their favorite music with the help of tablature and a little patience. The site is cool in the sense that it also offers an open forum, articles on the bass guitar and links to other music and bass sites online. Certain songs are going to be harder to learn than others, usually the difficulty of a song depends upon the musician who wrote and played the music. If you are trying to play along with bands like Rush or U2 you might want to consider starting with something easier like Van Halen (not all of their songs are easy though).
Most Popular Brands - Styles of Bass Guitars:1. Fender Bass Guitars 2. Ibanez Bass Guitars 3. Yamaha Bass Guitars 4. Rickenbacker Bass Guitars 5. Custom Bass Guitars.
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